NORTHERN HILLS — The South Dakota Department of Education recently announced that South Dakota students are making significant gains on Advanced Placement (AP) exams taken in high school for college course credit, with 2,841 South Dakota students taking at least one AP exam during the 2010-2011 school year, an increase of more than 27 percent in five years’ time.

“Locally, we’ve shifted from a focus on AP to a focus on the Rising Scholar program,” said Lead-Deadwood secondary principal Nick Gottlob. “With 10 enrolled in AP classes and 31 enrolled in the Rising Scholar program, I have 41 kids pursuing classes above the twelfth grade level. Out of a high school enrollment of 260, I’m very happy about that.”

Gottlob said the larger discussion in his district is whether or not to continue offering AP-level classes onsite with onsite instructors, while the same and greatly varied coursework is available online through the South Dakota Virtual School at no cost to the district or to the student, with the student earning a $100 bonus for completing online coursework.

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Schopp has been in education for more than 30 years as a teacher and administrator. She’s been at the Department of Education for 11 years, where she’s been involved with creating the South Dakota Virtual School and developing teaching standards for the state.

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