Maryland Again Tops Nation in Pass Rate of Advanced Placement (AP) Exams

When it comes to education, Maryland takes academics pretty seriously. For the third year running, the state emerged top dog in the United States when it came to the number of high school graduates who managed to pass Advanced Placement (AP) exams.

According to the Washington Post, the push of one Maryland county for years to get its students to take AP courses could have been a driving factor in the state's success. With completion of an AP course goes the expectation of earning college credit once the student passes the associated AP exam.

What It Took to be Number One

Each year, the College Board, which administers the Advanced Placement program in 33 subjects and the respective yearly AP exams, posts a summary of the effort. Its 7th Annual AP Report to the Nation summarizes achievement and other data on the program.

Maryland's Montgomery County Public Schools managed to set a record after decade-long efforts to get its students to enroll in the AP program. Half of the school system's students 2010 high school graduates earned a grade of 3 (considered passing) or higher on at least one test, the school system reported.

The 50-percent pass rate is almost double the Maryland rate and three times that of the national percentage. Many colleges award course credit for a score of at least 3. Others waive certain courses or place the student in a higher-level course as a result of test results.

In order to earn their state's number one spot, 26.4 percent of Maryland's 2010 graduates managed to earn a grade of 3 or better on one or more AP exams. New York ranked second, with a 24.6 passing rate. Tied for third were neighbor Virginia, Connecticut and Massachusetts, each of which achieved a 23-percent rate.

Other Demographics

Maryland also ranked number one in terms of African-American grads who passed these exams. However, significant gaps remained between these students and their peers.

While African-Americans make up more than a third of high school graduates in Maryland each year, only about 10 percent of those who passed at least one AP test were black. The statistics suggest, however, that the percentage of African-American graduates in Maryland who passed an AP exam has risen from just 6.5 percent 10 years ago to 9.9 percent.

Since its inception, the Advanced Placement program has dropped and added certain courses according to student demand. In addition to traditional offerings such as U.S. history, biology, French language and two calculus courses, students can sign up for AP studio art, Japanese language and culture, music theory, environmental science, Chinese language and culture and computer science.

Sources:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/09/AR2011020907934.html

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/about.html

http://apreport.collegeboard.org/about-report