(Editor’s note: This letter is in response to the column From the Desk of Dr. Charles Murphy that appeared in the Friday, Oct. 7 edition of the Levittown Tribune.)
The Levittown Tribune ran an article written by ITUFSD Superintendent Dr. Charles Murphy on October 7, 2011, detailing Island Trees High School’s current AP rankings. According to Dr. Murphy, 207 students passed AP exams in 2010-11, which represented a one-year increase of 83 students passing AP exams. He referred to this increase as remarkable. Is it? You decide.
In 2011, 388 school districts throughout the country were placed on the AP Achievement List. In Nassau County, districts such as Herricks, Hicksville, Malverne, Massapequa, and Syosset were honored this year. These districts were honored for “opening AP classroom doors to a significantly broader pool of students, while maintaining or improving the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher.”
Specifically it is a four-point criterion, which districts must meet in order to be placed on this elite list. For instance, the New Hope-Solebury District in Pennsylvania is on the AP Achievement List because over a two-year period, they increased the number of students taking AP exams from 118 to 156, while at the same time increasing the number of students scoring three or more by eight percent from 71 percent to 79 percent. They met the criterion and earned the award.
According to Dr. Murphy’s article, 184 ITUFSD students took AP exams in 2009-10 and 124 scored two or better. This represents a passing rate of 67.4 percent. In 2010-11, 207 out of 330 IT students passed AP exams. This represents a passing rate of 62.7 percent. The passing rate decreased by 4.7 percent in one year. The number of students failing AP exams rose from 60 to 123 in one year. The failure rate increased by 105 percent! Is this remarkable or is this alarming? Should anyone be taking a curtain call for these results? Only in the protective cocoon of a Long Island school district can a negative be spun into a positive and failure be rewarded with a contract extension. Where is the accountability? Tough questions need to be asked.
1. What went wrong?
2. Who prepared these students?
3. Who is responsible for these results?
4. What was the additional cost to the Island Trees taxpayers for doubling the size of this AP program, which increased both staffing needs and the school budget?
5. How can a school superintendent and a school board president set a course correction to address this situation if they do not recognize the need for one?
Brian Kelty
Island Trees Taxpayer
