New Richmond High School students continued in 2014 to
score above the national and state averages for scoring a 3 or higher on the
College Board’s Advanced Placement tests and qualify for college credit.
The College Board released 2014 results showing New
Richmond High School students scored 3 or higher on 73 of 115 tests taken for a
63.4% passing grade and making them eligible for more than 200 semester hours
credit in college for a savings of more than $125,000 in tuition charges based on average semester
hour fees at local universities.
The AP test results followed impressive preliminary 2014 Ohio Graduation Tests
(OGT) results for New Richmond High School.
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Eight out of nine of AP biology teacher Joe Moorehead's students scored a 3
or higher on the 2014 AP test to earn college credit.
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“Our staff's continued dedication and hard work in
preparing our students for college and/or career has shown significant gains
over the past two years on the College Board Advanced Placement testing results,”
said NRHS principal Mark Bailey. “Our students scored higher than the state and
national average in 6 of the 7 AP courses taught at New Richmond High School.”
Bailey singled out the following courses for their improved
results:
- AP Biology
- Joe Moorehead, instructor (passage rate of 88% vs. 64% in 2013)
- AP Music Theory
- Doug Heflin, instructor (passage rate of 75% vs. 0% in 2012)
- AP US
Government & Politics - Brian McMonigle, Instructor (passage rate of 71%
vs. 67% in 2013)
- AP Calculus
- Rylan Shebesta, instructor (passage rate of 58% vs. 33% in 2013)
“It is evident that teachers, students, and parents
are vested in preparing for the future and the very competitive workforce of
the 21st century,” said Bailey. “I am extremely proud of our staff, students,
and the New Richmond community.”
New Richmond High School social studies teacher Bill
Harris, who has served as an AP reader for human geography tests, sees the
results as proof that New Richmond students can compete with any school.
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NRHS social studies teacher Bill Harris says AP test results prove
New Richmond students can compete with any school.
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“Our AP scores continue to beat the national average
(55-59%) because teachers and students at NRHS are very serious about AP
success,” said Harris. “For example, AP Human Geography is taught at 5 area
schools: Indian Hill, Mount Notre Dame, Princeton, Walnut Hills, and New
Richmond. Of those, New Richmond is the
only one to beat the national average the last eight years in a row.”
Overall, eight New Richmond students scored a 1 on
the AP tests, 15 scored a 2 and 50 scored a 3 in 2014. Eight of 9 biology
students passed; 12 of 19 literature & composition students passed; 13 of
19 human geography students passed; 7 of 12 Calculus AB students passed; 12 of
17 U.S. government and politics students passed; 5 of 15 chemistry students
passed; and 6 of 8 music theory students passed.
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U.S. Government AP teacher Brian McMonigle credits his students
for impressive AP test results for 2014.
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Students deserve the most credit according to New
Richmond’s AP teachers.
“In my 16 years of teaching, you only see a group of
hard working and dedicated students like this year’s class once in a while,”
said Moorehead about his AP biology students. “All I did was lead a little bit.
It was all on them and I’m very proud of their effort and I hope their families
are too.”
“I had a great group of students that really worked
hard all school year,” said social studies teacher Brian McMonigle. “They deserve
a lot for all the studying they did this past school year. This group will accomplish great things in
the years to come.”
"Not only did we have an amazing performance year (including Straight Golds at Orlando), but these kids really showed that the New Richmond music department. is a solid, fundamentally structured program," said AP music theory teacher Doug Heflin. "Averaging a three on a National AP test is solid and I couldn't be any more proud of our music kids."
Preliminary
Ohio Graduation Tests (OGT) results for 2014 saw New
Richmond High School improve over 2013. Students must pass reading, writing,
mathematics, social studies and science parts of the OGT in order to receive
high school diplomas.
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| New Richmond High School principal Mark Bailey (pictured talking with AP Literature & Composition teacher Nicole Parker, credits high expectations at New Richmond for growth in AP and OGT test results. |
“We had a huge jump in scores in the 2012-2013
school year in all five testing areas and improved upon our results in 4 of the
5 OGT tests this year,” said Bailey.
Students begin taking the OGT (which is being phased
out after this school year in favor of end of course exams) as sophomores.
According to preliminary data, 94.7 % of 2014 sophomores passed reading, 93%
passed writing, 89.5% passed mathematics, 91.3% passed social studies and 84.3%
passed science. Compared to 2012 test results, NRHS has improved 8.6% in
reading,3.4% in writing, 2.2% in mathematics, 9.8% in social studies and 2.8%
in science.
"The type of growth witnessed in both the OGT
and in our Advanced Placement classes over the past two years is indicative of
a strong academic focus at a high level of rigor at New Richmond High School. “We will continue to have high expectations
for all students as we prepare them for college and the very competitive 21st
century workforce."