This month, we are highlighting Kim Becraft, Middle Years Program Coordinator at Seneca Valley High School in Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland.

“Kim is absolutely invigorated by this work,” said 杏吧传媒Partnership Director Erika Cabrera, who nominated Becraft for this distinction. “Kim shares ALL information 杏吧传媒shares with her with her entire school, really driving school-wide efforts to increase access, reduce biases and stigmas, and sustain successful classrooms.

Last year, Becraft led her team in adding 249 students to AP/IB classes, a 19% increase from the year prior. Given this impressive increase, Becraft’s goal was to sustain this gain. She ended up surpassing that goal by enrolling an additional 49 students (a 3% gain) into AP/IB courses. This brings Seneca Valley’s population of low-income/BIPOC students enrolled in AP/IB to 66%.

We asked Becraft about the mission behind her work, and the factors that contributed to her team’s accomplishment of their goals.

What drives you to continue to do the work of creating access and opportunity in your district?

My driver is always the students- ensuring they have the information, sense of belonging, confidence, and support to succeed in higher level classes.

What has been your favorite part of the work this year?  

My favorite part of this work is when alumni come back to visit and share stories of their preparedness and success after high school.  

How has 杏吧传媒served as an essential support to student success? 

The 杏吧传媒survey data is essential to guiding our work to ensure effective action items, elevating the importance of the work with staff, and allowing us to drill down to focus sets of students. Our 杏吧传媒liaison, Erica, has also been fantastic is helping us brainstorm, provide quick responses to requests or needed clarifications, and helping us to maximize our use of the 杏吧传媒data. I also really enjoyed the workshops facilitated by Erika – they provided helpful mini-professional development and allowed us to share best practices with other schools. 

Tell us about a time when you witnessed the impact of the 杏吧传媒work on you, your colleagues or your students?  

My school created a professional development workshop where we used the 杏吧传媒data portal to create a list of students who did not identify a trusted adult in the building. In a gallery walk format, staff reviewed the students, adding what they knew personally about each student. We then took the list of students and analyzed the demographic data to see larger trends about who did not identify a trusted adult in our building (males, 9th graders, etc.). Staff finished the training by reflecting on how they could collect voice data from students without a trusted adult in order to develop classroom-based goals and action items based on the data. Using both the larger data trends and individual student list was impactful.  

For students, we held an AP & IB Teacher meet and greet during lunch at the end of the year. The students who attending completed a short survey on the event. It was such a joy to see their excitement about higher level classes and to review the results on the feedback survey. We created a word cloud based on student responses to the question 鈥� “In one word, how are you feeling about your AP and/or IB classes next year?”. It was awesome to hear that our students were both nervous AND excited!  

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Chris Belcher has spent over 40 years in education transforming mindsets about academic rigor in K-12 education 鈥� and which students can handle it. 听

The answer, for Belcher, is simple: It’s all students.  

鈥淢y belief as an instructional leader is every kid is capable,鈥� he said.  

The main blockers to student success are subpar instruction and a lack of opportunity to challenge themselves, he said. However, students often attribute their academic insecurities and struggles to their own capabilities. 

鈥淪ometimes the kids blame themselves instead of blaming poor instruction or poor curriculum,鈥� he said.  

It was this mindset that Belcher worked to transform as a chemistry teacher in Missouri, long before he鈥檇 start shifting adult mindsets on rigor as a superintendent. 

鈥淜ids would tell me 鈥業鈥檓 not going to take chemistry; it鈥檚 too hard,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淎nd I鈥檇 say 鈥榥o, you鈥檝e just had bad teachers. I can teach you everything you need to know about chemistry and you鈥檒l be brilliant. You have to quit telling yourself that it鈥檚 too hard. It鈥檚 not too hard; you are smart and capable.鈥欌�� 

Changing Adult Mindsets 

Over the next few decades, as Belcher moved on to school and district leadership positions, he found himself听addressing barriers to student success that extended far beyond instruction and curriculum. These included limited adult mindsets on student capabilities, as well as gaps in opportunity and support for certain student subgroups.听

He first noticed these gaps while working as a superintendent鈥檚 assistant, which entailed dealing with disciplinary issues that he realized disproportionately impacted students of color and those on reduced/free lunch. 听

Belcher would go on to coach teachers as a consultant and professor of secondary education at the University of Central Missouri, before returning to district leadership.  

