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Advanced Placement Report
Washington state earns two national distinctions
OLYMPIA - February 8, 2007 - Washington is among national leaders in boosting the number of high school students who score well on Advanced Placement exams and in expanding Advanced Placement access to rural students.
News of Washington’s success was released this week in the third annual "Advanced Placement Report to the Nation." The report was released by the College Board, the not-for-profit association that administers the national AP program.
(To see the report, go to: http://www.collegeboard.com/press/releases/152694.html)
High school students who earn a grade of 3 or better on the AP Exam are significantly more likely to do well in college and to graduate from college than other students who come from similar academic and economic circumstances, according to research cited by program officials.
"This report offers more evidence that we’re among the national leaders in creating a public education system that strives for excellence and equity," said Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson.
More than 14 percent of all students in Washington’s high school class of 2006 earned a score of 3 or higher on an AP Exam. That’s up 6.5 percent from the class of 2000. That six-year gain puts the state among the top four in the nation.
In 2001, 11,447 Washington students took part in AP programs. By 2006, that number had more than doubled to 23,456. The number of Washington students scoring 3 or higher on AP Exams nearly doubled. The state has also seen solid increases in the number of poor and minority students taking AP classes.
Advanced Placement students can graduate from high school having already earned credits to apply toward their college careers.
The report also noted Washington’s progress in expanding access to AP courses through the state’s Advanced Placement Incentive Program, administered by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. That program has directed Rural School Initiative grants to 38 schools and school districts across the state, as part of the agency’s effort to increase minority and low-income student participation in rural schools.
(For a list of schools)
The allotment of $1.3 million in grants over three years gives priority to rural schools in which 40 percent or more of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Superintendent Bergeson’s budget request calls on the Legislature to expand funding for the Advanced Placement Incentive Program.
"The quality of performance on the AP work is climbing, even as the program expands to more kids," said Barbara Dittrich, OSPI’s Advanced Placement program supervisor. "Many more students are taking the tests and doing well on them."
OSPI also administers a federal program that helps lower the cost of taking the exam from $83 to just $5 for students qualifying for free and reduced lunch.
"Educators, administrators, and policymakers deserve tremendous credit for enabling a wider segment of our nation's youth than ever before to achieve success on an AP Exam," said College Board President Gaston Caperton. "After comparing students with similar academic and economic profiles, these new studies show that the students who also succeed on an AP Exam are better prepared for the rigors of college, and more likely to obtain a bachelor's degree. Because of such findings, we must do more to ensure that every student receives adequate preparation for rigorous courses like AP and those they will experience in college. Schools need to start preparing students as early as middle school so they are equipped to take on the challenges of AP courses once they get to high school."
"If we are to succeed in democratizing what really matters—completion of a college degree—the gap between high school graduation standards and freshman college course requirements must be eliminated," said Caperton.
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