Starting in July, Pentucket will begin a three year anticipated partnership with Mass Insight, an organization that works with schools to create equitable advanced placement (AP) learning opportunities for all students by increasing student participation with more equitable opportunities and open enrollment for students to take AP courses in math, science, technology, and engineering, and English; increasing student performance by expanding classroom rigor and increasing students scores on AP exams; and increasing student college success as more students are enrolling and graduating from college better prepared. Moreover, Mass Insight partners with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (DESE) and together, they have developed the largest STEM program in the state. So what does Mass Insight’s partnership mean for Pentucket? It creates two important opportunities for Pentucket: teacher professional development (PD) and advancing student learning and engagement.
Advanced Placement or AP - are courses that are designed with a strict course outline and syllabus that is regulated and approved by the College Board. AP courses allow students to engage in college-level work in a high school setting. They open the window for students to earn college credit and/or specific course placement in college. More importantly, the courses are rigorous, challenging, and allow students to explore deeper academic interests.
The first opportunity for teacher PD begins at Mass Insight’s week-long summer institute at Bridgewater State University, convening with AP teachers across the Commonwealth. With Pentucket joining a partnership with Mass Insight, the training is open to all 7-12 English, science, engineering, and technology and mathematics (STEM) educators for the next three years, which will build a deeper pool of teachers for AP. Ten Pentucket educators will be participating in this year’s summer institute at Bridgewater State University with another teacher attending a different week-long institute. Providing this level of intensive professional development support and training for staff to teach AP courses will have a profound impact on maintaining high expectations for students. The additional PD opportunities will begin during the school year as AP teachers will attend a two day workshop and two content team meetings during the year to reflect and to refine their instructional strategies. Lisa Ward, high school biology teacher and Matt Jacques, high school math teacher are participating in Mass Insight’s summer PD.
Mrs. Ward, who recently participated in Pentucket’s science curriculum review, explains,
“I am excited to learn new strategies for effectively delivering science curriculum, not only at the AP level, but also in my ninth grade biology classes.”
Mr. Jacques, who will be teaching BC Calculus for the first time, stated,
“I am eager to go to Mass Insight training to stretch myself mathematically and then share that passion with my students.”
Teachers who currently teach an AP class in the STEM or English field, plan to teach an AP class in the future, and/or who wish to develop best teaching practices are invited to participate. The summer institute, taught by current AP teachers nationwide, will focus on creating an AP syllabus approved by the CollegeBoard, developing/revising units and lesson plans, practicing scoring/assessing student work, examining the AP exam, and enhancing instructional strategies. Additionally, there will be ongoing AP teacher professional development (PD) opportunities throughout the year with Mass Insight’s curriculum directors such as coaching, modeling, assessing student work, observations, and/or consultations. Although Mass Insight’s partnership is reserved for English and STEM teachers, other AP content area teachers have the opportunity to attend AP summer PD.
MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) states that quality professional development is “A set of coherent learning experiences that is systematic, purposeful, and structured over a sustained period of time with the goal of improving teacher practice and student outcomes.” The more robust PD our Pentucket educators receive, the district is able to ensure the implementation of high quality curriculum that addresses standards, rigor, equity, inclusivity, differentiation, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). PD provides teachers resources to build their knowledge, expertise, skills, and refine their craft which translates to deeper student learning.
Additional exciting news for the district is that this year, Pentucket’s own AP Literature and Composition teacher, Cynthia Cromwell, was selected to be AP reader by the CollegeBoard. At the beginning of June, Ms. Cromwell will travel to Utah to score student-free response questions on the AP Literature and Composition exam. This professional experience will allow Ms. Cromwell to engage and apply the AP rubrics by using benchmarks and specific scoring guidelines and expose her to a variety of student free responses. Mrs. Crowell will return to Pentucket with new instructional strategies to teach the AP free response questions and will be able to share her knowledge with colleagues.
Below is a graph that demonstrates enrollment trends for the percent of students in the senior class who has enrolled in an AP class. It is projected that 174 students will be enrolled in AP courses in the 2022-2023 school year. Some of these students will be enrolled in more than one AP course totaling 421 AP course enrollments. This is almost 100 more additional AP course enrollments from the 2021-2022 school year. Starting next year, a new AP class, AP Computer Science Principles is available, and as an open enrollment district, we encourage students to try and take at least one AP class by their senior year. With Mass Insight’s partnership we also plan to expand our AP enrollment and with time, expand our AP class offerings.
In terms of student learning, Mass Insight’s partnership provides the option for students to attend three AP English and STEM study sessions per content area a year. Two of the study sessions are facilitated by Mass Insight trained AP teachers across the Commonwealth and are combined with students in neighboring districts. These sessions, through coaching and feedback, focus on certain skills assessed on the AP exam. The third session is a mock exam that mirrors the AP exam by providing students with sample test questions. The mock exam scoring is facilitated by Mass Insight and returned to students with general feedback in a timely manner. Additionally, teachers receive suggested lessons and instructional strategies based on students' scores to deepen students' learning. This summer, Pentucket students in AP courses will be invited to attend Mass Insight’s free Summer Bridge Program, a one week long course that prepares students to succeed in their AP course, which has repeatedly demonstrated improved student outcomes for those who participate.
Additionally, Mass Insight assists districts in developing their AP course offerings, which will gain more student interest and student participation enrolled in AP classes. The goals of this work are to improve the overall instructional work with teachers and to improve the outcomes of students with the goal in increasing those who score a 3 or higher on the AP exam. Scoring a 3 or higher on the exam is what qualifies students for college credit. The chart below provides projections from Mass Insight on how the scores will improve. Additionally, research has shown student who score a 3 and above on AP exams and even the students who simply take an AP class and test, outperform their peers in their first year of college.
Mass Insight states, based on research, that students who take one or more AP classes and one or more AP exams are more likely to graduate college in four years than students who do not take any AP courses and exams. Forty five percent of white or Asian students not enrolled in an AP class graduate college in four years while 39% of underrepresented minority students graduate in four years. Forty seven percent of White and Asian students who score a one on the AP exam graduate college in four years while 39% of underrepresented students graduate in four years. The percentages increase as 53% Asian and White students who score a two, graduate in four years and 45% underrepresented students do. As stated early, the data demonstrates that even students who take one AP class are more likely to matriculate through college in four years with better college outcomes.
Pentucket offers students with varying opportunities to take advanced coursework, including dual enrollment with classes taught on our campus for credits at Merrimack College and Southern New Hampshire University. We have also developed a partnership for Early College Programming with Northern Essex Community College. The NECC Early College Program has students traveling to the college campus for half of the day and earning college credits and high school credits at the same time. Regardless of the opportunity, it is a key academic feature for Pentucket to ensure our students are challenged and engaged. These programs differ from the AP classes but combined, all of the advanced options are meant to provide students with varying needs and circumstances with multiple pathways to challenge themselves.
Our commitment to push students to challenge themselves, while also building our own capacity to support those challenges, is the driving force behind these efforts. The staff support for this work is impressive, extending to summer sessions, after school and even weekends. With purposeful efforts to increase enrollment and strategic partnerships to improve instruction and outcomes, we look forward to impact this will have on our students and community.
Dr. Robin Doherty
Curriculum and Instruction Coordinator Gr. 7-12
Brent Conway
Assistant Superintendent