Advanced Academics relates to courses in middle school and high school that include and prepare students for Advanced Placement®. Advanced Placement® (AP) is a program of courses established and coordinated by the College Entrance Examination Board. Taking AP courses allows students the opportunity to earn advanced placement and/or credit in college. Students enrolled in these courses are encouraged and expected to take the AP exams in May. Studies demonstrate that students who enroll in AP courses are likely to be more successful in their college efforts.
Louis Educational Concepts, LLC provides advanced academics professional development opportunities for teachers and focused orientations and assistance to students in math, science, English, fine arts, social studies, and world languages.
District or Campus Level
Program Development. LEC provides years of experience in assisting a district or campus initiate or develop an advanced academics program.
Teachers and Students
Professional staff development workshops in specific courses.
AP Student Saturday Prep sessions in specific courses.
Confer™ Mentoring Program.
Alignment strategies: Departmental Collaboration. Consultants work with teachers to 1) align and implement skills and concepts, 2) fill gaps and remove unnecessary overlaps with every facet of it in mind to enrich academic standards, 3) increase scores on state and national exams, and 4) prepare students for success in middle school, in high school, in college, and in life.
Mock Exams. A mock exam is provided to students for many reasons, but the primary reasons are to 1) demonstrate to students the format of the test; 2) simulate the timed constraints and pacing of the test; 3) allow students to experience the physical and mental stamina involved; and 4) diagnose areas of confusion and weaknesses as well as strengths. If the mock exam is taken in the spring semester, it also 5) provides a predictor for performance on the actual exam in May.
Louis Educational Concepts, LLC has created a model for professional development related to mock exams. After the administration of the exam at your school or in your district, Pre-AP and AP teachers in feeder middle schools and/or high schools gather for a one-day workshop with official exam readers/consultants. The consultants simulate the official scoring and, therefore, provide teachers with invaluable training in the scoring of the exams and holistic grading. The day is spent with the teachers reading and scoring their own current and former students’ performance. Consultants focus on scoring guides (rubrics) and range finders and train teachers to return to their classrooms with techniques not only to grade more accurately but to grade more expeditiously. AP teachers return to their classrooms with scored exams.
Also, this professional development is a tremendous opportunity for teachers to see and discuss vertical strategies that could lead to more focused alignment and higher scores. In many districts, it replaces three vertical team meetings. Teachers claim that this training is one of the best they have received because it focuses on student products from their own schools.
While the training may be repeated and therefore reinforced in the spring semester, some teachers prefer to send the spring mock exams to professional readers to score for the predictability factor and for the honing of skills in the final months prior to the exam. In this case, Louis Educational Concepts, LLC works with a company that provides this service.
Increasing Enrollment in Advanced Academic Courses: “Super Saturday”. In order to increase enrollment in Pre-AP and AP courses, to provide professional development to middle school Pre-AP instructors, and, ultimately, increase the qualifying scores on AP exams, Louis Educational Concepts coordinates an eighth grade Pre-AP orientation to be conducted on a Saturday during the spring semester. The date is typically set in February or March prior to course scheduling for the following school year. The day consists of morning sessions and afternoon sessions.
This event, known as a “Super Saturday” is designed to illustrate to students the curricula they will encounter in Pre-AP High School courses. Master teachers/consultants present dynamic lessons in order to engage and excite the students as well as to provide a realistic expectation of what the Pre-AP and AP program represents. Some eighth grade orientations also invite parents to attend the classes in order to prepare them as well for the exhilarating yet rigorous paradox a student encounters in the AP Incentive Program.
“Super Saturday” is also an excellent means of providing middle school Pre-AP teachers with professional development that differs from the norm. A “Super Saturday” allows attending teachers to observe consultants in a classroom environment rather than in a conference setting. Consequently, the teachers leave with more than a handout; they leave with knowledge of the lesson’s pacing; the techniques used to present the lesson, and evidence of anticipated questions, frustrations, and differentiation methods due to the interaction with students. An added advantage of a Super Saturday is that a typical one-day workshop costs between $750 and $1000 per teacher when including registration, travel, accommodations, and per diems. A “Super Saturday” folds a professional development in with a student orientation. During lunch is a good time to present a customized slide show of benefits (not included in budget).
