• AP Scores Better But Not Great - Feb. 7, 2006

According to CNN.com, the amount of students passing at least one Advanced Placement test increased in almost every state. "In the nation's public schools, 14.1 percent of the class of 2005 passed at least one AP test, up from 13.2 percent a year before. In 2000, 10.2 percent of high school seniors passed a test."

While most people would find this encouraging, I'm going to look at the glass half-empty. Actually, I'm going to look at it as 86% empty. Where are these other students? Almost every study out there screams that our students are behind other countries, sometimes embarrassingly so. According to the College Board the AP tests are a very strong indicator of a student's ability to stick through college and earn a bachelor’s degree. As most of you know, a BA is almost essential for middle-class American's.

How can parents and teachers help bridge the gap? While "No Child Left Behind" has made some great strides I believe some of the responsibility lies on the parents, teachers and the student himself/herself. One thing that can really help is individual tutoring. Since every child is unique and has strengths and weaknesses, a program like MINDsprinting can help evaluate and assets your individual student's needs and meet them. What's nice about something like MINDsprinting is that it's affordable and accessible to all.

There has to be a way for our American students to perform better. It's not that I'm advocating pushing people to perfection, but we need to be able to equip them for the future - otherwise we doom them to a future where they can't advance beyond the walls that confine them.