Maryland ranked No. 1 in the nation in the percentage of high school seniors taking and passing the rigorous Advanced Placement exams, squeaking by New York, which has held the top position for decades, according to a report released yesterday by the College Board.
The achievement comes years after Maryland strengthened the curriculum in middle and high schools to better prepare students for college. For instance, many students now take Algebra I in eighth grade so that they can take calculus by the time they graduate. The state also helped fund programs that encourage school districts to offer more AP courses, particularly to minority and low-income students.
"This is huge, because it's such a specific, national, high standard," said Maryland schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick.
Gov. Martin O'Malley, who appeared at a news conference with Grasmick at the State House, called the ranking "remarkable" and said it was a testament to the large investment the state had made in education in recent years.
Of Maryland's Class of 2008, 23.4 percent of the students took and passed at least one or more of the exams, significantly above the nationwide average of 15 percent. New York came in second with 23.3 percent of students passing.
Maryland increased the number of students taking Advanced Placement at a faster pace than all but two states and has gotten an increasingly larger percentage of African-Americans to take the exams. Only four states have a higher percentage of blacks passing the test.
But the state still has significant work to do. The report notes that while Hispanics and whites are represented in AP classrooms in the same percentages as they are in the student population, blacks are not equally represented. Black students represent 18 percent of students in AP classrooms in Maryland, far less than the 34 percent in the general population of seniors.
Maryland also has a lower percentage of its low- income students taking AP classes compared to some other leading states. About 1 in 10 students sitting in AP classrooms qualify for a reduced-price school lunches, compared with nearly double that rate in New York.
Disparity remains in the state. Two Maryland high schools were recognized for having the highest percentage in the nation of African-American seniors passing the tests: Paint Branch in Montgomery County for the world history exam and Eleanor Roosevelt in Prince George's County for the chemistry exam. By contrast, Polytechnic Institute and City College had relatively lower pass rates.
