TeachAde

Aviation school shows improving test scores

By Ian J. Twombly

Public education has been in the national spotlight recently with the Obama administration’s Race to the Top and various other debates. A school in California shows that aviation plays its own part in the conversation.

The Flabob Airport Preparatory Academy is a small charter school located on Flabob Airport in Riverside, Calif. The academy is open to students in grades seven through 12, and focuses on aviation as a way to motivate students in science, math, engineering, and technology.

As schools around the country seem to struggle with how to raise standardized test scores, the academy is a test case that shows aviation can have an effect. Students taking standardized API tests boosted their scores 20 percent year-over-year. According to school officials, that’s more than double the regional average.

Academy students get hands-on experience in aviation, including flight training, maintenance, and aircraft refurbishment. Visit the Flabob Airport website for more information.