Louisiana public high schools rank at the bottom of a recent College Board report about advanced placement exam results from the 2007 school year. The state ranked at the bottom of two lists – percentage of high school students taking advanced-placement exams and percentage of students who scored a three or higher. In Louisiana, 5.7 percent of high school students took an exam in 2007, compared to top-ranked Delaware with 39.7 percent of students. The national average of high school students who took an exam in high school was 24.9 percent in 2007. Among Louisiana students who took the exam in 2007, only 2.7 percent scored higher than three. Maryland is the No. 1 state in high-scoring students with 22.4 percent earning a score of three or higher. The percentage of U.S. public high school students who received a score of three or higher on the advanced placement exam has increased overall from 11.7 percent in 2002 to 15.2 percent in 2007. The College Board, a non-profit organization that oversees the SATs, PSATs and advanced placement exams, released the “Fourth Annual AP Report to the Nation” on Feb. 13. “Though 75 percent of U.S. high school graduates enter college, dropout rates and … half of all college freshmen are taking at least one remedial course indicate that secondary schools must dedicate themselves to more than college admission,” the report said. The report also said students who earned scores of one or two do not demonstrate stronger performances in college than students who do not take the exams. Students who took advanced-placement courses in high school have developed a stronger understanding of the content in advanced math and physics. Advanced placement classes are college-level courses available in high school, and the exams allow high school students to earn college credit. Exams are scored on a scale of one to five, five being the highest. Depending on the school, a score of three allows you to earn college credit in the course. Central High School, a public school in East Baton Rouge Parish, offers six advanced-placement courses with about five percent of students enrolled in them. Scott Worsham, counselor at Central High School, said the only exam students scored an average of 3 or higher was the American history exam with an average score of 3.2. In the other five exams, average scores ranged from 1.2 to 2.6, Worsham said. Baton Rouge Magnet High School offers 17 AP classes with about 20 percent of students taking them. About 77.9 percent of Baton Rouge Magnet High School students who took the exams in 2007 scored a three or higher. “[Baton Rouge Magnet High School] plans to expand the AP program by adding a new AP course every year for the next three years,” said Diane Sistrunk, counselor at Baton Rouge Magnet High School. “We are exploring a pre-AP curriculum in English as well.” Lucila Ovino, assistant principal at Robert E. Lee High School, said the school offers three courses – English literature, English composition and physics. During the 2007-2008 school year, about three percent of students at Lee High School are taking these courses. Ovino did not provide average test scores for the 2007 school year by press time. Mississippi was the second worst on the College Board report. Mississippi had 11.5 percent of their high school students taking AP exams with 3.7 percent with scores of three or higher.
—-Contact J.J. Alcantara at [email protected]