According to a College Board report, more than half a million students scored a 3 or higher on at least one Advanced Placement (AP) exam. That number is nearly double what it was for the high school graduating class of 2001, reports an Inside Higher Ed article, “Advanced Placement: Up and Down.”
The overall success rate—that is, the number of students who scored less than a 3—however, has decreased, from 64% in 2001 to 60% this year. More than 2.5 million exams were taken by the high school class of 2010. The most common score was a 3, which will earn a student college credit for a course; scores below 3 (i.e. failing scores) were the second and third most common scores. In the southern states of the U.S., the most common score was a 1.
Breakdown of Scores on AP Exams, 2010
|
1 |
22.6% |
|
2 |
21.3% |
|
3 |
23.4% |
|
4 |
18.8% |
|
5 |
13.9% |
(Chart from Inside Higher Ed.)
Experts suggest “that the high failure rates may indicate that expansion of the program has been too speedy and may be too much of a priority at high schools that have a lot of work to do teaching students the basics.” The College Board disagrees, arguing that AP courses are appropriate for all types of schools, and that they raise standards, not lower them.
The following chart (also provided by Inside Higher Ed) shows high school populations and AP test-taking populations according to race:
AP Test-Taking Population and High School Population, Class of 2010
|
Group |
% of High School Population |
% of AP Test Takers |
|
Black |
14.6% |
8.6% |
|
Latino |
16.8% |
16.0% |
|
Native American |
1.1% |
0.6% |
|
Asian American |
5.5% |
10.2% |
|
White |
60.5% |
57.9% |
For more information on minority students and the AP program, see “Minority Students and A.P. Program, a Mixed Report Card” from the New York Times blog, The Choice. An article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, “Number of AP Test Takers Has Nearly Doubled Since 2001,” offers additional data.
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Read the full article: College Admissions News: Advanced Placement Update