As Superintendent of Schools in Kearney, Missouri, he pushed for increased rigor, introducing AP courses and turning the district into one of the state鈥檚 top performers for test scores. The district鈥檚 effort to bridge opportunity gaps in advanced pathways was even recognized by the Department of Education鈥檚 听

Closing Opportunity Gaps 

Belcher would have another eye-opening moment shortly after becoming Superintendent of Columbia School District. Digging into the district鈥檚 ACT scores, he realized that Columbia, home to the University of Missouri, was a place of stark contrasts in educational opportunities.听

鈥淲e were a district of haves and have-nots,鈥� Belcher said. “We had kids scoring the highest in the state on the ACT and going to any college they wanted, and then across the hall from them were students that didn鈥檛 have that same background experience, that weren鈥檛 taking the college-level courses or challenging themselves, that weren鈥檛 being given the same opportunity.鈥澨�

The district鈥檚 African American and low-income students were scoring 鈥渨ell below鈥� the state average, he found. Despite the progressive leanings of his staff, the equity conversation had not been broached听prior to his arrival. Many were surprised to learn how rapidly the low-income student population had grown in recent years. 听

A new focus on equity swept through the district, but enrollment and test score results remained inequitable. Seeking solutions, Belcher joined Missouri鈥檚 Minority Student Achievement Network, where he was introduced to EOS. 

Belcher had found the key to Columbia鈥檚 strategic plan to improve access to advanced courses; under the 杏吧传媒partnership, Columbia quadrupled its number of African American students in AP courses.听

Spreading the Work in a Changing Climate 

When Belcher retired from Columbia, as well as the faculty at Mizzou. Before long, he was traveling around the country, providing the guidance and support to superintendents that 杏吧传媒had offered him. 

Nine years later, Belcher says the vision behind his work has not changed.  

鈥淲e know that our schools in the US offer a world class curriculum; that鈥檚 not the problem,鈥� he said. 鈥淜ids that access that world-class curriculum score well, they pass the ACT, they get early admission into college. But we have inequitable access to those programs because of lots of traditional barriers around race and income that have not been addressed by the school or society in general.鈥�  

What has changed, however, is the political climate around equity work, he said. The support he received from both his board and government agencies is not something that superintendents in Missouri and beyond can enjoy today. 

鈥淚n the last two to three years, the discussion around equity has become political, and you see people shying away from some of those discussions,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he financing and the support isn’t quite as easy to come by.鈥� 

Consequently, some of his conversations with district leaders have changed in nature, but his underlying message remains constant.

鈥淢y goal is to challenge sitting superintendents and assistant superintendents that their job is to address this issue because if they don’t do it, nobody will,鈥� he said.听

Belcher stresses to every superintendent he meets that introducing a student to rigor can 鈥渃hange their entire belief system about who they are.鈥�  

鈥淲e have the evidence to show that a kid that we push into AP and is successful all of a sudden sees themselves as an academically capable kid, and they start to look at college differently,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don’t know how many lives we鈥檝e changed, because you can’t track that, but we know that every time we are successful with a student in our program, we could have been making the most monumental change in that student’s life.鈥� 

Read more about Belcher’s mission, in his own words,

Brennan LaBrie helps amplify the work, mission, and impact of the 杏吧传媒team and our partners across the education landscape. With a background in local journalism, he seeks to share the stories of individuals and organizations driving impact in their community and beyond. 

The post Chris Belcher is Still Changing Mindsets after 40 Years appeared first on .

By Brennan LaBrie

In April, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers signed a bill requiring all public schools to teach Asian American and Hmong history, amending a long-standing state law that mandates K-12 education on Black, Hispanic and Native American history. 

Among those standing beside Governor Evers as he signed the bill was Kabby Hong, an AP Literature teacher at Verona Area High School and a vocal advocate for the new legislation. 

Hong, who became Wisconsin鈥檚 first Asian American Teacher of the Year to represent the state at the National Teacher of the Year Program, used the speaking opportunities this accolade provided to promote the bill 鈥� and Asian American visibility at large 鈥� to audiences of educators across the state. 

鈥淎sian American visibility is a blind spot for all of us,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you think about it, you only work on things that are visible and you’re aware of. If something’s in your blind spot, you’re not even aware that you have to work on it.”

Hong also brought students in the Asian Student Association he advises at VAHS to testify in support of the bill at the Wisconsin State Legislature. 

鈥淚n every single one of their testimonies they talked about feeling invisible, about not feeling like they belong,” he said. “You feel that way as a teenager to begin with, but then if you throw in your racial identity on top of it, it makes it even more challenging. I think being invisible in the school curriculum is sort of symbolic of being invisible in American society.鈥�

These students were well-aware of how important visibility of their community is in K-12 curriculum, he said. VAHS Principal Brian Cox is too.

