Maryland may rank No. 1 in the nation for the percentage of its high school graduates who pass an Advanced Placement test, but behind that distinction is a wide disparity between counties and high schools.
Even among some of the best schools in the Baltimore region - and from one high school to the next within the same counties - students have widely different course offerings and results. For example, 46 percent of the graduates last spring at Broadneck High School in Annapolis had passed at least one AP test compared with less than half that percentage at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. In Baltimore County, nearly 48 percent of the seniors at Towson High School had passed an Advanced Placement exam compared with less than 5 percent at New Town High School.
Anne Arundel's pass rate of about one in four surpassed Baltimore and Carroll counties, where about 22 percent passed. In Howard, nearly one in three passed. Baltimore City had the lowest pass rate of any district in the metropolitan area. Only 2.7 percent of the graduating class had passed one test. Harford County did not release results.
Montgomery County officials have boasted that without their students' stellar performance, the state would have ranked 10th in the nation. In Montgomery, 46 percent of last year's graduates had gotten a score of 3 or better on at least one AP exam - a countywide average that beat all but a few of the schools in the Baltimore region. The Baltimore Sun obtained scores from local systems to determine how individual schools and districts stack up.
Maryland has been urging districts to increase the number of Advanced Placement offerings as a way to raise standards and provide more rigorous courses to prepare students for college. The subject matter is taught at a college level, and receiving a score of 3 or better equates to a "C" or better at a university. The tests, administered by the College Board, cover a range of subjects, such as English, world history, calculus, statistics, music theory and French. Students who take an Advanced Placement class, even those who do not pass the exams, have a better chance of graduating from college, research has shown.
Principals in schools where they have begun trying to increase the number of AP classes said the key is to begin pushing students in ninth grade who are successful in standard classes into higher-level classes. If they do well, they are encouraged to try an Advanced Placement class. That approach is far different than in the past, when AP classes were offered only to a select few, said Broadneck Principal David G. Smith.
