National Report Highlights Sprayberry Grad

By the time Shadae Pete graduated as Sprayberry High School's valedictorian last month, she had taken 11 Advanced Placement courses.

Sprayberry, she said, "encouraged almost all students to take AP classes."

Pete's story is highlighted in a new national report that singles out Cobb and five other school systems that have boosted African-American student participation in and performance on Advanced Placement tests.

While the gap between African-American and white students remains, Cobb County School District is one of six districts where African-American students are improving AP passing rates quickly enough to narrow the gap while increasing or keeping participation rates steady, according to the report from The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation.

AP passing rates among African-American students increased three points between 2008 and 2011 to 39 percent in Cobb—the highest overall passing rate cited in the report.

The Broad Foundation attributed the gains to several factors, mainly an expansion of gifted selection criteria and a broader search for potential that starts as early as elementary school. Researchers found that:

• Cobb County holds parent nights in the spring before course registration and in the fall to discuss how families can support their children in AP courses.
• Cobb middle and high schools offer an elective course for students wanting to develop the analytic skills required to do well in challenging classes.
• Cobb County provides opportunities for AP teachers at different schools to get together to collaborate.

For further contemplation and analysis, read the The Road to Equity: Expanding AP Access and Success for African-American Students.

-- This story was reported by Rodney Thrash.