鈥淗ere in Verona Area School District, we really place an emphasis on equity and making sure that, above and beyond just being able to access the grade-level standards every day, our scholars are seeing themselves in the curriculum and have voice and input into what it is they’re learning about,鈥� Cox said. 鈥淭his legislation really helps aid the mission of schools and school districts like ours 鈥� to make sure that our scholars do feel seen, valued and heard.鈥�

Wisconsin has a rapidly increasing Asian American population, and Hmong Americans make up over 29% of it. Indigenous to Southeast Asia, the Hmong were key allies of the U.S. during the Vietnam War and Laotian Civil War. They faced violent persecution in both countries following the retreat of U.S. forces, and thousands fled to the U.S.. Many settled in Wisconsin, in large part due to sponsorships by . The state now hosts the third-biggest Hmong population in the U.S., following California and Minnesota.

Resistance to the waves of Hmong refugees by predominantly white local populations was a key factor in Asian Americans鈥� exclusion in the Wisconsin statute mandating curriculum on other immigrant groups, Hong said. 

鈥淭he bill is essentially trying to reverse a wrong that has been in Wisconsin law for 30 to 40 years,鈥� he said. 

Its passage follows two decades of advocacy and multiple attempts by Wisconsin legislators to pass mandates requiring education on AAPI history, including the context behind Hmong immigration to the state. 

The tide shifted in 2020, Hong said, when Francesca Hong was elected as Wisconsin鈥檚 first Asian American legislator and began advocating for an AAPI education mandate. Additionally, a nationwide wave of anti-Asian American hate crimes during the pandemic prompted states like Illinois, New Jersey and Florida to adopt such mandates. 

Francesca Hong like Mr. Hong, as well as students and their families, for building momentum for the bill.

Mr. Hong, however, stressed that its passage is far from the last step in the journey of increasing Asian American visibility in school curriculum. 

鈥淚t was a pretty important symbolic win, but really the real work begins now 鈥� and that real work is about making it a living, breathing thing in classrooms,鈥� he said. 

Realizing that students could pass through VAHS without reading a book by an Asian American author, Hong pushed for the inclusion such books starting in ninth grade. He is working with school administrators and fellow teachers to incorporate Asian American perspectives into classes across disciplines. 

Hong knows that there will be speedbumps in the implementation process. 

鈥淭he work that’s ahead of us, it’s really about getting districts and individual teachers to explore a blind spot,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd that can be challenging, because teachers like being masters of their content, they don’t like entering into an area that they know nothing about, or they haven’t had training in.鈥�

Cox is optimistic about the road ahead, however, with teachers like Hong at the helm.

鈥淲e need those educators that are strong, not only in the content, but also passionate about issues like this, to help us guide that work and make sure that we as principals, superintendents, etc., are able to live this work and make it a curriculum that is ever-adapting and changing to meet the needs of our teachers and scholars.鈥�

Kabby Hong was featured in several news outlets after the signing of SB240. Read one article

Brennan LaBrie helps 杏吧传媒and its partners tell their stories and spread awareness of their work through the mediums of print, audio and video. With a background in local journalism, he loves sharing the stories of the individuals and organizations driving impact in their community and beyond.

The post Kabby Hong’s Mission to Increase Asian American Visibility in Wisconsin Schools appeared first on .

Shannah Henderson-Amare helped pave the way for the College Board鈥檚 rapidly-growing AP African American Studies program, and is working with 杏吧传媒to increase access to advanced courses like it at her Brooklyn High School

Shannah Henderson-Amare has been a trailblazer in education for years, and she鈥檚 now getting much-deserved national media recognition for her role in paving the way for the College Board鈥檚 nascent AP African American Studies course that is spreading to schools across the country.

Last month, she was featured on for her work teaching the course at in New York City, where she also serves as Assistant Principal and AP Coordinator. 

Brooklyn Prep was previously highlighted last school year by both and as the only school in New York City offering the brand-new course to students. 

In Spring 2020, Henderson-Amare, along with her students and staff, launched a calling on the College Board to add AP African American Studies and African Civilizations to their course offerings. The petition was backed by the AP for All initiative of the New York City Department of Education, and garnered nearly 30,000 signatures. 

Two years later, Brooklyn Prep joined 59 schools across the country in piloting the new course, and almost one-third of its students expressed interest in enrolling. The following school year, 48 schools in New York City, and almost 700 schools nationwide, followed the school鈥檚 lead. 

African American Studies is just one of the advanced courses Henderson-Amare has introduced to Brooklyn Prep over the past decade, courses which go beyond AP curriculum.

鈥淪ometimes college and career readiness is not just about taking AP classes or traditional college preparation; it鈥檚 also about students finding out who they are and what they’re interested in,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o, we’ve added to a lot of unconventional things like entrepreneurship and financial literacy classes 鈥� anything that the students care about, we try to incorporate, and we know what they care about based on the 杏吧传媒insight cards.鈥�

Henderson-Amare has also focused on expanding access to Brooklyn Prep鈥檚 advanced course offerings, and has used 杏吧传媒data to help her find hidden gaps in enrollment. 

