AP participation, scores rise for Washington students
State students rank in nation’s Top 5 for largest increase of
college-ready scores on Advanced Placement exams

OLYMPIA — February 4, 2009 - Even as a greater number of Washington students have taken Advanced Placement exams during the past five years, their scores have continued to rise as well, according to a national report released today.

The College Board’s fifth annual “AP Report to the Nation” shows that 16,294 students in the Class of 2008 took at least one AP exam last school year, up from 9,722 students in the Class of 2003. Consequently, Washington’s percentage of 12th graders scoring three or greater, which in most cases qualifies for college credit, increased to 15.5 percent in 2008 from 10.5 percent in 2003.

Washington’s 5.0 percent increase in scores of three or greater ties Oregon for fifth in the nation. Only Vermont, Maine, Maryland and Arkansas are better.

“It’s a significant achievement that students are increasing their college-ready scores as the number of students taking AP exams is also rising,” State Superintendent Randy Dorn said. “This shows that as we continue to open access to AP classes, students will step up to meet rigorous standards. We also have to credit the specially trained and dedicated teachers who are committed to teaching the AP classes.”

Washington ranks 17th in the nation with the greatest number of 12th graders scoring three or greater on AP exams – Maryland is first at 23.4 percent.

Superintendent Dorn said Washington’s best chance to increase access to AP classes is through Career and Technical Education. Dorn has directed OSPI staff to work with school districts around the state, especially in rural areas, to create more CTE AP classes, such as computer science, environmental science, microeconomics and studio art.

“We need to give our students more opportunities to take AP classes, and CTE is a great way to achieve that goal,” Dorn said. “Students must obtain higher academic skills to compete in the world economy, and there are a number of different avenues to get those skills.”

In the past several years, Washington has increased access to AP classes through federal and private funding. Those initiatives include:

• A series of three competitive federal Advanced Placement Incentive Program (APIP) grants (that started in 2000) for professional development for pre-AP and AP teachers in schools with high poverty.
• A federally funded rural schools initiative, which covers professional development for pre-AP and AP teachers in rural and remote schools.
• A federally funded test fee reduction grant that reduces the cost of AP and International Baccalaureate (IB) tests for qualifying low-income students.
• The College Spark Foundation Grant, a private grant running from 2009 to 2014 that promotes college readiness in schools with high poverty through two programs: Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), a pre-AP program, and Navigation 101, a guidance program.