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Thursday, February 18, 2010

Georgia Has 12th Highest Percent of Seniors Scoring a 3 or Higher on AP Exams

Georgia has the 12th highest percent of seniors scoring a 3 or higher on Advanced Placement (AP) Exams, according to The College Board's AP Report to the Nation released last week. This report measures progress of the class of 2009.

"I am proud that more Georgia students than ever are challenging themselves with demanding course work and are successfully mastering the material," said State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox. "We recognize that one of the best ways to close the achievement gap is to challenge all students with rigorous work and high expectations."

Advanced Placement classes and exams are administered by the College Board, which also administers the SAT. AP classes offer rigorous college-level learning options to students in high school. Students who receive a 3, 4 or 5 on AP exams may receive college credit. The AP Report to the Nation looks at data for 2009 High School seniors. Among Georgia's public high school seniors in 2009:

* 17.8% scored a 3 or higher on at least one AP exam during high school. That is higher than the national average of 15.9%.
* Georgia is tied for 2nd in the nation when comparing the five-year increase of public school seniors scoring a 3 or higher on at least one AP exam (5.4% growth compared to 3.2% for the nation.)
* Georgia ranks 3rd in the nation for its one-year increase of public school seniors scoring a 3 or higher on at least one AP exam (1.5% growth compared to 0.7% for the nation.)

When it comes to public school students enrolling in AP courses and taking the exams, Georgia is also a national leader. Only one other state in the country had a greater one-year increase in the number of AP exam-takers and number of exams given. The number of AP exams taken by Georgia's public school seniors increased 3.3% since 2008, compared to a 1.5% national average increase.

AP Growth Among All Students

Almost 64,000 Georgia students in all grades took at least one AP exam in 2008-2009, an increase of more than 11 percent from the previous year. Georgia's AP population continues to get more diverse as well, with more African-American and Hispanic students taking the rigorous classes.

"We know in Georgia that we must continue to close the achievement gap, and that's why it is so important that more of our minority students are taking these rigorous AP courses and doing well on the exams," Superintendent Cox said. "This AP report shows that Georgia is a leader in minority test-takers and success. We have work left to be done, but we are making tremendous progress."

During the 2008-2009 school year, more than 12,300 African-American public school students (all grades) took an AP exam. That's an increase of 17 percent from the previous year and represents more than 10 percent of all public school African-American test-takers nationwide. There were 3,507 Hispanic students (all grades) that took at least one AP exam in 2008-2009, an increase of more than 19% from the previous year.

According to the AP Report to the Nation, among Georgia's high school seniors:

* More than 23% of students who took an AP exam in 2008-2009 were African-American, an increase of almost one percentage point from the previous year.
* 11.4% of Georgia's African-American high school seniors scored 3 or higher on at least one AP exam. That is almost eight points higher than the national average.
* About 5.6% of Georgia's AP test takers were Hispanic, higher than Georgia's overall Hispanic student population (5.5 percent).

State Efforts to Increase AP Participation

The State of Georgia has undertaken many successful efforts to increase participation in AP programs and success on AP exams. Among the initiatives:

* At the request of Governor Perdue and Superintendent Cox, the Legislature has approved money to pay for students to take one AP exam per year. Economically-disadvantaged students can have all of their AP exams paid for each year.
* The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) has organized the distribution of AP Teacher Quality Training Grants. Since 2006, the GaDOE has funded approximately $717,000 in grant awards to train 869 new AP teachers. These awards have allowed 573 new AP courses to be offered in public high schools throughout the state. It is anticipated that in 2010 an additional 282 AP teachers will be trained.
* The GaDOE has sponsored regional workshops for teachers of AP in the fall for the past three years. These workshops are led by master teachers of AP in Georgia high schools. To date, over 1,600 AP teachers have participated in these course-specific workshops.
* The Georgia Virtual School (GAVS) continues to add AP classes, increasing access to students throughout the state, including those that might not otherwise be able to take an AP class. In 2008-2009, 578 students enrolled in 20 different AP courses. The Georgia Virtual School will begin offering AP Spanish in Fall 2010.
* The GaDOE developed the AP Handheld Project this year and gave $64,580 in grants to 56 schools for the purchase of handheld technology for students to use in their courses.

AP Honor Schools

Superintendent Cox also named today more than 125 AP Honor Schools.

"Georgia is making tremendous strides with Advanced Placement -- not only in the number of students taking the courses, but in the number of students having success," Superintendent Cox said. "Much of that progress comes from the dedication to rigor and excellence at each of our AP Honor Schools."

The 2010 AP Honor Schools are named in three categories, based on the results of 2008-2009 AP classes and exams:

* AP CHALLENGE SCHOOLS: Schools with fewer than 900 students that are offering AP classes in the four core areas of English, Mathematics, Social Studies and Science
* AP ACCESS & SUPPORT SCHOOLS: Schools with 30% of AP test takers that are African-American or Hispanic and at least 30% of all AP exams scoring 3 or higher
* AP MERIT SCHOOLS: Schools with at least 20% of students taking AP exams and at least half of the AP exams scoring a 3 or higher

The AP Honor Schools are listed below.