At the beginning of the 杏吧传媒partnership, she felt confident that enrollment numbers in Brooklyn Prep鈥檚 AP classes were strong across demographic lines. However, upon looking over comprehensive enrollment data provided by EOS, a significant gap came to light.

鈥淚t took me a couple of minutes to realize that, while we had a lot of students in AP classes, they were mostly girls. We did not have any Black and Brown boys in AP classes 鈥�  maybe 10% of our AP classes had boys in it.鈥�

Using the information provided about student aspirations and concerns on their insight cards, Henderson-Amare and her team began a 鈥渃oncentrated鈥� effort to engage male Black and Brown students and match them with the AP classes that best suited their interests and future goals. 

鈥淲hat our work with 杏吧传媒has allowed us to do is really be cognizant and make systematic school-wide shifts, focusing on our boys,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd first, we had to know what their story was. So looking at the 杏吧传媒data, it was not just about numbers, but what the students saw in themselves and what they wanted us to know about them. And that helped to transform our AP classroom culture.鈥�

She also worked to deconstruct the walls being placed around the AP track in her school, which she said carried tinges of 鈥渆litism鈥� at times. This involved helping shift teachers鈥� mindsets about which students they believed belonged in AP classrooms, and helping them adapt their teaching strategies. 

Henderson-Amare recalls one teacher who, upon going through her students鈥� insight cards and conversing with those students about their goals, pivoted from her more 鈥渢raditional鈥� textbook-based methods to 鈥渃reating different innovative creative strategies to engage students in the AP learning in a real authentic, culturally relevant, supportive ways.鈥�

Henderson-Amare says that partnering with 杏吧传媒has allowed her team to accomplish the equity-building initiatives that they have long worked towards by offering on-site support and accountability. 

鈥淎s a teacher and administrator, the thing I love most about my 杏吧传媒partnership is the support and the community,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he 杏吧传媒partnership with the partnership director keeps us accountable. It keeps us on track, keeps us focused on the students and moving the work that we all care about forward.鈥�

Brennan LaBrie helps 杏吧传媒and its partners tell their stories and spread awareness of their work through the mediums of print, audio and video. With a background in local journalism, he loves sharing the stories of the individuals and organizations driving impact in their community and beyond.

The post Where are the Black and Brown Boys? How Brooklyn Educator Shannah Henderson-Amare became a catalyst for innovative advanced coursework spreading across the nation appeared first on .

Bottom line: this stuff works! It works because 杏吧传媒is not a canned program. A consultant works with your sites, with their unique needs and issues, to help them develop and execute a concerted plan to reach students you have not been able to reach before. The strategies vary from school to school. It is more work. And, after the first year, with minimal cost for support from EOS, those plans are still generating results. But, the benefits of our relationship with 杏吧传媒are almost impossible to put into words

Last year, with the help of 杏吧传媒we closed our gap. And this spring those students will take a school record of 490 Advanced Placement tests, up from 321 tests in the spring of 2016. To prepare our students for these exams, we have developed a calendar of review sessions and weekend practice test in every one of our 16 courses, this was a suggestion from our surveys with EOS. While closing the gap and increasing our tests given are great, the best part of our 杏吧传媒partnership is how our new AP students now view themselves as not just college bound, but college prepared.

Jason Austin, Principal, Sterling Public Schools

After working with 杏吧传媒 for the past two years, the results for our students at Leyden have been both rewarding and encouraging. Students we have recruited for advanced placement courses have performed as well, or better, than students who self-selected in both class grades and AP test performance. 杏吧传媒has helped us instill confidence in our students, change mindsets of families, and most importantly, open the doors of opportunity.

Nick Polyak, Superintendent, Leyden School District 212

Indian Prairie District 204 has had a long commitment to educational equity. We have worked in partnership with our parents and community to address the achievement gaps evident in our schools. But it is also a moral imperative to close the opportunity and access gaps that exist. Partnering with 杏吧传媒 has given us the tools, structure and the coaching necessary to move our schools toward further closing one of those access and opportunity gaps-the Advanced Placement gap-with our underrepresented groups. We simply would not be where we are without this partnership. If a district is serious about this work (and all should be), you will not regret joining hands with EOS.

Karen Sullivan, Superintendent, Indian Prairie School District

I recommend 杏吧传媒 to other superintendents because of their substantial impact on equity and college readiness for all students鈥攁nd their efficiency in getting this critical work done.

Don Iglesias, Superintendent, San Jose Unified School District

杏吧传媒 helped us go from good to great in our ability to challenge kids.

Dr. Joshua Garcia, Deputy Superintendent, Federal Way School District

Finding all our missing students with 杏吧传媒 was the highlight of my forty-year career as a teacher and principal.

