Mayra Irizarry, an AP calculus teacher at Cypress Bay High School in Florida, notes, “We are working really hard on the pre-AP strategies to get our middle school students prepared so that when they get to high school they are prepared and motivated to take the exam.”
Illinois has enacted the College and Career Success for All Students Program, which offers competitive grants to school districts emphasizing training for AP teachers, counselors and principals.
Nationally, a record 15.2 percent of public school students in the class of 2007 received a passing grade of three or higher on a college-level AP test, up from 11.7 percent for the class of 2002.
New York public schools had the highest rate of 2007 graduates who passed an AP test, 23.4 percent. Other states included in the top 10 are: Maryland, Virginia, Florida, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, California, Utah and Colorado.
Earning a three or higher out of a possible five on an AP exam is one of the best predictors of college performance, with AP students earning better grades in college and graduating from college at higher rates than their peers in controlled groups, according to recent reports from researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, the National Center for Educational Accountability and the University of Texas at Austin.
--Diverse Staff
There are currently 0 comments on this story.
Click here to post a comment
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
