Current Events

WLWV again achieves AP Honor Roll distinction; Bailey credits accessibility of classes, quality of teaching

Elise Brown
November 14, 2012

Photo by Elise Brown

Among nearly 540 school districts nationwide and two statewide, the College Board has placed the West Linn-Wilsonville School District on its Advanced Placement Honor Roll school district for the second year in a row. School districts which receive this honor show, over three school years, an increase in AP class enrollment (both overall and within racial minorities) and increased frequency of AP test scores of three or higher.

Lou Bailey, principal, believes that two factors are responsible for this achievement: the high standards used to select AP class teachers and the accessibility of AP classes to the student body.

“Our recognition of the scores goes straight to the teachers,” Bailey said. “My emphasis is on participation, because the more the better. I’m more proud of the enrollment than the scores.”

Many school districts similar to WLWV, according to Bailey, have high percentages of AP test scores above three, but do not receive this honor because of the restricted access students have to the AP classes and tests.

“Some fear that more enrollment decreases overall scores, but we have seen the opposite,” Bailey said. “Many districts pick and choose the top-performing students in their classes to take the AP test, but in our district, all AP students take the tests. Our data has shown improvement.”

WLWV also distinguishes itself from other districts by allowing students in all grade levels to take AP courses. For example, AP Human Geography opened to freshmen this school year, and sophomores were able to take AP United States History beginning about six years ago. Most districts restrict AP course enrollment to upperclassmen.

“I believe that most kids should be able to take an AP course,” Bailey said. “With 94 percent of our kids going to a two or four year university, we encourage all of them to take a college-level course. We call it ‘tap-them-on-the-shoulder,’ inviting students to try this experience.”

Out of WLHS’s 1550 students, 510 are enrolled in at least one AP course; WLHS students will take a total of 902 AP tests this May. This is an improvement from last year, when 390 students were enrolled and took 660 tests. Seventy-three percent of those who took the tests scored three or higher. The previous year, it was 71 percent.

In addition to the students, Bailey commends West Linn’s AP teachers for training them to score so highly.

“We’re an attractive district that attracts high-level teachers,” Bailey said.

WLWV’s hiring process is very selective, and every teacher hired must interview the superintendent, a practice not used by most districts. As a result, according to Bailey, the teachers in the district are the most qualified and consistently receive recognition from organizations such as College Board.

This is the third school year in which the College Board has assigned AP Honor Roll status to school districts, and the second in which WLWV has been recognized. Bailey hopes that next year, the district will be recognized again.

“I can’t predict how well [our students] will score on the tests,” Bailey said, “but enrollment has significantly improved, so we will be very competitive for this award next year.”

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About the Contributor

Elise Brown, Co Editor-in-Chief

Elise Brown, senior, has always felt comfortable standing up and giving her opinion in front of everyone and for the most part, she enjoys it very much. That is one of the many reasons why she heads the debate team, and also why in June she earned a place in the National Speech and Debate Competition in Indianapolis.

Out of the 250 people entered in the competition, she finished 151st in the country. Before she earned her rightful place in Nationals, however, she needed to prove herself in Districts and State.

Her 10 minute long speech about socialism and its benefits took first and second in Districts and State, respectively.

“In the National competition the judges didn’t appreciate politics or controversy as much as they did in Districts and State,” Brown said. This was confirmed from one of the judges she conversed with in order to find out what she could do better.

Brown’s interest in current events started in the eighth grade. She then did the Amplifier, the high school newspaper to help communicate her ideas about the world with her fellow peers, she also did the debate team to better understand the problems throughout the world and learn how to solve them somewhat.

“Debate involves knowing what is going on in the world,” Brown said.

This year for upcoming competitions, she has a speech in the works that she feels will top her last one. This year’s speech is about interdependence inspired by the “you didn’t build that debate,” caused when President Barack Obama told business people that they did not create their businesses on their own.

Brown’s passion for debate has influenced what college she will go to, what she will study in college, and what she wants to do in her life. Brown’s goal is to graduate high school and then travel to Massachusetts and attend Wellesley College, a very well known and prestigious college, where Brown hopes to study political science.

To achieve this goal she has taken part in a number of rigorous courses and activities such as Speech and Debate, AP Government, AP Economics, Honors Law, AP English and journalism. Once Brown achieves her education goals, her next goal is to become a political commentator.

“I want to change people’s minds,” Brown said. Brown has chosen the path to become a political commentator because she believes political power lies with the media.

Brown has worked very hard throughout high school and continues to work hard through her senior year. She has taken many challenging courses to achieve her goal of going to Wellesley, and will need to continue down the very rigorous path to success to accomplish her goals.