Case Study: The State of Alabama achieves dramatic AP participation growth and statewide rural access with D2L Brightspace

ACCESS Distance Learning bridges the opportunity gap for Alabama’s rural high school students

ACCESS Distance Learning (ACCESS) partnered with the State of Alabama to tackle a stark opportunity gap for rural high school students: widespread teacher shortages, limited access to Advanced Placement (AP) courses, high dropout rates, and very low AP participation across impoverished and sparsely populated districts.

ACCESS implemented the D2L Brightspace online learning platform to deliver AP and other courses, monitor student engagement, and connect students with certified teachers via virtual classrooms and local facilitators. The results were dramatic: AP exam takers nearly doubled, low-income participation rose fivefold, African-American participation quadrupled, qualifying scores doubled, and the program expanded from 24 schools to more than 400, serving roughly 27,700 students.

The State of Alabama

Larry Raines

ACCESS Program Administrator