A+ College Ready announces top staff

BIRMINGHAM – The A+ Education Partnership and the A+ College Ready partners have named the top staff members for A+ College Ready.

Mary D. Boehm is president of A+ College Ready. Boehm, who brings more than 15 years of experience in nonprofits and corporate philanthropy, previously served as president of the BellSouth Foundation, a $65 million foundation with an emphasis on education that made grants in nine states.

She worked for BellSouth for nine years, with past work at the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, the Alabama Power Foundation, Young Women's Christian Association of Central Alabama and the American Red Cross. She lives in Birmingham.

Carol Crawford is program director. Crawford comes to A+ College Ready on loan from the Alabama State Department of Education, where she has worked for the last 18 years, most recently as coordinator for Middle School and High School Initiatives as well as for the state Advanced Placement Initiative. She has more than 30 years of experience in education. Crawford lives in Clanton.

A+ College Ready is a statewide initiative to increase participation in Advanced Placement, or AP, courses and boost performance on AP exams in math, science and English.

"We are absolutely delighted to have Mary and Carol teamed up to lead A+ College Ready," said William E. Smith Jr., chairman of the A+ Education Partnership. "Mary's qualifications are ideal, because she has a deep understanding of how to make public-private partnerships work combined with a passion for Alabama's children. Furthermore, Carol has been leading efforts inside the education system to bring about meaningful change, and her work to boost Advanced Placement programs has already shown results."

From 2006 to 2007, the number of AP exam takers in Alabama’s public schools increased 23.3 percent, as compared to a 9.5 percent increase nationwide. The number of AP exams taken by Alabama public school students that earned a grade of three to five, generally qualifying for college credit, increased by 16.6 percent, as compared to a 9.3 percent increase nationwide. Additionally, the AP participation and performance of Alabama’s Black students significantly outpaced that seen nationwide.

A+ College Ready is a division of the Montgomery-based A+ Education Partnership, which is partnering on this initiative with Gov. Bob Riley, the State Board of Education, State Superintendent of Education Joe Morton, the Alabama Power Foundation and the Alabama Mathematics, Science and Technology Education Coalition.

A+ College Ready was created with a $13.2 million, six-year grant from the National Math and Science Initiative. It is the largest private grant on record for K-12 public education in Alabama. At the state level, the Alabama Power Foundation and Regions both have made key leadership gifts of $400,000 each.

NMSI works to help America maintain its global leadership position in technological innovation. Exxon Mobil Corp. is NMSI’s largest contributor, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation are also major donors.

Since 1991, the A+ Education Partnership has advanced policies, programs and initiatives that result in high achievement by every child in Alabama's K-12 public education system. A+ is the home of the Alabama Best Practices Center and A+ College Ready.

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