State makes Advanced Placement gains
NIRVI SHAH AND GARY FINEOUT
Herald
Feb 7, 2007
Cypress Bay High in Weston was home to the school with the largest number of Hispanic students in the country who passed Advanced Placement exams in five subjects last school year.
A 7-year-old push in Florida to boost the number of students who take rigorous Advanced Placement tests has made the Sunshine State a leader in the nation, according to a report released Tuesday by the College Board.
''Florida has made a big effort in investing in AP. The data confirms the success,'' said Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board, which administers the AP program. Advanced Placement classes are college-level courses with final exams. Students who score a 3 out of 5 on the exams or better can earn college credit.
Caperton specifically lauded Cypress Bay, where 44 percent of students are Hispanic. Enrollment in AP calculus has grown from eight students five years ago to 185 students today. Other subjects for which Cypress Bay was recognized: French, macroeconomics, psychology and comparative government and politics.
The third annual Advanced Placement Report to the Nation placed Florida seventh in the nation in the percentage of seniors who received passing grades on the tests. More than 19 percent of high school seniors who took an AP exam in 2006 passed.
Under former Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida beefed up the number of school districts and schools that offered AP courses in subjects as diverse as physics, English and U.S. history. The state is spending $7.2 million this year to coax teachers and school districts to offer AP courses. Teachers are also eligible for a $50 bonus for each student they teach who earns a passing grade of 3 or better on AP exams.
Fifteen schools in Florida, including 13 in Broward and Miami-Dade, got high marks for the passing rates of their students on AP courses. Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale was recognized because so many of its students passed the test for the human geography AP class. Many of the other Florida schools recognized had the largest number of Hispanics or black students who earned passing scores on the comprehensive exams given each May.
They include Stranahan High in Fort Lauderdale, which had the largest number of black students pass the AP psychology test.
Broward high schools have been encouraging more students to try Advanced Placement classes, even if they weren't prototypical high-performing students with high grade-point averages and strong standardized test scores, said Deborah Owens, principal of Stranahan High.
''There was a profile that we used to look for, but now successful means exposure,'' Owens said. ``Exposing the kids to college courses is a newer philosophy.''
While Stranahan students stand out, overall, the number of black students statewide taking the AP test lags behind white and Hispanic students. Only about 11 percent of black high school seniors in Florida took AP exams in 2006, compared to 24.2 percent of Hispanic students -- among the highest percentage in the nation. But the percentage of black students participating puts Florida behind many other southern states.
State Education Commissioner John Winn cited studies that show that AP courses prepare students for college and pointed out that the number of blacks taking courses and exams continued to rise.
