WESTFIELD – Massachusetts ranks fourth in the nation in the percentage of 2013 public high school graduates who scored 3 or higher on Advanced Placement exams.
AP exams are scored on a five-point scale with 3 indicating a student is considered qualified of doing the work of an introductory-level course in a particular subject at college.
According to a new report by the College Board, which administers the test, nearly 28 percent of Massachusetts 2013 high school graduates scored 3 or higher — up from nearly 17 percent in 2003.
That places Massachusetts behind Maryland, which ranked first, followed by Connecticut and Virginia.
Nationally, about 20 percent of 2013 public high school graduates scored a 3 or higher on an Advanced Placement exam.
Some colleges and universities grant credit for scores of 3, 4 or 5.
The report showed that the number of Massachusetts public high school graduates who took at least one AP exam during their high school career has also increased.
In 2003, 13,051 high school graduates had taken an AP course compared with 24,610 in the class of 2013, an increase of 89 percent. The number who scored a 3 or higher also increased, from 9,419 in the class of 2003 to 17,616 in the class of 2013.
“Today’s results demonstrate steady progress in boosting educational performance,” Gov. Deval Patrick said earlier this week. “I applaud our hard-working students and teachers.”
The report also found that the performance of minority and low-income students in Massachusetts improved over the past decade.
The number of black students taking an AP exam during high school increased from 423 in the class of 2003 to 1,393 in the class of 2013, with the number scoring a 3 or higher growing from 147 to 555.
For Hispanic students, the number taking an AP exam increased from 510 to 1,932 over the past decade, with the number scoring a 3 or higher growing from 380 to 1,054.
For low-income graduates, the number taking an AP exam increased from 957 to 4,675 over the past decade, with the number scoring 3 or higher growing from 485 to 2,367.
Westfield Superintendent Dr. Suzanne Scallion said that efforts are being put forth at Westfield High School to challenge students through increased emphasis on AP coursework.
“We’ve partnered with the Mass. Math and Science Initiative through the help of a grant,” she said, comparing the district’s work with the MMSI to the Bay State Reading Institute which is being employed throughout the district’s younger grades. “I’ve seen great successes in other districts (working with MMSI).”
“We’re looking to increase the academic rigor at the high school,” she said. “This partnership will be important in that.”
Scallion credited the high school’s administration, specifically Principal Jonathan Carter, for leading the push to engage more students in AP courses.
“We’ve had a number of students take these courses but not take the test in the past,” she said. “But we’re looking to increase the number of students who are taking the courses and the exams. Research shows that students who take AP classes go on to have greater ability to perservere in college.”
Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional High School Principal Pamela Hunter said scores on the exams at her school earned STGRHS a spot on the AP Honor Roll last year, a cumulative three-year average of scores earned by students at high schools across the country.
“We’ve increased the number of kids taking AP courses,” said Hunter, who is in her seventh year as principal at the school. “We’ve made a real push to get more kids taking these courses. We kind of recruit kids to take AP classes, and not just the ones who are in the top 10 in their class.”
Hunter said the AP courses that have become the most popular at the school include U.S. history, and science courses like biology and chemistry, which alternate year by year so that students can take one and then another.
“We’ve also seen an increase in the number of students taking more than one AP course,” she said. The school’s next challenge will be to get more students enrolled in pre-AP classes in math and English.
“We’re trying to prep kids for this type of work and to improve their critical thinking skills, not just for students who’re in accelerated programs,” she said.
In the Gateway Regional School District, students are also getting ready to take the exam.
“We do have a number of students taking the exam,” Superintendent Dr. David Hopson said. “But the biggest problem we have right now is that we don’t enough options for AP scheduling.”
Hopson said that the district’s regional high school in Huntington hasn’t had a national AP scholar, a student who scores a 3 or higher on at least three AP exams, since the district changed it’s class scheduling.
Hopson is confident the district’s high schoolers will continue to perform admirably on it’s exams.
“Our AP teachers do a great job prepping our kids for these tests,” Hopson said. “They work hard over breaks and after school with our students.”
