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Counselor
AP Annual Conference Submission
Kim Amidzich
Director of Curriculum and Instruction
Greendale Schools
John Bly
Guidance Counselor
Greendale Schools
Greendale Schools has been actively working to reduce the participation gap and move towards proportional representation of historically marginalized groups of students in college level courses, including AP courses. Over the past several years, barriers such as pre-requisites and teacher recommendations to enter the class have been eliminated. Teachers and counselors have been working towards encouraging students to "give it a try" rather than emphasizing how much work the course will be. Financial barriers such as purchasing the book for the course have been eliminated by offering students a choice to check out a book from the school. While Greendale continues to have gaps in participation, there have been increased percentages of students in traditionally marginalized groups choosing college-level courses. Come learn how to examine your school practices to determine if the school is contributing to gaps in participation through artificial barriers at the local level.