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Manteca Unified increases advance placement classes
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Manteca Unified School District is one of 425 school districts in the U.S. and Canada being honored by the College Board with placement on the 6th Annual AP District Honor Roll for increasing access to AP course work while simultaneously maintaining or increasing the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher on AP Exams.

 Reaching these goals indicates that a district is successfully identifying motivated, academically prepared students who are ready for the opportunity of AP. To be included on the 6th Annual Honor Roll, Manteca Unified School District had to, since 2013, increase the number of students participating in AP while also increasing or maintaining the number of students earning AP Exam scores of 3 or higher. 

“I am extremely excited and honored because it shows that we are meeting our goal, not only opening the door for more students, those that may not have selected this coursework naturally, but our teachers are ensuring that those students are indeed passing those courses through advanced placement testing with a score of 3 or higher. It shows that our philosophy of educating the whole child and our actions are in sync as we prepare students to be future ready,” stated Clara Schmiedt, Senior Director of Secondary Education for Manteca Unified School District. 

For the 2015-2016 Academic year, Manteca Unified School District offered 29 different AP courses. A few of those courses include AP Enviromental Science, AP English Language and Composition, AP Calculus, AP US History, and AP Art History. 

National data from 2015 show that among black/African American, Hispanic, and Native American students with a high degree of readiness for AP, only about half of students are participating. The first step to delivering the opportunity of AP to students is providing access by ensuring courses are available, that gatekeeping stops, and that the doors are equitably opened so these students can participate. Manteca Unified School District is committed to expanding the availability of AP courses among prepared and motivated students of all backgrounds. 

“That the committed teachers and administrators in this district have both expanded AP access and also helped their students achieve high levels of performance on AP Exams shows they’re delivering opportunity in their schools and classrooms, and it is a real testament to their belief that a more diverse population of young people is ready for the challenge of college,” said Trevor Packer, the College Board’s senior vice president of AP and Instruction.

“Congratulations to these teachers and administrators, and to their hard-working students.” Helping more students learn at a higher level and earn higher AP scores is an objective of all members of the AP community, from AP teachers to district and school administrators to college professors. 

Inclusion on the 6th Annual AP District Honor Roll is based on the examination of three years of AP data, from 2013 to 2015, looking across 34 AP Exams, including world language and culture. The following criteria were used. 

Districts must: 

• Increase participation/access to AP by at least 4 percent in large districts, at least 6 percent in medium districts, and at least 11 percent in small districts; 

• Increase or maintain the percentage of exams taken by black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian/Alaska Native students; and 

• Improve or maintain performance levels when comparing the 2015 percentage of students scoring a 3 or higher to the 2013 percentage, unless the district has already attained a performance level at which more than 70 percent of its AP students are scoring a 3 or higher.