Livingston High School Named to National Honor Roll

The following article was written by Marilyn Joyce Lehren, manager of communications and community outreach for Livingston Public Schools.

Livingston High School has been honored for the third-consecutive time on the national stage for simultaneously increasing access to Advanced Placement courses while increasing the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher on AP Exams.
 
At Livingston High School, more students are challenging themselves in college-level classes by taking AP, or Advanced Placement, classes than ever before. And with more students choosing to take these rigorous classes, most are also passing the tough AP exam.
 

 
The achievement was honored on Wednesday by the Advanced Placement Program, which oversees these classes. For the third year in a row, Livingston High School was among the schools included in a national honor roll for simultaneously achieving increases in access to AP courses for a broader number of students and also maintaining or improving the rate at which their AP students earned scores of 3 or higher on an AP Exam.

 
“This recognition really speaks to the commitment to excellence on the part of Livingston High School students and teachers,” said Principal Mark Stern.

“For the third year in a row, we are seeing more students challenge themselves in our rich Advanced Placement curricula with the continued support and encouragement of the staff preparing them to meet these challenges.”

Last spring, 96.6 percent of the students at Livingston High School who took AP exams earned a 3 or higher, which is considered a passing grade and eligible for college credit.

On the five-point scale, 75.4 percent scored a 4 or a 5, according to Mary Oates, the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction.
 
A total of 1,069 AP exams were administered at Livingston High School. The numbers have climbed since the school opened access to the curriculum. Livingston was among 36 districts in New Jersey that met the criteria to be placed on the AP Honor Roll this year; in Essex County, only Livingston and Glen Ridge were named.
 

Livingston High School offers more than 20 different AP classes, and exams were given in a wide range of classes. At the high school, students must earn at least a C minus to continue with the rigorous AP courses after the first marking period.

At the end of the first marking period, students not succeeding in AP classes are switched to either honors or the regular curriculum. Trying an AP course does not count against their transcripts. And it’s worth the try.

Some research shows that average students who struggle in an AP course, and even earn one of the lower scores on the test, do better in college than similar students who did not take AP.

 
Being named to the national honor roll indicates that the district is successfully identifying motivated, academically prepared students who are likely to benefit most from rigorous AP course work.

More than 90 percent of colleges and universities across the U.S. offer college credit, advanced placement or both for a score of 3 or higher on an AP Exam — which can potentially save students and their families thousands of dollars in college tuition. 

“We applaud the extraordinary efforts of the devoted teachers and administrators in this district who are offering more students the opportunity to engage in rigorous college-level course work,” said Trevor Packer, the College Board’s senior vice president of AP and Instruction.

“These outcomes are a powerful testament to educators’ belief that a more diverse population of students is ready for the sort of rigor that will prepare them for success in college.”