California scores well in newest AP results
Published: February 16, 2010
California public schools placed seventh among the 50 states in two key measures of college readiness, according to a report released Wednesday.
Specifically, nearly 21 percent of the state’s Class of 2009 earned a score of 3 or higher on Advanced Placement tests, which are graded on a scale of 1 to 5, and 32 percent of the state’s students who graduated from public high schools last year took at least one AP test in high school.
“Research consistently shows that students who score a 3 or higher typically experience greater academic success in college and improved graduation rates than their non-AP student peers” according to the College Board, the not-for-profit membership association that owns and administers the AP Program.
The results, contained in “The “6th Annual AP Report to the Nation,” are intended to help states gauge their success in preparing students for higher education. California’s percentage of public school graduates earning scores of 3 or higher is up nearly 3 percent since the first report in 2004; the percentage of those who have taken AP tests is up 1.3 percent.
Broken out by racial and ethnic groups and low-income students, the AP numbers also measure progress toward closing gaps in academic achievement.
“The report shows that the Hispanic or Latino and African American subgroups of California students experienced relatively larger percentage gains in AP exam participation and performance when compared to white students,” state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell said. “This is evidence that we are making progress in closing the achievement gap in California's public schools. We must remain dedicated to helping all students meet high expectations and closing the achievement gap.”
AP courses and assessments are offered in art, English, foreign language, math, science and social science. “Only courses using syllabi that meet or exceed the college-level curricular and resource requirements for each AP course are authorized to carry the AP label,” according to the College Board. Many colleges and universities reportedly even grant college credit for AP scores of 3 or higher.
The 20-page College Board report singled out 15 “Exemplary AP Programs” across the nation for having the highest percentage of Hispanic or black students scoring 3 or higher. Among them: the Calexico Unified School District’s Calexico High School, where 92 percent of Class of 2009 students who took the rigorous AP Spanish exam passed.
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