College readiness grant boosts learning at HHS
The incentive for Hartselle High School students to enroll in Advanced Placement (AP) courses has never been higher, thanks to a $250,000, three-year A+ College Ready Grant.
The grant has already funded student testing and professional training for AP teachers. Next spring it will award $100 to each student who makes a passing grade in a math, science or English AP course, providing at least 85 of the students in the program successfully complete the courses they’re taking. If they reach or exceed goal, their teachers will receive $500 each and the school will be awarded $5,000. To qualify, students must pass an A+ College Ready test in their respective courses at the end of the school year.
“It may be that some students take just one AP course, and that’s fine,” HHS Principal Jeff Hyche said. “We’re thankful to have the grant because it is providing us training that we just couldn’t afford. At the same time it is encouraging us to identify talent, get talented students into AP courses, and watch them excel. I believe interest in the program is going to continue to soar.”
The school currently has 406 students – mostly juniors and seniors – enrolled in AP classes. Of that number, 212 are taking math, science and English courses. Pre-AP classes have 754 students enrolled.
Hyche said Alabama is doing better than most states in the number of high school graduates getting into college, but its college students aren’t graduating at the same rate as the rest of the nation.
In reference to a report compiled by the Southern Regional Education Board, he said in 2008, two-thirds of the state’s high school graduates enrolled in college within the next year but less than one-half who started college six years earlier graduated from a four-year institution.
The six-year graduation rate in Alabama was 48 percent in 2008, below the regional rate of 53 percent and the national rate of 55 percent, according to the report.
“The facts show that many high school graduates are not ready for college,” Hyche said. “We’re working hard here to address that. College readiness translates into work readiness in the 21st century.”
A report on ACT scores of Hartselle High’s 2010 seniors showed they averaged 23.0 or a point higher that the 22.0 their counterparts scored five years earlier. The state average was 20.4.
