U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today announced that the Little Rock School District has been awarded a $1.3 million grant to help its low-income students have greater access to and perform better in advanced courses.

The grant is part of the No Child Left Behind Act's Advanced Placement (AP) Incentives program and is a competitive two-year grant for a promising program designed to increase the number of students in middle and high school who take and succeed in advanced courses.

"Taking tough courses pays off," said Education Secretary Rod Paige. "Research shows that students who take challenging classes are more likely to obtain a college degree. This program will help increase the number of low-income students who succeed in taking the tougher, advanced courses." On behalf of Secretary Paige, Deputy Under Secretary for Innovation and Improvement Nina Rees made the announcement during an event at Little Rock's Hall High School.

"I am happy to be in Little Rock today to announce the awarding of this grant," Rees said. "This program is one way the dDepartment is working to put educational innovation into action. No Child Left Behind strives to ensure that every single child in our great nation has the chance for a quality education, including those who are economically disadvantaged. The Advanced Placement Incentives program will encourage those students to take challenging courses, helping them to succeed academically."

President Bush's FY 2005 budget includes a 119 percent increase for the AP Incentives program, from $23.5 million to $51.5 million.

The AP Incentives program is part of the department's Office of Innovation and Improvement, which was established by Secretary Paige in September 2002 to make strategic investments in promising practices and widely disseminate their results. The office also leads the movement for greater parental options and information in education.

The Little Rock Arkansas School District is the largest public school district in Arkansas, with an enrollment of more than 25,000 students in grades K-12. Its Advanced Placement initiative has established three broad goals: leadership, professional and curriculum development, student support and parental involvement. The school district will collaborate with Metis Associates, Inc., on the implementation of a rigorous research and evaluation plan to assess the effectiveness of project activities and their impact on the target population of participating middle and high school students.

The No Child Left Behind Act is the bipartisan education reform law designed to change the culture of America's schools by closing the achievement gap among groups of students, offering more flexibility to states, giving parents more options and teaching students based on what works. Under the act's strong accountability provisions, states must describe how they will close the achievement gap and make sure all students, including those who are disadvantaged, achieve academic proficiency.

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