October 30, 1996|By Mary Maushard | Mary Maushard,SUN STAFF
High-achieving 11th- and 12th-graders in Maryland public schools failed to keep pace with their peers around the country last spring on the Advanced Placement tests that earn them college credits, the Maryland State Board of Education was told yesterday.
Although more Maryland public school students took the prestigious tests last year than in the year before -- and performed better -- they did not do as well as the national average, according to a report provided by the College Board, which administers the national exams.
Fewer black students took the tests in 1996 than the year before, and they scored lower on average than last year, the only group in Maryland to show a decline in those categories.
These benchmarks caused concern among state board members at their monthly meeting yesterday.
"It's troubling to me. Maryland has always been one of the leaders in Advanced Placement," said board President Christopher T. Cross. "We're not maintaining that rank."
Based on the number of tests given per 1,000 students in the 11th and 12th grades, seven states ranked above Maryland -- a number Cross found particularly disturbing. "I want it to be among the top two or three," he said.
Seventy-one percent of high schools in Maryland offered Advanced Placement courses in 1996, the usual prerequisite for the tests.
According to the most recent statistics, 10,235 Maryland public school students -- or 5.2 percent more than in 1995 -- took the rigorous tests last spring. Nationally, 6.3 percent more public school students took the tests than in the previous year.
Students may take as many tests as they wish and must score a 3, 4 or 5 to receive college credit.
In Maryland, 11,056 of the 15,962 tests taken by public school students received scores of 3 to 5 -- an increase of 7 percent over 1995.
Nationally, 9.9 percent more tests than the year before scored in that range.
Pub Date: 10/30/96
