Massachusetts Students Taking More, Doing Better on AP Tests

Much of the text below is adapted from a press release distributed by Mass.gov.

The Patrick-Murray Administration and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced Feb. 9 new national results from the College Board showing overall gains in participation and performance by Massachusetts students on the 2010 AP exams.

The results showed that 23.1 percent of the class of 2010 (14,122 out of 61,220 students) scored a 3 or higher – a solid indicator of potential success in college – on at least one exam during high school, up from one year ago (+1.0), five years ago (+4.2), and 10 years ago (+8.5). Massachusetts students in the class of 2010 outpaced the national average (16.9 percent of seniors scored a 3 or higher on an AP exam) and came in just behind the top performing states of Maryland (26.4 percent), New York (24.6 percent), Virginia (23.7 percent) and Connecticut (23.2 percent).

"I am pleased with today's results that demonstrate our progress in boosting student participation and performance on the AP exams," said Patrick. "Now we must increase our efforts to help more students enroll in these rigorous college preparatory courses and reach higher levels of attainment."

"We are committed to continuing to expand access to high quality educational programs," said Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray. "The AP exam is a key indicator of a student's future success, and these results reflect the hard work of students and educators across Massachusetts."

Statewide, 33.2 percent of students in the class of 2010 took at least one AP exam in high school, up from 30.9 percent in 2009, 26.3 percent in 2006, and 20.4 percent in 2001.

According the the Wayland Public Schools website, Wayland High School offers AP classes in American history, biology, calculus, Latin, English, French, Spanish, chemistry and physics. A adds an AP European history class to the list beginning with the 2011-12 school year.