Advanced Placement Fee Payment Program

The United States Department of Education has awarded the Virginia Department of Education a grant that will enable the department to reimburse all or part of the cost of the 2006 Advanced Placement test fees for economically disadvantaged students, who are enrolled in an Advanced Placement (AP) class and plan to take an Advanced Placement test; and for students enrolled in an International Baccalaureate Program, who plan to take an International Baccalaureate test. The purpose of this grant is to increase the participation of economically disadvantaged students in advanced classes and testing. While a majority of Virginia’s high schools participate in the Advanced Placement program, some divisions have indicated that they have students who are capable of taking Advanced Placement courses and International Baccalaureate courses but cannot afford to take the tests.

Virginia’s grant award of $160,000 may be adequate to pay initially for most tests for all economically disadvantaged students up to 200 per school division. In order to allocate the funds, the department must collect the following information:(1) the total number of students in your division who are enrolled in Advanced Placement courses and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses for the 2005-2006 school year; (2) the number of students who plan to take the Advanced Placement test or IB test in 2005-2006; (3) how many of these students could be classified in the low-income category; and (4) how many pre-AP and pre-IB programs are offered in your school division. Students eligible for free or reduced-priced lunches, students whose families receive assistance under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, or students eligible to receive medical assistance under the Medicaid program may be classified as low-income.

Please complete the electronic survey no later than November 30, 2005. In order to complete the electronic survey, each division must assign a point of contact for the Advanced Placement Fee Payment Program and grant data entry privileges through the Single Sign On for Web Applications. A copy of the survey is attached to help collect the information required on the electronic survey. The electronic survey is available at https://eb01.vak12ed.edu/ssws/com/vdoe/dataAdmin/jsp/LoginContainer.jsp.

For further information, you may contact Faye Rollings-Carter (Faye.Rollings-Carter@doe.virginia.gov), associate director, Office of Middle and High School Instruction, at (804) 225-2593.

JLD/FRC/yba

Attachment

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/suptsmemos/2005/adm055a.pdf