States where students do well on AP exams

[healthy11]

www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/19/ap-exams-map_n_5692626.html

A new map compiled by research engine Findthebest.com shows how kids scored on AP exams around the country in 2013. In Mississippi, only 4 percent of students who took AP exams scored a three or above -- a score that may mean college credit, depending on the school's policy. Nearly 30 percent of students in Maryland did. For more information, read the above article.

[sleepy]

Thanks, Healthy. I was surprised when I saw the results. I thought taking APs and scoring a 3 was more common because of the high pressure environment I live in and being in a state that is very high on that list. It in not uncommon here to have kids taking 5+ APs in high school and scoring 3 or better on most of them. It is really shocking to me that the program is as large as it is and having so few students scoring 3 or above. With that said, I know kids in other states that are taking APs and just not getting 3 or higher.

[bros]

Not surprised that NJ is near the top.

I'm guessing California is near the top because they tend to pay for student's AP exams?

[healthy11]

I was surprised, as well, to see that less than a third of the students who take AP exams anywhere score 3-5, giving them options for possible credit depending on the college they want to attend.

What people may not know is that high schoolers DON'T have to take an AP class in order to register to take AP tests (so some kids who might have personal strengths/interests in different areas can chose to just take those subject exams.) For example, it's more likely for someone to take the Spanish test when they have have relatives and/or live near native speakers. However, I doubt there are many kids who just happen to have a passion for Macroeconomics and could pass that exam without having taken the class. It's too bad the article didn't give a more detailed breakdown (ie, what percent of test-takers had taken formal courses beforehand.) Maybe the site of the group that did the study provides more information than the short article.

I'll also have to see if there's data showing how many students in each state took which subject tests, and how they did on each of them? What I'm thinking is that certain subject tests have higher "pass rates" (ie, maybe 90% of Japanese language tests are passed, but only 20% of History and 15% of Physics) However, if more students in total try to pass the History and Physics tests, because those are subjects they'd rather not have to take in college, and they don't do well, it can skew the overall results. [As a simplified example, if 10 kids in Georgia take the Japanese test and 90% pass, that equals 9 kids. If 100 kids take the History test and 20% pass it equals 20 kids. If 100 kids take Physics and 15% pass, it equals 15 kids. Overall, 10+100+100 = 210 tests were taken, but only 9+20+15 = 44 "Passed" (got scores of 3 or higher) then the total percentage of exams passed is 44/210, or 21% overall.)

[lorij]

This is an interesting topic. On the one hand, too many kids are pushed into taking AP classes and thus exams. Many of these kids simply aren't ready. However, I've read studies that suggest even if they do poorly, this is all good for college prep. The program has its flaws for sure, but there is also good to be found. I'm not sure how to explain the state to state differences. I wonder if the higher scoring states have stronger elementary programs. Many AP worthy kids coast for far too long, and are blind sighted when they truly have to work for an AP class.

The maths certainly have a higher pass rate because most schools won't let you just walk in and take an AP calculus course, without the proper prerequisites leading up to it. However, many schools don't bat an eye at sending an unprepared student into an AP history.