Mr. Borham, the presenter, told the School Town of Speedway Board of Trustees on Sept. 9 that the district’s Class of 2025 earned qualifying scores on 72% of Advanced Placement exams and that 97% of seniors took at least one AP exam. He noted the district was on its seventh consecutive AP District Honor Roll and said the award’s threshold is 35% of a graduating cohort earning qualifying scores.

The district’s performance represents a rise from last year: Borham said the district was at 61% the previous year and that a pandemic-era low for one cohort was 44% in 2022. “We’ve nearly doubled that percentage pass rate for this…graduating class,” he said. He attributed the gains to a combination of curriculum, counseling, targeted intervention and the district’s “open access” approach to AP course enrollment.

Why it matters: Trustees were told the results show gains across student groups at a minority-majority, high free-and-reduced-lunch school, which Borham said demonstrates the district’s attempts to expand rigorous course access. He described the district’s approach as “open/intentional access,” saying counselors, teachers and families work together to place students in courses and provide midterm progress reviews and targeted “plug time” interventions.

Details presented to the board included: seven consecutive years as an AP District Honor Roll member, a 72% qualifying-rate for the Class of 2025, 97% of seniors taking an AP exam, and earlier cohort lows during the pandemic. Borham described the district’s practice of exposing all students to at least two AP courses via scheduling changes (for example, AP psychology for juniors and a two-year AP English sequence spanning junior and senior years). He said the district continues teacher supports: new AP teachers attend the AP Summer Institute and AP teachers meet monthly in professional learning communities to review data and placement.

Board discussion included whether pandemic effects remain a factor and how the district measures potential AP readiness. A trustee asked about using PSAT “AP potential” cut scores; Borham said PSAT indicators are useful but “not the end all be all,” and that relying solely on PSAT cut scores would likely halve AP participation and “leave a lot of wins on the table.” He described ongoing supports for students scoring a 2 to move toward higher pass rates.

The presentation closed with trustees thanking Borham and teachers for the program’s apparent growth. The board took no formal action on the report.