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Panelist Terry Grier, superintendent, Guilford County Schools in Greensboro, N.C. |
AP® Report to the Nation
More than 15 percent of the public high school class of 2007 achieved at least one AP® Exam grade of 3 or higher, a score
that predicts college success, according to the College Board’s recently released “AP Report to the Nation.” This achievement represents a significant and consistent improvement since 2002, when less than 12 percent of public school graduates attained this goal.
The fourth annual report also shows a wider segment of the nation’s students has gained access to and achieved success in college-level work. Of the estimated 2.8 million students who graduated from U.S. public schools in 2007, almost 426,000 (15.2 percent) earned an AP Exam grade of at least a 3 on one or more AP Exams. This is up from 14.7 percent in 2006 and 11.7 percent in 2002.
In announcing the results, College Board President Gaston Caperton drew attention to one AP teacher, Mayra Irizarry in Broward County, Fla., who has seen a 30-fold increase in AP Calculus enrollment in 11 years and has had a 100 percent student passing record. Her high school had the greatest number of Latino AP Calculus students in the United States passing the AP Calculus BC Exam, Caperton noted.
Irizarry said early preparation and parent support have been key components to increasing the number of students enrolling and succeeding in AP Calculus.
“We are working really hard on Pre-AP® strategy,” she said at the national media conference, “to help prepare students in middle school so that they will be ready in high school.”
New York, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, Massachusetts and Connecticut saw more than 20 percent of their students graduate from high school having earned an AP Exam grade of 3 or higher.
The report notes that an equity and excellence gap appears whenever the percentage of traditionally underserved students — such as African-American, Hispanic/Latino or American Indian students — who are among those achieving access to and succeeding on AP Exams is less than the percentage of underserved students in the entire graduating class. Though several states have successfully closed the equity and excellence gap for Hispanic/Latino students, no state with large numbers of African-American or American Indian students has closed the gap.
“We know that closing that gap is a complicated thing,” said Ted Spencer, associate vice provost and executive director of undergraduate admissions at the University of Michigan. “We [in higher education] can do some things to help this process along. Our university has worked with the school board in the city of Detroit to help develop a readiness environment. That means having more AP teachers and courses and raising awareness of the importance of taking those courses.”
AP access and achievement help students build the skills needed not only to be admitted to college, but also to save the money and time that nearly half of college freshmen spend in remedial courses. “The critical reasoning, subject-matter expertise and study skills students must develop to succeed on the three-hour college-level AP Exams fortify high school graduates for a successful transition into their freshman year at college. This makes providing better readiness for — and access to — AP courses absolutely essential,” Caperton said.
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The National Office for School Counselor Advocacy hosts
Destination Equity:
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The Access & Diversity Collaborative National Seminars
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May 6-7, 2008
Denver, Colo.
June 19-20, 2008
Coral Gables, Fla.
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The National Chinese
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U.S. Students in K-12 Schools: Making Chinese Accessible for All
April 17–19, 2008
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A Dream Deferred:
The Future of African-American Education
April 24-25, 2008
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Prepárate™: Educating Latinos for the Future
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May 22-23, 2008
Hyatt Regency
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Chicago, Ill.
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Native American Student
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May 20-21, 2008
Diné College
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