AP students, teachers at Howard High could qualify for payments

Starting next school year, Howard High students and teachers in the school’s Advanced Placement program stand to receive payments depending on how well the students score on exams, officials announced Tuesday.

Howard High is one of about 30 high school across the country -- and the only one in Georgia -- to win a grant that would fund the initiative. The award, $238,000 over three years, beginning next fall, is designed to increase and improve Advanced Placement opportunities in math, science and English.

The program is one of about 50 initiatives nationally designed to help military families in particular under a new program called Joining Forces, created by first lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden.

The Advanced Placement program offers standardized courses to high school students that are generally recognized to be equivalent to undergraduate courses in college. Participating colleges give credit to students who obtain high enough scores on exams to qualify.

Under the program, for each student who scores a 3, 4 or 5 on an AP exam, the student will receive $100. Teachers would get $100 for each of their students who makes that score on the exams.

Howard also would get $25 for every student who enrolls in an AP class, with a cap of $10,000.

The grant would also help fund such items as teaching materials and tutoring.

This story was originally published April 12, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "AP students, teachers at Howard High could qualify for payments."