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Secondary curriculum update: AP participation and college-course enrollment rise; ELA mastery dip prompts cross-curricular response
Summary
Dr. Cipani told the board that AP participation and college-course enrollment are up, earning the high school a College Board honor-roll silver distinction, but January ELA regents showed a drop in mastery. The district plans cross-disciplinary professional development and curriculum review to address nonfiction-text stamina and comprehension.
Dr. Cipani presented a secondary curriculum performance update, reporting increases in advanced-course participation and describing next steps after a dip in ELA-regents mastery.
The district reported that high school students took 1,455 AP exams in the 2023–24 school year with an average score of 3.4 on the 1–5 scale; district staff said that performance contributed to a College Board honor-roll silver distinction. In addition to roughly 30 AP classes, the district now offers 34 college-credit courses in partnership with local colleges and universities, creating 64 total college-level opportunities. The presentation noted that 3,411 students took at least one AP or college class in 2023, rising to 3,477 in 2024 and an anticipated 3,601 for 2025 once AP results are finalized.
Using 12th-grade social studies as a case study, Dr. Cipani said the share of seniors enrolled in advanced coursework is substantial: in earlier years about 31–32% of seniors took AP social studies; in 2024–25 about 28% took AP social studies but 76% of seniors took either AP or a college-level alternative because of the expanded college-course options.
At the middle-school level, district staff reported Algebra I Accelerated enrollment steady at about 40%; those students largely continued into Geometry Accelerated at Ames, where district staff said the cohort averaged an 89% assessment score this year.
Dr. Cipani flagged a notable decline in mastery levels on the January ELA regents even as overall passing rates remained at roughly 97–98%. Instructional leaders conducted an item analysis and identified three likely contributors: increased text difficulty with emphasis on nonfiction (often science-based) passages; at least one passage with an unusual narrative perspective (a parrot) that students found hard to interpret; and test-length-related stamina issues. To address those findings, the district plans targeted professional development that blends literacy strategies into science and social-studies instruction, increased progress monitoring, collaborative curriculum writing and assessment review, and other classroom-level interventions.
Dr. Cipani also presented student survey feedback linking course participation to the district’s five stated competencies for learners and leaders; he highlighted AP Capstone, science research, PE Leadership and career-technical offerings as programs where students reported gains in leadership, problem solving and career readiness. The presentation noted that 428 graduating seniors will earn the Seal of Civic Readiness and that the district will develop a three-year plan for CTE expansion and continued evaluation of assessment and participation data.
"I would like to provide context to these experiences, particularly how they link to our vision and mission statement," Dr. Cipani said during the presentation, framing the update around student performance data and program access. Board members praised the use of mixed quantitative and qualitative evidence and asked that guidance and counseling teams track test and admissions requirements as colleges shift policies. Officials said they expect full AP-score data in early July and will use that evidence to refine instruction and course offerings for 2025–26.
