Marlborough High to promote advanced placement
By Kate Daly Contributing Writer
Marlborough - Marlborough High School (MHS) will benefit from a national grant awarded to Massachusetts and will participate in a new program designed to increase the number of students taking advanced placement (AP) courses and exams.

Displaying the goals for Marlborough High School's advanced placement program are (l to r) Morton Orlov II, president of the Massachusetts Insight Education and Research Institute, Marlborough Mayor Nancy Stevens and Mary Carlson, MHS principal and interim district superintendent PHOTO/KATE DALY

The first year of the fiveyear grant will give MHS $14,000, said Mary Carlson, principal and interim district superintendent, during a press conference March 4.

"More important to me is that we open up advanced placement, so it's inclusive," she said. "We don't want students to be left out."

The school is one of 11 in Massachusetts to receive the grant. The national grant, was awarded to seven states from the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) for their AP training and incentive program. The grant will be administered by the state and by the nonprofit organization Mass. Insight Education and Research Institute (MassInsight).

Morton Orlov II, MassInsight president, said the program is based on a Dallas, Tex., program that greatly increased student participation in AP courses, which are college-level classes and can provide college credit to high school students who successfully complete the exams.

"Our mission is to institutionalize the advantages the grant will bring," he said.

The $13.2 million, six-year grant will provide materials, support and teacher training.

For Marlborough, that means 15 teachers will attend a five-day summer AP training program to become lead teachers. Other teachers will receive training as well.

"We're going to work with you and your curriculum and make sure it's aligned with the highest standard," Orlov said. "Teachers will benefit, students will benefit, the commonwealth will benefit."

NSMI was created to improve the mathematics, science and literacy in American schools, he said. Major corporations, including Dell and Exxon-Mobil and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, are contributing grant money.

The AP program will help schools "attain excellence" and "transform the culture" in schools, Orlov said.

"We have [AP]; it's already here in Marlborough. Let's build on it," he said. "We believe this can also help define what goes on in our schools."

Orlov presented details that showed increased student participation in AP classes in Dallas schools using the program by more than 700 students from 1995 to 1996, its first year, from 379 students to 1,130. By 2007, that number had increased to 4,200. In the same 10 years, students who achieved qualifying scores in AP exams increased by more than 1,100.

Orlov emphasized that qualifying scores aren't the only measure of the program's success. Those students who didn't earn qualifying marks still benefit from the more challenging courses, he said.

In 2007, MHS had 105 qualifying scores in the three exams, he said. By 2013, the goal is to have 275 qualifying scores annually.

Carlson said administrators had wanted to increase enrollment in AP classes, and this grant will make it possible.

"We are absolutely looking to increase the number of teachers as well as students," she said, applauding the program's commitment to teacher training. "It's longterm faculty development."

Orlov said the program is about achieving excellence.

"This is really a long-term commitment to excellence," he said. "We believe Marlborough will be an incredible success."