By Jay Mathews
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 14, 2008

Maryland public schools had the second-highest percentage of graduating seniors who passed Advanced Placement tests last year, and Virginia's had the third-highest, College Board officials disclosed yesterday. Maryland also ranked second in the nation for gains on that measure of college readiness.

High marks for the two states were driven largely by dramatic increases in AP test-taking in the Washington suburbs, particularly Northern Virginia and Montgomery County. Some educators are worried, however, that budget cuts will limit that growth. Fairfax County, for example, is weighing a proposal to force many students to pay for their AP exams.

A record 15.2 percent of public school students nationwide in the Class of 2007 received a passing grade of 3 or higher on a AP test, compared with 11.7 percent for the Class of 2002.

Maryland and Virginia were far ahead of the national average, according to the annual AP Report to the Nation. In Maryland, 22.4 percent of seniors had passing AP scores last year, compared with 16.4 percent in 2002. The rate in Virginia rose from 16.9 percent in 2002 to 21.5 percent.

Montgomery accounted for more than one-third of the passing AP tests in Maryland. Nearly half of 2007 Montgomery graduates passed at least one test, three times the national average.

In the District, 8.1 percent of public school seniors had a passing AP score in 2007, the same as five years before. D.C. school leaders have called for a significant increase in classes to prepare students for the exams, which are considered valuable in readying students for college.

The Washington area has the highest concentration of AP test-taking in the country. The courses and tests in three dozen subjects have become popular in part because selective colleges virtually require AP, or the similar International Baccalaureate program, for admission. Local superintendents also have concluded that the programs can raise the academic skills even of average students, who used to be excluded from the college-level courses.

At Wheaton High School in Montgomery, 41 percent of students are from low-income backgrounds, the sort who previously were rarely invited to try AP. Wheaton has more than tripled the number of AP tests since 2002, and 27.3 percent of last year's seniors had at least one passing score. Principal Kevin Lowndes said he and his faculty emphasize AP from the moment students enter ninth grade. Teachers focus on "the strategies and skills that are necessary to be successful in an AP class," he said.

Judy Estep, an assistant superintendent in Charles County, credited more support for teachers and students for the doubling of AP tests in her school system and rising student success in the past five years.

New York public schools had the highest rate of 2007 graduates who had passed an AP test, 23.4 percent. Excluding Maryland and Virginia, others in the top 10 were, in order, Florida, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, California, Utah and Colorado.

Vermont showed the greatest five-year improvement on the measure, rising to 19.9 percent from 12.7 percent. Maryland was second, Maine third, Colorado fourth and New Hampshire fifth. Virginia ranked 12th.

College Board President Gaston Caperton, whose New York-based nonprofit organization oversees the program, praised higher passing rates among minority students on the three-hour exams.

"Educators and policymakers across the nation should be commended for their sustained commitment to helping students achieve access to and success in AP courses and exams," he said.

Despite improvement among black students, the report said they made up 3.3 percent of students who passed AP tests, although they accounted for 14 percent of all students at their high schools. Montgomery has tried to reverse the trend. The share of black students taking one or more AP tests in the county nearly tripled from 12 percent in the Class of 2000 to 34 percent in the Class of 2007.

"Particularly noteworthy is that African American males . . . took AP exams at a higher rate than the national average for all students," Superintendent Jerry D. Weast wrote in a memo to the school board. Montgomery's school system was one of two to yield more than 1,000 passing AP tests from black students in 2007. The other was New York's.

Staff writer Daniel de Vise contributed to this report.