(FRANKFORT, Ky.) -- Two Kentucky high school students have received AP State Scholar Awards based on their outstanding performance on the Advanced Placement Program examinations.
Jessica Lowell, a student at Jefferson County's duPont Manual High, and Robert Harris, a student at Daviess County's Apollo High, are among 105 students nationwide to receive the honor. Lowell and Harris both plan to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after graduation.
The students will receive a certificate, and their achievement is acknowledged on any subsequent AP Grade Reports sent to colleges.
The awards are presented to one female and one male student in each state and the District of Columbia. To be eligible for the awards, students must earn grades 3 or higher on the greatest number of AP exams and the highest average grade -- at least 3.5 -- on all AP exams taken. AP examinations are graded on a 5-point scale.
The Advanced Placement Program, administered by the College Board, offers students the opportunity to take challenging college-level courses while still in high school and to receive college credit, advanced placement or both for successful performance on the AP exams. In 2003, more than one million high school students nationwide took AP exams.
The 2002 Kentucky General Assembly passed Senate Bill 74, which requires the Kentucky Department of Education to develop a core advanced placement curriculum, to expand access to advanced placement courses through the Kentucky Virtual High School and to require school districts to grant credit to students for courses taken via the Kentucky Virtual High School (KVHS). The bill also mandates that the Council on Postsecondary Education promulgate administrative regulations requiring public postsecondary educational institutions to grant credit towards graduation to a student who scores at least a "3" on a College Board Advanced Placement examination and to develop guidelines for content knowledge and teacher training in dual enrollment and dual credit programs offered in Kentucky.
The College Board is a national nonprofit membership association whose mission is to prepare, inspire and connect students to college and opportunity. Founded in 1900, the association is composed of more than 4,300 schools, colleges, universities and other educational organizations. The College Board administers the AP program, the SAT and the PSAT/NMSQT, among other programs.
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