Dorothy Kennedy, Principal

I鈥檓 happy to talk with other superintendents about the great work of 杏吧传媒. Their team values our existing efforts and success. They鈥檝e given us tools and information and achievable ways for us to improve by building on what鈥檚 already working well in Campbell Union High School District.

Pat Gaffney, Former Superintendent

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Over a two-year span, this Northern Illinois High School, in partnership with 杏吧传媒 (EOS), expanded their AP program by 20%. Most of this program growth reflected students of color and low-income students. Without the intentional equity work of the partnership, Elliana would have been one of many students who would have missed the opportunity to enroll and benefit an AP experience.

Elliana entered 10th grade at this Northern IL High School with a 2.89 GPA, career interests in medicine and aspirations to go to a 4-year college. At this point in her high school career, she expressed concern that her current courses weren鈥檛 challenging and was interested in taking upper-level courses. Elliana believed that her grades didn鈥檛 reflect her full potential. She had heard of Advanced Placement (AP) classes, but she didn鈥檛 know how to go about enrolling in AP and didn鈥檛 feel like staff at her high school provided her with enough information about AP. She also reported not feeling welcome in AP.

The EOS/high school partnership provided the encouragement that Elliana needed. In fall of 10th grade, she reported mindsets and skills that hinted at her potential 鈥� a strong purpose for learning, an ability to focus on academic tasks when needed, and leadership experience developed through ongoing work in her community. In addition, a staff member recommended Elliana for an AP class. These assets showed up on her student insight card (SIC) that was used in outreach conversations. When asked about how she ended up deciding to take AP, she pointed to this outreach conversation and to the teacher recommendation:

Someone came in to school, I think it was two ladies that talked with us about AP classes. She showed me the apple on my profile or something like that, that a teacher said that they thought that I could take it and I think it was that point where I was like, 鈥淚f they think I can take it, maybe I can鈥�, and that鈥檚 what really got me to actually sign up.

Elliana

Elliana signed up for AP US History in 11th grade, a course aligned with her interest in history. While encouragement and interest were key for getting her to sign up for the class, Elliana still had doubts about whether the experience was for her:

The first semester, when I walked into my AP class, there were only two Hispanics and it was intimidating. None of my friends were there, so I was kind of uncomfortable鈥 guess kids that take a lot of AP classes, they obviously move as a group, because they鈥檙e all taking the same AP classes. So, when there鈥檚 someone like myself that takes one AP class it鈥檚 like, 鈥淥h, they all know each other, it鈥檚 just me鈥 guess it was more you felt like you aren鈥檛 supposed to be there. 鈥淲hy are you here? This isn鈥檛 for you鈥�

Elliana

And after the first test, she was inclined to agree. But four experiences helped her persist and succeed in AP US History.

The first was an encouraging, caring teacher:

• 鈥淥verall, I believe that the encouragement that was given helped me a lot, especially because it was my first AP class. The moment you feel like you do not belong or that you can鈥檛 do the class, is when you start to feel like you shouldn鈥檛 take AP classes鈥 think for me it was the welcome part, feeling welcome and encouraged and not discouraged鈥 don鈥檛 know, [my teacher] he didn鈥檛 have, I guess, a favorite student so it made you feel鈥� I don鈥檛 know, I don鈥檛 know how to say it鈥� Made you feel welcome.鈥�

A teacher that respected her ways of participating:

• 鈥淪ome kids aren鈥檛 comfortable with speaking. I know my teacher respected that. I don鈥檛 really like speaking. But he really did respect that. I guess he knew, because I never really raised my hand or stuff like that. He knew, he really paid attention to stuff like that.鈥�

Projects that were fun and interactive:

• 鈥淥ne of my favorites was a 1920s dress-up activity. I didn鈥檛 think we would do projects like that. Someone might think AP classes, 鈥淥h, it鈥檚 hard work, it鈥檚 a lot of homework鈥�, it鈥檚 in your head, so when you go into the AP class and you see projects like that, that are fun and stuff like that, you think, 鈥淲ow, no one told me that there was going to be projects like this.鈥�

And critical and encouraging feedback for improvement:

• 鈥淐ritical feedback on our tests and quizzes was really beneficial because apart from making mistakes you learn from them and do better next time. Last year in history class I got my test back, I never got the why I got this wrong, why I made this mistake and how to improve. I don鈥檛 remember getting feedback. In my AP class I did get feedback, every single test, every single essay, I always got feedback.鈥�

Elliana described her first AP experience as a success and plans to continue AP in 12th grade.

I have learned why it is important to do well in school to be prepared for college鈥 am glad I took AP. I found myself signing up for an AP course this year, which I never thought I would do. I didn鈥檛 really think I was going to have the opportunity to take more AP classes, but since I already experienced one AP class, I know now what it鈥檚 like.

