J. Sterling Morton High School District 201 Named a College Board Advanced Placement® District of the Year

CICERO, Ill., March 18, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- J. Sterling Morton High School District 201 in Illinois has been named a College Board Advanced Placement^® District of the Year for being the national leader among medium-sized school districts — defined as having between 8,000 and 49,999 students — in expanding access to Advanced Placement Program ® (AP®) courses while simultaneously improving AP Exam performance.

On Thursday, March 17 Morton celebrated its students' achievement with a surprise event for the 2,350 students who are currently enrolled in AP classes. Morton congratulated its students and staff for their hard work and their incredible accomplishment.

Out of the 21,000 high schools who participate in the AP Program, Morton was one of 425 school districts across the U.S. and Canada that achieved placement on the annual AP District Honor Roll. From this list, three AP Districts of the Year — one for each category of district population size: small, medium, and large — were selected based on an analysis of three academic years of AP data.

"We are very proud of our students and staff.  This award is a reflection of all of their hard work and dedication. District leadership will continue to work hard to ensure that every student continues to succeed," said the Morton Board of Education President Jeff Pesek.

"This award shows that the teachers and administrators at Morton are challenging students to achieve at the highest levels," said Trevor Packer, senior vice president of AP and instruction at the College Board.

From 2013 to 2015, Morton has:

• Simultaneously and continuously increased the number of students taking AP classes while improving successful outcomes (a score of 3 or higher out of 5 points) on AP Exams, with 33 percent of all AP students scoring a 3 or higher in 2015;
• Increased student participation in AP by 19 percent annually and the percentage of students scoring a 3 or higher on at least one AP Exam by 7 percent annually;
• Increased the percentage of traditionally underrepresented minority AP students earning a 3 or higher on at least one AP Exam by 9 percent annually — an increase of 266 students since 2013.

Increasing access to AP course work while simultaneously increasing the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher out of 5 points is the ideal scenario for a district's AP program, indicating that the district is successfully preparing a larger array of its students for the rigor of AP and college studies.

In 2015, more than 3,900 colleges and universities around the world received AP scores for college credit with many colleges and universities in the U.S. offering credit in one or more subjects for qualifying AP scores.

J. Sterling Morton High School District 201 provides quality educational experiences that challenge and enable more than 8,000 students from the communities of Berwyn, Cicero, Forest View, Lyons, McCook, and Stickney in Illinois as lifelong learners to be productive and responsible members of the global community.

CONTACT: Priscilla Lopez, 708-780-5764

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160318/345897

SOURCE J. Sterling Morton High School District 201