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Tomball ISD Placed on College Board’s 10th Annual AP District Honor Roll
TOMBALL, TX — Tomball ISD is one of 250 school districts in the U.S. and Canada being honored by the College Board with placement on the 10th Annual AP® District Honor Roll.
To be included on the 10th Annual Honor Roll, Tomball ISD had to, since 2017, increase the number of students participating in AP while also increasing or maintaining the percentage of students earning AP Exam scores of 3 or higher.
Tomball ISD has been honored seven times and for six straight years during the 10-year existence. Reaching these goals shows that this district is successfully identifying motivated, academically prepared students who are ready for AP.
“As an AP District Honor Roll recipient for the sixth straight year, Tomball ISD continues to place value and importance on providing our students with the enhanced curriculum needed to excel at the highest levels,” Dr. Martha Salazar-Zamora, Superintendent of Schools said. “We strive to develop and cultivate a culture of learning that is responsive to the needs of individual learners and we are thrilled to be recognized for our efforts.”
National data from 2019 show that among American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students with a high degree of readiness for AP, only about half are participating. The first step to getting more of these students to participate is to give them access. Courses must be made available, gatekeeping must stop, and doors must be opened equitably. Tomball ISD is committed to expanding the availability of AP courses among prepared and motivated students of all backgrounds.
“With more students participating and succeeding in AP in this district, more students are getting a head start on college by earning college credit during high school,” said Trevor Packer, senior vice president of AP and Instruction at the College Board. “We are pleased to honor the teachers and administrators who have worked to clear a path for more students of all backgrounds to advance through AP.”
Helping more students learn at a higher level and earn higher AP scores is an objective of all members of the AP community, from AP teachers to district and school administrators to college professors. Many districts are experimenting with initiatives and strategies to see how they can expand access and improve student performance at the same time.
In 2019, more than 4,000 colleges and universities around the world received AP scores for college credit, advanced placement, or both, and/or consideration in the admissions process. Inclusion in the 10th Annual AP District Honor Roll is based on a review of three years of AP data, from 2017 to 2019, looking across 38 AP Exams, including world language and culture.
For inclusion on the 10th Annual AP District Honor Roll, districts must meet the following criteria:
- Increase participation/access to AP by at least 4% in large districts, at least 6% in medium districts, and at least 11% in small districts;
- Increase or maintain the percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students taking exams and increase or maintain the percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students scoring 3+ on at least one AP Exam; and
- Improve or maintain performance levels when comparing the 2019 percentage of students scoring a 3 or higher to the 2017 percentage, unless the district has already attained a performance level at which more than 70% of its AP students earn a 3 or higher.
When these outcomes have been achieved among an AP student population in which 30% or more are underrepresented minority students (American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander) and/or 30% or more are low-income students (students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch), a symbol has been affixed to the district name to highlight this work.
The complete 10th Annual AP District Honor Roll can be found here: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/about-ap/awards/district-honor-roll
Tomball ISD educates students to become responsible, productive citizens by providing innovative, individually rigorous, and personally valuable educational experiences. Founded in 1908, Tomball ISD now encompasses 83 square miles in northwest Harris County and southwest Montgomery County, and is located approximately 30 miles from downtown Houston. The district currently educates over 18,000 students at 20 campuses.
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