Lafayette Parish Public Schools in partnership with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette will offer its 5th annual Advanced Placement (AP) Summer Institute for teachers this July. Hosting the institute in partnership with ULL is one strategy the school system has been using to successfully expand access to its AP program. In addition to incentives built in to the state’s accountability system and the calculation of students’ TOPS GPA, the institute offers teachers in Lafayette and the surrounding areas access to the high quality professional development needed to teach AP at a greatly reduced cost. The push for expanded access to AP has been working. In 2010, the school system administered 119 AP exams with 72 of which earned passing scores. In 2017, 1,104 exams were administered of which 492 earned passing scores.
The institute serves teachers throughout the region and even from neighboring states. It will take place in two sessions, one the week of July 9, and a second the week of July 16. Teachers new to Advanced Placement as well as experienced teachers are invited to attend. The institute offers 30 hours of coursework taught by College Board experts. Courses will be offered in French Language, English Literature and Composition, English Language and Composition, Biology, U.S. Government and Politics, and Human Geography. For more information, teachers should visit www.lpssonline.com/apsi.