Elliana

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As a 10th grader, Catalina had primarily only heard negative things about Advanced Placement (AP) courses at this Chicagoland high school. Even with over a 4.0 GPA and test scores similar to the top AP students, she felt intimidated, a feeling shared by over 30% of her schoolmates.

You hear the course is hard, you get a lot of homework, and you stay up stressing all night doing your homework. Tests will be hard.

Catalina

Catalina was open to considering higher-level courses but hadn鈥檛 enrolled in prior years because she was worried about not receiving academic support, being successful in the classes, and that her GPA would be affected.

Within the first few weeks of her sophomore year, Catalina already had 2 teachers recommending that she enroll in an AP class. She had demonstrated several learning mindsets, including 鈥淕rit鈥�- the ability to persevere through challenges, and 鈥淧urpose of Learning鈥�- An academic goal that is motivated both by an opportunity to benefit the self and the potential to have some effect on or connection to the world beyond the self.

However, she had several barriers impeding her from enrolling. Catalina wasn鈥檛 sure of the benefits of taking AP. She also wasn鈥檛 sure how to enroll in an AP course. And she reported not having much adult encouragement to enroll in an AP course, a barrier faced by 64% of students like Catalina at her high school.

After attending a meeting held by her school, designed to teach students about course selection, the enrollment process, and the benefits of AP courses, Catalina did enroll for AP classes. One motivating aspiration of hers was is to attend a four-year college and major in Criminal Justice.

Catalina recognized that, 鈥淚t will just look good if you鈥檝e taken any AP classes.鈥� She knew it wasn鈥檛 going to be easy, but the benefits would make it worth the risk.

At first, I thought AP classes weren鈥檛 for me because I have heard very negative things about it, it鈥檚 really hard, but then I decided to challenge myself and take an AP. The bright side about taking an AP class is that you can get college credit.

Catalina

Now Catalina feels comfortable and confident as she finishes out her first AP course as a junior. Though she is shy, she reflects how much help and support she鈥檚 gotten from her teacher and AP peers. Like her, more than 3 in 4 students of color taking AP for the first-time at least somewhat agree that they feel comfortable asking their teachers and peers for support, and that their teachers want them to succeed. Catalina also reports that she no longer has the barriers to enrollment she did before. 鈥淚f you need help, others will help you. It is not hard if you pay attention鈥︹��

One of the most enjoyable parts of her first-year experience was meeting new people and working through problems and projects together.

I鈥檓 glad I took an AP class because I got to meet new people from different countries. I met a girl from Cuba and another one from the Dominican Republic. And you just learn about different cultures and it鈥檚 very interesting. You work together on group projects and it helps you understand it better. If you don鈥檛 get something, maybe your partner gets it and then share ideas.

Catalina

This year, Catalina was inducted into La Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica 鈥� The Spanish Honor Society in her district. She plans on continuing AP during her final high school year.

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Hannah moved to the United States as a sophomore and enrolled at a Ventura County school district. New to the school and to the country, she found it difficult to navigate the different courses and programs that her high school offered. Despite being placed in an AP class that year, Hannah didn鈥檛 learn that she was taking AP or what that meant until a month into the school year.

When I first heard about AP, I was still new to this school because I came in last year as a sophomore from another country. I had no knowledge of what AP, IB, CP, none of that, until about a month in when my teacher had to explain to me what AP was or how it actually is beneficial, because at first I didn鈥檛 really get that from the counselors. I was too shy and timid to ask anybody about it. A lot of the people here are long-term residents, obviously. Most kids are. So, you have the students who have established what they wanted to do already. Maybe they have parents who work here, so they鈥檙e in it and they know. And that鈥檚 the feel[ing] at least when I first came here, not to be negative about it, but everybody already knew what they want to do and if you didn鈥檛 know, then you were looked down upon, and that was something I didn鈥檛 like at first or at least with some of the students I felt it was in the atmosphere.

Hannah

When it came time to select classes for her junior year, Hannah still felt that she lacked information about AP and IB courses, their benefits, and the pre-requisites she might need for enrollment.

It鈥檚 just something that I wasn鈥檛 that well informed of, but I also didn鈥檛 really have the time to go and look for myself because I didn鈥檛 really know. I thought [completing an IB diploma] was something you already had to be planning for ahead and then I had different students tell me, “Well, there鈥檚 certain pre-requisites you need to have for this,鈥� and make it seem like there鈥檚 only a certain type of student who needs to take these classes.

Hannah

Hannah ultimately found the information she needed about AP/IB courses when an Assistant Principal pulled her aside to have a one-on-one conversation about the AP/IB programs. With further encouragement from her English teacher, Hannah enrolled in IB Language, and AP US History for the next fall.

