The Belin-Blank Center of The University of Iowa College of Education annually releases the Iowa AP Index to recognize Iowa high schools for providing Advanced Placement opportunities. The 2014 Iowa AP Index is based on May 2013 AP exams and May/June 2013 graduation data. The formula is the number of AP exams given divided by the number of students in the graduating class. A high AP Index is a reflection that a school has a culture that is supportive of and places emphasis on student participation in AP courses and exams.

It's important to note that Magnet schools, Specially Accredited College Preparatory schools (Rivermont Collegiate), non-accredited schools, and home schools are not included in the AP Index Top 50 ranking. This change took effect in 2008. These schools, however, can receive special recognition for their score, as Rivermont has. Furthermore, because all schools are scored using the same formula, the Iowa AP Index provides a fair comparison across all school sizes and types, whether schools are included in the AP Index Top 50 ranking or not.

The following lists 2014 Iowa AP Index scores for Rivermont and local schools placing in the Top 50 ranking.

Rivermont Collegiate - 2.50

Bettendorf High School - 1.40

West High School - 0.81

Central High School - 0.67

North High School - 0.57

Pleasant Valley High School - no score, opted out, or not in top 50

JACKSONVILLE, IL (05/19/2014)(readMedia)-- Illinois College inducted 17 new members into the Epsilon chapter of Phi Beta Kappa Society during a ceremony on May 8, 2014. Each of the following local students are now a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest and most distinguished honor society:

Elizabeth Manary of Moline

Hannah Oak of Taylor Ridge

One of only 11 colleges in the state of Illinois to offer membership into this distinguished society, the Illinois College Epsilon chapter was founded by Charles Rammelkamp in 1932.

About Illinois College: Founded in 1829, Illinois College is a residential liberal arts college fostering academic excellence rooted in opportunities for experiential learning while preparing students for lifelong success. The college is located in Jacksonville, Ill. With an enrollment of nearly 1,000 students, the college offers over 50 undergraduate programs and a Master of Arts in Education degree program.

Illinois College is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. Visit www.ic.edu or call 217-245-3595 for more information.

QC Students Divert Trash from Local Landfills, Create Work of Art for their School

Project Made Possible by Grant from Waste Commission of Scott County

Plastic bottle caps are one of the top 10 items found during marine debris clean-ups and are the second most littered item after cigarette butts. Thanks to a grant from the Waste Commission of Scott County, Rivermont Collegiate students in Bettendorf are doing something about that!

Rivermont students in Kindergarten through 12^th Grade, under the direction of Visual Art Teacher Colleen Tomlinson, have created a 6' x 8' Collaborative Bottle Cap Mural, which will be displayed at the school. Over 2,300 plastic caps were repurposed in the mural and diverted from local landfills!  The project was made possible by an educational grant from the Waste Commission of Scott County.

The collaborative project took place from August 2013 through April 2014. As the entire Rivermont Community (students, parents, faculty, and staff) collected plastic bottle caps (pop bottles, laundry detergent, yogurt cups, shampoo bottles, etc.) students saw firsthand how quickly small items of trash accumulate, even within a small school community. At the same time, students explored how artists use trash as a medium to encourage environmental awareness and change. From graphing the variety of bottle cap colors collected to studying contemporary artists who repurpose trash, the project not only spanned Kindergarten through 12^th Grade, but also across disciplines.

The mural theme was inspired by Regionalism and Midwest landscapes created by Grant Wood. It will be permanently displayed at Rivermont. In fact, students have enough leftover bottle caps that they have started a second mural!

For additional information, contact:  Brittany Marietta - Rivermont Collegiate - (563) 359-1366 ext. 308 or marietta@rvmt.org

Teacher Appreciation Day, Field Day, Spring concerts, sports competitions and awards ceremonies, plays, debates, school application and testing, testing, testing. They are all part of that familiar end-of-school-year rhythm, which has started for most and will begin to play out through the year's end, and the hopeful promotion of our babies to their next level in school.

Would that it were so simple - and pleasant - for all families!

While most of us will experience these milestones with joy and a twang of bittersweet as they signal the progression of our kids and their growing up, others find that these experiences mask the real issues surrounding the school experience - namely, success for their children and their particular kind of learning. Indeed, in a nation where less than 40 percent of our children are barely proficient in reading and math, and where even the highest performing schools pale in comparison to those of previous generations and even other countries, there is much more work to be done than our rewarding volunteer work at the school or park would suggest.

For every parent that finds themself in a school or educational setting that is meeting the needs of their child nearly 100%, there are at least ten who are scratching their heads at their daughter's demise in math class, their son's sudden lack of interest in English, the suggestion that Johnny needs a tutor or that Marcie is distracted or seems bored.

Once upon a time, parents just naturally assumed that these problems were a result of their own kid's deficiencies, of their own family's failures in some way. A generation of tutoring companies and support organizations has accumulated a small fortune as parents took the guilt upon themselves to solve.  Then, an interesting thing happened. Just 15 years ago, technology and the Internet made it possible and easier to share stories, and parents around the country began learning that their problems were not theirs alone, and that their own reading and math woes, their own sense of resignation over their child's behavior, may have more to do with the standards set by the school and its staff (often low and fuzzy) the poor quality of instruction, the lack of accountability, and for children of color what was once called the "soft bigotry of low expectations."

Such was the birth of the parental empowerment movement, and that movement today is flourishing as a result of parent-led reforms that have grown from organized dining room table conversations to full fledged school networks leading and demonstrating that every part of the learning process matters and that content and instruction can drive a child to succeed or fail.

Just as technology is transforming every element of our day, it is transforming parents' ability to drive their child's education. The progress made in just 20 short years since organizations like the Center for Education Reform were born is nothing short of extraordinary. Parents became activists and turned their community's schools around. Educators bonded with other educators and started whole schools devoted to themes and ideas they always knew would work for kids. Some of these individuals went on to become policymakers, and more and more high quality talent flowed into the education system, creating a generation of parents and educators who'd long felt there was something more they could do and expect.

Parents with power, teachers with power and schools with accountability can now be found in nearly every state, and most communities. Such assets are improving student learning, accelerating growth and captivating a nation. But progress is still not ubiquitous or evenly distributed. And the forces that fought these initial reform efforts still loom large in the public eye and in state halls across the country.

To truly ensure that all schools work best for all children, those we have now and those to come, we must take 20 years of lessons learned and move those lessons into every community, and put them within reach of every parent.

Every parent knows that history is the best teacher, which is why before any parent engages in working to ensure their child gets the best education possible, they need to be armed with enough information -- and lessons learned -- to succeed.

History is just unfolding, but there's good news for anyone wanting to help make it. Lessons learned and stories of ordinary people like you are available and easy to find. Many of these compelling stories can be found in Education Reform: Before It Was Cool, an indispensable new anthology for those who want to read first-hand about the greatest contributors to the movement to make our nation's schools work better for all children.

Read about the pioneers, and join the new revolution to make parent power a reality in all children's lives.

Jeanne Allen founded the Center for Education Reform (CER) in 1993 and serves as the organization's senior fellow and president-emeritus. Allen is the editor of Education Reform: Before It Was Cool, available on Amazon.