AP CHALLENGE SCHOOLS:
Schools with fewer than 900 students that are offering AP classes in all four academic areas
Albany HS, Dougherty County
Allatoona HS, Cobb County
AR Johnson Magnet HS, Richmond County
Armuchee HS, Floyd County
Avondale HS, DeKalb County
Bowdon HS, Carroll County
Buford HS, Buford City
Callaway HS, Troup County
Carver School of Health Sciences, Atlanta City
Chattooga HS, Chattooga County
Clinch County HS, Clinch County
Commerce HS, Commerce City
Cook County HS, Cook County
Coosa HS, Floyd County
Cross Keys HS, DeKalb County
Decatur HS, Decatur City
DeKalb School of the Arts, DeKalb County
Gordon Central HS, Gordon County
Gordon Lee HS, Chickamauga City
Greene County HS, Greene County
Hancock Central HS, Hancock County
Heritage HS, Catoosa County
Howard HS, Bibb County
Jefferson HS, Jefferson City
John Davidson Magnet HS, Richmond County
Lincoln County HS, Lincoln County
Long County HS, Long County
McIntosh County Academy, McIntosh County
Model HS, Floyd County
Mount Zion HS, Carroll County
Northeast HS, Bibb County
Oglethorpe County HS, Oglethorpe County
Rabun County HS, Rabun County
Savannah School of the Arts, Chatham County
Screven County HS, Screven County
Southwest HS, Bibb County
TEACH Charter HS, Fulton County
Temple HS, Carroll County
Therrell School of Health Sciences, Atlanta City
Thomasville HS, Thomasville City
Vidalia HS, Vidalia City
Westside HS, Richmond County

AP ACCESS & SUPPORT SCHOOLS:
Schools with 30% of AP test takers that are African-American or Hispanic and at least 30% of all AP exams scoring 3 or higher
AR Johnson Magnet HS, Richmond County
Academy of Richmond County HS, Richmond County
Baldwin HS, Baldwin County
Benjamin Mays HS, Atlanta City
Berkmar HS, Gwinnett County
Bradwell Institute, Liberty County
Campbell HS, Cobb County
Cedar Shoals HS, Clarke County
Cedartown HS, Polk County
Central Gwinnett HS, Gwinnett County
Chamblee Charter HS, DeKalb County
Chapel Hill HS, Douglas County
Cross Keys HS, DeKalb County
Dacula HS, Gwinnett County
Dalton HS, Dalton City
DeKalb School of the Arts, DeKalb County
Douglas County HS, Douglas County
Dutchtown HS, Henry County
Eagle’s Landing HS, Henry County
Early County HS, Early County
Fayette County HS, Fayette County
Henry Grady HS, Atlanta City
Herschel Jenkins HS, Chatham County
Jenkins County HS, Jenkins County
John Davidson Magnet HS, Richmond County
Liberty County HS, Liberty County
Lithia Springs HS, Douglas County
Luella HS, Henry County
Marietta HS, Marietta City
McEachern HS, Cobb County
Phoenix HS, Gwinnett County
Rockdale County HS, Rockdale County
Salem HS, Rockdale County
Sandy Creek HS, Fayette County
Shiloh HS, Gwinnett County
South Gwinnett HS, Gwinnett County
Southwest DeKalb HS, DeKalb County
Statesboro HS, Bulloch County
Woodland HS, Henry County

AP MERIT SCHOOLS:
Schools with at least 20% of students taking AP exams and at least half of the AP exams scoring a 3 or higher
Alpharetta HS, Fulton County
Brookwood HS, Gwinnett County
Centennial HS, Fulton County
Chamblee Charter HS, DeKalb County
Chattahoochee HS, Fulton County
Columbus HS, Muscogee County
Decatur HS, Decatur City
DeKalb School of the Arts, DeKalb County
Druid Hills HS, DeKalb County
Duluth HS, Gwinnett County
Dunwoody HS, DeKalb County
George Walton HS, Cobb County
Greenbrier HS, Columbia County
Gwinnett School of Math, Science, and Technology, Gwinnett County
Harrison HS, Cobb County
John Davidson Magnet HS, Richmond County
Lakeside HS, Columbia County
Lakeside HS, DeKalb County
Lassiter HS, Cobb County
Milton HS, Fulton County
North Gwinnett HS, Gwinnett County
North Oconee HS, Oconee County
North Springs HS, Fulton County
Northview HS, Fulton County
Oconee County HS, Oconee County
Parkview HS, Gwinnett County
Peachtree Ridge HS, Gwinnett County
Riverwood HS, Fulton County
Roswell HS, Fulton County
Savannah Arts Academy, Chatham County
South Forsyth HS, Forsyth County
Starr’s Mill HS, Fayette County
West Forsyth HS, Forsyth County

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1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thank you for mentioning Georgia Virtual School (GAVS) in your article. Did you know that in addition to offering high school courses, GAVS also offers accredited, teacher-led, online courses to middle school students? Courses are available in science, math, language arts, Spanish, French, and electives like health care science and career management. All courses follow Georgia Performance Standards.