"Pre-AP" hits Houston middle schools.

If Houston's pre-teens weren't already thinking about college, they will be now. Beginning next school year, sixth graders in the district will be required to take pre-Advanced Placement English courses, announced Superintendent Kaye Stripling during a February State of the Schools address. In addition, all high school students with demonstrated ability will be required to enter AP courses.

"This is a logical progression for us," says Chief Academic Officer Bob Stockwell, who notes that English was chosen because students were doing particularly well in that subject. Other subjects may introduce pre-AP courses as middle school performance indicates students are ready. "It is setting the bar high, but if history repeats itself our teachers and our students will respond and we will receive higher performance as a result. It's the art of setting that net stretch goal," he says.

The district is reaching for higher enrollment in high school AP programs and greater numbers of students scoring three or better on AP tests. "Ultimately the measure will be downstream when our numbers come up," Stickwell says.

Houston is certainly not the first district to have increased expectations for all students, and they're not even the first to have "pre-AP." That term was born in the late '80s, as educators realized that growing AP enrollment would mean preparing students ahead of time. explains Martha Salmon, vice president of the Southwestern regional office of The College Board, which administers the AP program.

Still says Salmon, who has worked with Houston on the pre-AP effort, it's a "bold step for a superintendent to make such a decision and to make it very public, because it says we want more for all students.... That's all a part of the opening up of AP. I think that's what Stripling is saying--'We want everybody to have their options open.'"

And it's not only education options. AP "is about college, but it's not just about college," Salmon adds. When students learn analysis and other AP skills, they will wind up becoming better employees.

For Houston, the development of pre-AP English has meant "laying the AP guidelines and targets next to our curriculum and making revisions," Stockwell says. As next year's sixth graders move on to complete the following two years of middle school, they'll continue with the more challenging pre-AP curriculum. To get students used to AP-type assessment items, the districts regular assessments will probably evolve.

But first, teachers must prep for pre-AP. This summer and fall, those who need extra training will be brought up to speed on AP curriculum and certification requirements, Stockwell says. The College Board's regional offices offer districts teacher training in delivering pre-AP strategies, Salmon adds.

Stockwell has noticed a sense of cautious optimism about the higher standards. He's heard that a few teachers, particularly those in high school, have expressed some concern about how the effort fits into other improvement initiatives. But the educational community generally seems excited about the challenge, the CAO says.

As with nearly all initiatives, it will be a process. "It's one thing for the superintendent to make the pronouncement. It's another thing to have every person in the district who touches a child's life to be able to deliver," Salmon says. "But they can do it."

Pre-AP IS NOT:

* A set curriculum with prescribed books to read or experiments to do

* A strict method of delivering instruction

Pre-AP IS:

* Incorporating AP instructional strategies in courses that lead up to AP, or college-level coursework 

* About the skill of analysis; in language arts. this means discussions about tone and imagery, for example