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North Kingstown high school expands AP access; administration reports rising exam participation and scores
Summary
High school presenters reported growth in Advanced Placement enrollment and scores in 2024–25, described new AP seminar and African American studies pilots and said the district is aligning middle‑school messaging and prerequisites to expand access.
North Kingstown High School staff updated the school committee on Advanced Placement (AP) program results, expansion and access work during the Oct. 21 meeting.
Shivali Tarocchi and Jacqueline Finkelstein, who presented data on AP course enrollment and exam outcomes, said both the number of exams taken and the number of students sitting AP tests increased from 2024 to 2025; mean scores held steady or rose in many subjects. The presenters said the school concentrated on course‑level data with teachers, adjusted instructional supports and encouraged more students to take both AP courses and exams.
Presenters reported upward trends in several AP subjects (biology, chemistry, English, U.S. history and statistics) and noted outliers in a few courses, such as mixed results in AP Calculus where one section produced many fives and a separate section produced many low scores. The high school has been working with teachers and changing staffing in some courses to address uneven results.
The presenters described two new pilot courses this year: AP Seminar (two full sections) and AP African American Studies (about 10 students in the pilot), both of which have no prerequisites. The district has allowed AP Seminar to count as an English credit to remove a scheduling barrier, staff said, and they plan to propose AP African American Studies for inclusion in the program of studies in future years.
District staff also outlined efforts to increase access earlier in students’ careers by aligning middle school curriculum and messaging to clarify prerequisites and “view to AP” pathways. Jacqueline said the district is working to certify enough teachers so that courses are not disrupted when a single teacher is out and to keep two certified teachers per AP course where possible.
Committee members asked about subgroup participation and whether AP and dual‑enrollment participation reflects the district’s demographics. Presenters said they can provide disaggregated participation and outcome data by subgroup and agreed to follow up by email with further cross‑tabulations.
Ending: Staff said they will track subgroup access and report back; the high school plans to continue piloting new AP courses, support teacher certification and align middle‑school messaging to broaden access.
