College Board Reports to the Nation on Advanced Placement

Maryland's state flag

We’re getting close to a million students—903,000—that now take at least one AP exam while in high school. That’s double the number in less than a decade. And the number scoring a 3 or higher has also almost doubled, from 278,000 to 541,000. That’s good news for AP, and the College Board, which just released its 8^th Report to the Nation.

It’s also good news for Maryland (again), which wins the #1 ranking 28% of graduates scoring 3 or higher (nationwide, it’s 18%). Right below MD in the top 10 is New York, followed by Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Florida, California, Colorado, Vermont and Utah. DC, like everywhere, increased its participation numbers (those taking AP exams) but still less than 7 percent of DCPS graduates score a 3 or higher. Maryland was also the best state for positive trend toward more high AP scorers, going from 14% in 2001 to today’s 28%.

What’s so great about a 3 or higher? A score of 3 won’t necessarily help with college—most colleges look for 4s and 5s to give credit –but it’s essentially a passing grade, or what the College Board defines as “qualified” to receive college credit. The lower scores of 1 and 2 won’t do much for you (and I suppose would reflect negatively). This is important because amidst all the praise for more students getting 3s and higher, the story isn’t the same for all populations of students. Nationally, 14 percent of students scored a 1—this is the same as it was in 2001. But fully half of Black and African American students scored 1 in 2011, up from 37 percent a decade ago. The percentage scoring 3 or higher has gone down by half. The same trend is true for Latinos, 36 percent of whom scored a 1 (up from 24 percent in 2001). See state supplements and national report appendices for more details that might curb our enthusiasm for the overall finding that we now have more AP for all.

Tagged as: Advanced Placement, College Board, Maryland