More Indiana STEM Students Earn College- and Career-Readiness through AP-TIP IN

The Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program for Indiana (AP-TIP IN), administered by Notre Dame’s Institute for Educational Initiatives since 2012, issued its annual report showing major gains in college- and career-readiness in STEM-related studies among students in Indiana’s 30 public high schools that participated in the program as of last spring.

One excerpt from the success stories among students and teachers that emerged from the results of College Board Advanced Placement® tests in math, science, and English (MSE) at the end of the 2014-2015 school year reflects a major area of improvement:

During the three years the program has been implemented, minorities and women students have experienced great gains. Minority students, particularly African American and Hispanic student students, increased the number of college-level scores for math, science, and English AP exams by 99%. Counting only math and science, which are highlighted as STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) disciplines prized by leading employers, this same group more than doubled the numbers of test-takers scoring 3, 4, or 5 (eligible for college credit). To date, success on AP math and science exams for African American and Hispanic students increased by an average of 191%.

A news update page at the Institute’s website includes the remainder of this announcement from the Oct. 6 event, along with graphs showing statewide shrinkage in the STEM achievement gap among many women and minority students, plus archived video from the event courtesy of Kokomo High School. Representatives from participating schools and from the Institute gathered to celebrate the increased readiness for tomorrow’s high-tech Indiana workforce, and they also named an AP-TIP IN School of the Year and Teachers of the Year for the targeted science, math, and English disciplines.

AP-TIP IN, currently funded as a five-year program with support from federal grant money and key backing from the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) in several states, is soliciting funds to help schools across Indiana join future cohorts of participants. Students and their teachers benefit from the innovative mix of training and incentives for successful test outcomes, and their entire schools can benefit from the higher level of STEM motivation and skills overall.

For more information: Bill Schmitt, Institute for Educational Initiatives, 574-631-3893 /

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News media in Kokomo, IN, where Kokomo High School received 2015 School of the Year honors, reported on the program in The Kokomo Herald  and The Kokomo Tribune.

The Inside Indiana Business website reported not only on the value of AP-TIP IN for increasing AP exam scores, but also on a new federal grant recently given to the program to support its distinctive professional development activities for teachers in the participating schools. The website story includes an audio podcast with a brief interview with Karen Morris, Notre Dame’s program director for AP-TIPIN.

Originally published by Bill Schmitt at iei.nd.edu on October 08, 2015.