A decade ago, Smith said, schools often discouraged students from taking the most rigorous courses. "It was a shift from throwing up hurdles and barriers to encouraging more and more kids to take them. That is the bottom line on what has driven this growth."
Broadneck senior Thea Parker never saw herself as a serious student. In ninth grade, she said, "I wasn't really pushing myself. ... I was thinking about the minimum."
She said she was often argumentative until after getting into a program called AVID, which attempts to place underachieving students or those from low-income families on a college track. There, she was exposed to the idea of going to college and saw more possibilities in her future. Now, she said, "I have a brand new attitude."
As a junior, she took some honors classes, and then a teacher encouraged her to try AP human geography as a senior. At first, she said, she was nervous about the amount of work, but she got used to it and got an "A" in her first quarter and a "B" in the second.
"I love my course," she said. She is applying to four-year colleges and hopes to be the first in her family to graduate from college.
Baltimore had particularly poor pass rates even among its top achieving schools. Low rates might be expected at City College, which offers an alternative program called the International Baccalaureate Program, or at the School for the Arts. But Poly and Western, both of which have entrance requirements, had much lower rates than the best performing suburban schools.
Recently, Baltimore has focused its attention on adding AP classes in its high schools and ensuring that teachers are trained. "I believe in the next few years, we will see more students taking the AP and passing," said Bianca Pilewski, director of guidance in the city.
The city must also overcome a more serious hurdle: Many of its students are not taking difficult classes in middle school that prepare them to take more advanced science and math classes. For a student to take AP calculus in senior year or advanced science classes, they must have Algebra I before ninth grade. Yet, few city students take algebra in middle school.
Baltimore schools chief Andres Alonso said he doesn't know why Poly's pass rate, 21.7 percent, is relatively low. "It is obviously something we will be taking a look at," he said.
Baltimore County has gone from a pass rate among seniors of 12 percent in 2000 to 22.1 percent by 2008. Despite a goal of having every high school offer 12 AP courses, some schools offer only 10 while others offer 28.
Lynda Whitlock, principal of Lansdowne High School, said the staff had to overcome an initial reluctance among the student body. Teachers also must give instruction in study habits and techniques. Last year, she said, the school decided it would like to offer an AP biology class and began by getting a group of students to take a physiology course that would prepare them. Many have signed up to take the biology class next year.
She said students who would not have been considered for the courses have taken them and done well.
"As you get more students involved in the program, peer pressure begins to help," she said. "It has become fashionable to take the more rigorous classes."
