College Board Briefs - Superintendent Diane Douglas on AP® Participation, Performance in Arizona

[Harry Mathews]

Arizona Department of Education

Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane M. Douglas

 

                                                         

 Contact: Sally Stewart

  [e-mail]

   602-542-5072

 

 

(Phoenix, AZ – April 8, 2015) – Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas today discussed the improvements in participation and performance of Arizona students over the last decade in the Advanced Placement Program offered by the not-for-profit College Board.

“I am pleased to see that the results from Arizona’s class of 2014 show progress and continual improvement throughout the last ten years,” said Superintendent Douglas. “I am delighted to celebrate our students’ demonstrated success in this program.”

From 2004 to 2014, the number of high school graduates who took an AP exam in Arizona grew from about 6,300 in 2004 to about 15,700 in 2014. The percentage of Arizona students who took an AP exam during high school grew from 14 percent in 2004 to slightly more than 26 percent in 2014.

The Advanced Placement (AP) program offers college-level courses and exams to high school students. Success in AP is defined as achieving a score of three or higher on the five-point AP Exam scale. A successful score is required for receiving credit, advanced placement or both at the majority of colleges and universities.

In Arizona, 15.1 percent of the class of 2014 scored a three or higher on the AP exam during high school. About 8.8 percent of Arizona students scored a three or higher in 2004.  The Arizona percentage has consistently increased since over that span. The national percentage of all high school graduates scoring a three or higher on at least one AP exam also has grown steadily, from 12.7 percent in the class of 2004 to 21.6 percent in the class of 2014.

Superintendent Diane Douglas sees an opportunity for her African American, Latino and Native American Education Advisory councils to focus on helping increase access for students who did not participate in the AP Program, but were identified as having potential.

The College Board is a not-for-profit organization that connects students to college success and opportunity. The College Board annually helps more than seven million students prepare for a successful transition to college through programs and services in readiness and college success — including the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the Advanced Placement Program.