Huntington AP English and Social Studies Scores Rise
Huntington High School teachers and administrators continue to dissect last spring’s Advanced Placement test results in English and Social Studies. Faculty members and students are looking to build on the positive numbers later in the current school year.
In English, teacher Kelly Quintero-Lashley’s students averaged over a 3 on the AP Literature exam given last May as 21 of 58 students scored either a 4 or 5. Ms. Quintero is spearheading a comprehensive project in curriculum alignment for the honors and AP program for the high school English department, including a redesign of the advanced composition class offered to students who are making the transition into the AP program.
Ms. Quintero is also co-authoring the curriculum for the newest AP course in the Humanities: AP Composition, which is available to qualifying juniors. Roy Dumar, who is teaching this new course, has co-authored the curriculum, as well.
“The high school English department has laid the groundwork for further efforts in ‘vertical teaming,’ an approach supported by the College Board, where specific and necessary skills for success in AP courses are defined by grade level in curriculum maps,” said Joseph Leavy, Huntington’s Director of Humanities. “Within the Humanities, we are also working on a similar departmental effort in Social Studies.”
The results for the AP Microeconomics course continued to run high, as 59 seniors averaged 3.6 on the national exam. James Graber, who teaches AP Microeconomics, AP US History and Research and Writing in the Social Studies, said the results are “a testament to the determination, work ethic and serious amount of study that the students commit to.”
In AP U.S. History, exam scores averaged 3.8 for the second consecutive year. “James Graber’s technique, motivational strategies and sheer expertise in the content area has combined to bring students to their highest level of performance on these challenging exams,” Mr. Leavy said. “Any student who has had Mr. Graber as a teacher knows that he or she is learning from a master of the art of teaching.”
After pouring in many hours of preparation and course development, Camille Tedeschi, who teaches the new AP World History course, demonstrated tremendous success with her students as 25 class members scored an average of 3.7 on the challenging exam. “The students put in a great amount of effort and each should be proud of the results of their hard work from last year,” Ms. Tedeschi said.
Ms. Tedeschi has been involved in “looping” with her honors students, wherein the qualifying ninth grade course students she teaches move on as sophomores to continue the collegiate level of work that the AP World History course demands.
AP Government exam results have also seen an increase, with a doubling of the number of students scoring in the 4 and 5 ranges over the past year. “Teacher Deborah Mellon has completed a curriculum alignment in conjunction with the AP audit, which was required of all courses last year,” Mr. Leavy said.
Huntington English and Social Studies teachers and students hope to keep up the AP momentum next spring when the next round of exams is offered.
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