The next year, her first several weeks of school were difficult. She still found herself wondering whether she really belonged in AP/IB coursework. As it turned out, many other students were feeling the same way. When Hannah recognized this through conversations with her peers, she began to feel that she was part of a community, especially as she encountered other students with similar backgrounds to her own.

[My English teacher] was encouraging me to take IB Literature and explaining a little bit more about the creative freedom I would have. I ultimately chose it and I am really happy. Even though I do enjoy the pace and even the teachers for AP, I really like the creative freedom you get with IB and how that can apply to your daily life. There are kids who get a lot of support from their teachers and their parents. Their parents鈥攖hey鈥檙e pushing them a lot鈥hey鈥檒l have parents working there, family, they鈥檒l have parents who鈥檝e basically planned their schedules since they were in kindergarten, what they鈥檙e going to do鈥or the kids who are on their own, they don鈥檛 have parents to encourage them as much. Maybe they do, but they鈥檙e working parents who maybe don鈥檛 have degrees or don鈥檛 understand the full extent of what they need to do鈥攊t鈥檚 really that sense of coming together [with those students] and figuring out with each other and working with one another.

Hannah

Ultimately, Hannah loved her experience in her AP/IB classes. She saw the value of AP/IB extending far beyond grades because these courses 鈥溾�llow you to expand your knowledge and purely think deeply about something.鈥� One of her favorite memories was a class field trip to the Reagan library because she felt that she was able to personally connect with her teachers.

At the end of the first semester of her junior year, she had nearly straight A鈥檚 in all of her courses. Survey data from the past two years shows that over her junior year, Hannah also expanded the number of learning mindsets with which she approaches her coursework鈥攕uch as growth mindset and grit. Her educational experiences throughout the year also helped her grow her academic identity and sense of possibility. At the start of her sophomore year, she listed working in the medical field鈥攍ikely as a Physician鈥檚 Assistant鈥攁s her career goal. By the end of her junior year, she had joined the science club and decided upon being a Surgeon in either Orthopedics, Trauma, or Pediatrics.

Going into her senior year, Hannah will be taking IB Biology, IB Literature, AP American Government, AP Macro Economics, AP Spanish, AP Calculus, and AP Physics. Her only regret related to AP/IB is that she wasn鈥檛 able to take more classes!

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Over the past few years, this North Carolina high school has worked with 杏吧传媒 (EOS) to expand AP access to its predominantly Latino/a student population (92%). Over those two years, access has expanded considerably. The school鈥檚 first year, 1 in 3 Latino/a student鈥檚 (33%) participated in at least one AP class. During their second year, over 2 in 5 (42%) participated in at least one AP class.

Program quality has been stable and 88% of first-time AP Latino/a students passed their AP courses at the end of the first semester. Samuel鈥檚 story highlights the ways that peer connections, a positive teacher-student relationship, and the motivation provided by a clear understanding of long-term benefits can combine to help students who are often overlooked reap the rewards of an AP experience.

Samuel entered 9th grade with a 3.0 GPA, career interests in finance and aspirations to attain an advanced degree. He had heard about AP through his family and was interested in signing up during his 10th grade year.

My brother came to this school as well. He said he took AP and he wanted me to try AP. 鈥淵ou know, you should take this.鈥� He told me it鈥檚 a lot of work, but I thought he was exaggerating鈥o I tried AP.

When asked why he planned to take AP, Samuel highlighted the potential for getting college credit and for improving his chances for getting into college. He entered the class with a number of self-reported mindsets and skills for success 鈥� determination, focus, confidence in his academic abilities, and a commitment to use his learning to make a positive impact on the world. Despite his college and career aspirations, his understanding of the benefits of AP, and the strengths that he brought to his academic work, he did not initially feel that students like him were welcome in AP classes.

Samuel had been designated as a student with special education needs and stereotypes around who should be in AP often limit the participation of students in special education courses. While Samuel believes that false messages from staff and other students can be strong deterrents, he signed up for AP World History anyway.

They鈥檒l be just like, 鈥極h, you have to stay up late, you have to do this, you have all this work.鈥� But they don鈥檛 hear how it benefits you at the end a lot. Teachers explain that better; they say it helps you get ahead, but they don鈥檛 say, 鈥淚f you take this class, in college you won鈥檛 have to take it.鈥� They don鈥檛 explain the details of the class. I would want other students to know that it was a good way to learn new things. There was a lot of good parts of it and I want them to know how it was difficult, yet it teaches you and gives you a lot of knowledge and it gives a lot of confidence so that you feel better about it. It鈥檚 like you feel, 鈥極h, I overcame this, and it wasn鈥檛 that bad.鈥� There are times in our mind when we were doing it, we felt like, 鈥極h.鈥� We overthink, and we think it鈥檚 worse than it actually is but it鈥檚 not that bad.

