Advanced classes spread via Web
Program pays small-school kids who earn college credit
Jon Walker • jwalker@argusleader.com • April 6, 2008
South Dakota's newest leap into online learning aims for isolated students who might be undiscovered geniuses in math and science.
A program starting this fall will use the Internet to make the access easy. It will offer a $100 testing bonus for students to make it more appealing. And it will run on private money in an age when public money goes elsewhere in education.
The result is that students in rural areas will be able to immerse themselves - many for the first time - in the Advanced Placement program that offers college- level training in high school.
"We have to get the opportunities to where the student is," said Mary Cundy, principal at the E-Learning Center at Northern State University.
The program is called Learning Power. It will operate from an office in Rapid City with an array of supportive agencies, public and private, including NSU and the state Department of Education.
It will run on a four-year, $2 million grant from the National Math and Science Initiative, backed by ExxonMobil. The Texas-based agency seeks to correct a shortage of young adults in science and math careers, so the AP courses in the program all have that flavor. The lineup includes five courses in the hard sciences - biology, chemistry, statistics, calculus and physics - and two more in English language and literature. They all fit under the AP banner endorsed by the College Board of New York, which enables students scoring well on spring exams to get a head start on college.
