Roanoke County Schools recognized for AP test achievements - WSLS 10 NBC in Roanoke/Lynchburg Va

Roanoke County Schools recognized for AP test achievements

Roanoke County Public Schools received special recognition from the College Board for its performance on Advanced Placement (AP) exams.

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) says the county school system was one of 12 state school divisions, and 539 across the country, the both increased access to AP courses, and raised achievement scores on the tests.  Roanoke County Schools was the only school system in the WSLS viewing area to do so.

Statewide, the College Board said 27.2% of Virginia high school graduates in 2012 received a score of three or higher on at least one AP test.  That was an increase of 1.6 percentage points over 2011 (25.6%).

A breakdown of the 2012 numbers by the VDOE found:

• 42.4% of graduates took at least one AP test
• 27.2% scored a three or higher
• More Virginia 2012 graduates scored a three or higher on at least one AP test, than the total number of students who took an AP test in 2002
• In 2012, 4,442 black students participated in AP testing, compared with 1,623 in 2002
• The percentage of black graduates earning at least one qualifying score rose 2.3 points to 7.4% in 2012, compared with 5.1% in 2002
• In 2012, 2,573 of Virginia's Hispanic graduates took at least one AP test, compared with 745 of 2002 Hispanic graduates
• The percentage of Hispanic graduates earning at least one score of three or higher rose 2.5 points to 7.1% in 2012, compared with 4.6% in 2002
• The most popular AP course among Virginia's 2012 graduating seniors was U.S. Government and Politics, followed by U.S. History, English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition, Psychology, Calculus AB, World History, Statistics, Biology, and Environmental Science

Virginia students came in at #5 in the nation overall for achievement on AP tests.  For the past five years, the Commonwealth had ranked #3.

"I would be more concerned about the change in Virginia's national ranking if it were an indication of lower student achievement - but it is not," Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia I. Wright said in a news release.  "The percentage of Virginia high school students accepting the challenge of AP courses and examinations continues to increase, as does the achievement of our students on the tests. But AP participation must increase at a greater rate for Virginia to remain competitive with states that are investing resources for this purpose."

Maryland led the nation with 29.6%, followed by New York (28%), Massachusetts (27.9%), and Florida (27.3%).