The beginning of the first AP class can be challenging. 鈥淪tudents are not prepared for it and they don鈥檛 know anything about it. They don鈥檛 know what to do. It鈥檚 just crashes onto them, so they over stress about it and they just over think it. 鈥�

Looking back now Samuel wishes he could have had more help developing his expectations and skills for the class ahead.

I wish we could have had more tips on how to succeed in the class, like time management courses, help me on what鈥檚 in the class, what needs to be studied, being guided.They say, 鈥極h, we鈥檙e going to be reading this book, these chapters鈥�, so I could read them in the summer and go over it鈥t should prepare them before, give them tips, help them out before because a lot of times when I first entered AP, I learn something new, so in the beginning I was like, 鈥極h, wow, it鈥檚 pretty difficult鈥�, so I felt it would have helped me out I would have understood them more and maybe it would have been a better situation.

Samuel believed the transition into AP was easier for him than it is for many other students because he had friends in the class going in and a supportive teacher who offered students opportunities to learn from their mistakes. 鈥淚 had a couple students who took it with me, so I felt like I was able to like 鈥� I wasn鈥檛 really alone with them, like the students were taking it together. It wasn鈥檛 just a class where I just go, I do my thing, and then I leave. I got to laugh, have some fun. In the class that I was in, there were a lot of positive vibes going. There were always people who would be laughing, even the teacher made some jokes. It wouldn鈥檛 really 鈥� even if we messed up, 10 minutes later, we鈥檇 be joking instead鈥here鈥檚 a lot of teachers鈥hey don鈥檛 really explain who they are to you. Like my teacher, she would show us pictures of her going on trips. I think if teachers did that, kids feel more confident. They鈥檙e like, 鈥極h, we don鈥檛 just know her as a teacher. We know about her besides just being my teacher.鈥欌��

On doing test corrections with other students:

I liked it. if you do it by yourself, you don鈥檛 catch the things that other people catch, you don鈥檛 have the ideas they have, so sometimes the more ideas you have, the more open your mind is into more like, 鈥極h, I didn鈥檛 even know that, I didn鈥檛 even think of it as answer A鈥� but this person had great explanations about this

Samuel passed AP World History and looks back on his first AP class as a positive experience.

I was glad I took AP because for me, the way [my teacher] talks, I had no idea at first what she was saying. As you catch on, as you鈥檇 practice more, you start understanding it more and it鈥檚 something unique you know. I just learned something, this new word, that no one else knows. I like that. I was slow at it so I just have to read it twice, but it helped me because in the beginning I was like, 鈥淚t鈥檚 not as easy as I thought鈥�, but at the end of it when I went to the study sessions, techniques and the practices that the teachers would teach for us and use for us it really helped me improve and it made me feel better for the future so I feel more comfortable, like, 鈥極h, you know, if I can do this, then I can do other things鈥�.鈥滻t made me feel like that at the end of it I gained a lot of knowledge and like the vocabulary because it was like different, really different compared to honors, especially the way the teacher talks and it鈥檚 just like a whole different thing, so I liked that.

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As an incoming 10th grader, Dora was concerned that her courses weren鈥檛 challenging and was interested in taking upper-level courses. She carried a 2.89 GPA, but she didn鈥檛 believe that her grades reflected her full potential and she aspired to go to a four-year college to study medicine. She had heard of AP classes, but she didn鈥檛 know how to enroll and didn鈥檛 feel particularly welcome.

The Atlanta metro school district where Dora attends school has been in a partnership with 杏吧传媒 for two academic years. In that time, the district has expanded its AP program enrollments by 20 percent. Most of this program growth is reflected in low-income students and students of color. Without the intentional equity work of the partnership, many students would miss out on that opportunity.

The 杏吧传媒 partnership provided the encouragement that Dora needed. The program鈥檚 outreach efforts showed that she had the right learning mindset for AP, and a staff member recommended her.

While her teacher鈥檚 encouragement was key for getting Dora to sign up for AP US History class, she still had doubts about whether the experience was for her.

After the first test, she was inclined to agree: 鈥淲hen I saw my bad score, I got very discouraged. I remember thinking multiple times about dropping AP US History, and I didn鈥檛 because I knew it was going to be good for me.鈥�

Dora鈥檚 teacher helped her persist and succeed by providing encouragement and respecting her learning style. Frequent feedback helped Dora to continue to improve and grow as a student.

The encouragement that was given helped me a lot鈥My teacher] didn鈥檛 have a favorite student so it made you feel welcome. Some kids aren鈥檛 really comfortable with speaking. I know my teacher respected that.

At the end of the year, Dora felt that her first AP experience was a success and plans to continue AP in 12th grade.

I have learned why it is important to do well in school to be prepared for college. I am glad I took AP.

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