For many students, passing an Advanced Placement test can be a rigorous challenge; for math teacher Jeffrey Sebastian's students, it's practically commonplace. For three consecutive years, every single one of math teacher Jeffrey Sebastian's Advanced Placement Calculus students has passed the AP exam, with 86 percent earning a top score of 5. The school's Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) scores have improved every year that Mr. Sebastian has been part of the mathematics department, and his classes consistently achieve the highest attendance rate of any class in the entire school. There's a reason for this. Mr. Sebastian creates a rigorous, challenging and engaging learning environment that students feel they don't want to miss. Setting high expectations and holding students accountable for meeting those expectations, Mr. Sebastian uses an inquiry-based approach in the classroom that involves higher-order thinking and activities. Sometimes he will even turn the tables and ask students to come up with a problem for him to solve. With such high educational standards, being enrolled in one of Jeffrey Sebastian's classes gives new meaning to the phrase "advanced placement."
