FEBRUARY 10, 2010

Press Conference

© 2010 The College Board.

OVERVIEW

AP ScoreCorrespondingCollege Grades

5 A

4 A-, B+, B

3 B-, C+, C

What do AP Exam scores represent?

The number of points a student earns across the 3-hour AP Exam is converted into a final AP Exam score of 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5:

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Growth driver: Focus on improving college readiness

Student Demographic AP Exam Score of 3 or higher

African American 28% higher

Hispanic 28% higher

White 33% higher

Low Income 26% higher

Not Low Income 34% higher

Source: Chrys Dougherty, Lynn Mellor and Shuling Jian. 2006. “The Relationship Between Advanced Placement and College Graduation,” (2005), National Center for Educational Accountability.

Five-year college graduation rate differences between matched AP and non-AP students

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Growth driver: Fostering American competitiveness

TIMSS Report: International Student Achievement in Mathematics

Source: Eugenio J. Gonzalez, Kathleen M. O’Connor, and Julie A. Miles, (2001). “How Well Do Advanced Placement Students Perform on the TIMSS Advanced Mathematics and Physics Tests?” The International Study Center, Lynch School of Education, Boston College.

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Growth driver: Changes in AP gatekeeping practices in the 21st century

AP Enrollment Requirement% of AP schools following this practice

2001 2009

Minimum GPA required 44% 34%

Specific grade in prerequisite course 65% 52%

Recommendation from teacher of prerequisite course 74% 62%

Open enrollment/student desire 42% 53%

Source: AP Participation Surveys, 2001 and 2009, The College Board.

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Growth driver: College AdmissionsA 2008 survey of admission officers confirmed student perceptions that they should avail themselves of AP opportunities

Source: Crux Research Inc. (2008).

Question for admission 0fficers: Does AP course taking favorably impact admission decisions?

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The results of AP expansion during the first decade of the 21st century (Public Schools Only)

Number of exams scoring 1, 2

Number of exams scoring 3, 4, 5

Class of 2001

Class of 2009

Class of 2009 earned 583,702 more exam scores of 1 and 2 than the class of 2001.

Class of 2009 earned 653,911 more exam scores of 3, 4 and 5 than the class of 2001.

421,013

1,004,715

653,376

1,307,287

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AP Program at a Glance, Class of 2009 (Public Schools Only)

Total number of high school graduates

Total number of high school graduates who took an AP

Exam at some point in high school

Total number of high school graduates who scored a 3 or

higher on an AP Exam at some point in high school

2001 2,569,200 433,449 (16.9%) 278,305 (10.8%)

2009 3,019,361 798,629 (26.5%) 479,349 (15.9%)

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Table 1: AP Equity and ExcellenceStudent Access and Performance in US Public Schools

Percentage of Graduating Class Scoring a 3 or Higher on an AP Exam

During High School

Percentage of Graduating Class Scoring a 3 or Higher on an AP Exam

During High School

Class of % Change Class of % Change

State 2004 2008 2009 1 YEAR 5 YEARS State 2004 2008 2009 1 YEAR 5 YEARS

Louisiana 2.3 3.7 4.1 0.4 1.8 Utah 18.6 18.9 18.5 -0.4 -0.1

Maine 12.8 17.4 18.2 0.8 5.4 Vermont 14.3 19.8 19.3 -0.5 5.0

Maryland 19.4 23.6 24.8 1.2 5.4 Virginia 17.1 21.3 22.9 1.6 5.8

Massachusetts 17.2 20.8 22.1 1.3 4.9 Washington 11.1 15.5 16.0 0.5 4.9

Michigan 10.8 13.0 13.6 0.6 2.8 West Virginia 6.2 6.9 7.6 0.7 1.4

Minnesota 10.6 14.2 15.5 1.3 4.9 Wisconsin 13.2 16.6 17.3 0.7 4.1

Mississippi 2.8 3.9 4.0 0.1 1.2 Wyoming 6.5 7.5 7.7 0.2 1.2

Missouri 5.0 6.5 7.1 0.6 2.1 Total 12.7 15.2 15.9 0.7 3.2

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States with the Greatest % of Seniors Scoring a 3

on an AP Exam

State %

Maryland 24.8

New York 23.8

Virginia 22.9

Massachusetts 22.1

Florida 21.3

Connecticut 21.3

California 20.8

Colorado 20.1

States with the Greatest Expansion of AP Scores of 3 or Higher Since 2004

State % Change

Virginia 5.8

Maryland 5.4

Georgia 5.4

Maine 5.4

Colorado 5.0

Vermont 5.0

Florida 5.0

Figure 1: AP Equity and Excellence — Map of the Nation

U.S. Public Schools: High School Class of 2009Percentage of Students Scoring a 3 or Higher onan AP Exam During High School

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Figure 2: Access to AP by Race/EthnicityUS Public Schools: High School Class of 2009

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Table 2: AP Equity and Excellence GapsStudent Access and Performance in US Public Schools by Race/Ethnicity

% of Graduating

Class

% of Successful AP Exam

PopulationEquity and Excellence

Gap Eliminated

% of Graduating

Class

% of Successful AP Exam

PopulationEquity and Excellence

Gap Eliminated

% of Graduating

Class

% of Successful AP Exam

PopulationEquity and Excellence

Gap Eliminated

State …who are black/African American …who are Hispanic/Latino …who are American

Indian/Alaska Native

New Jersey 15.8 2.8 16.1 9.3 0.3 0.2New Mexico 2.6 1.6 48.0 36.7 11.5 1.9New York 15.0 4.1 13.8 11.0 0.4 0.2North Carolina 29.5 6.1 6.1 4.5 1.1 0.4

North Dakota 1.6 0.7 1.1 0.4 6.3 0.9Ohio 13.5 3.0 1.8 1.8 X 0.1 0.2 XOklahoma 9.9 3.3 6.9 6.9 X 19.6 8.4Oregon 2.2 1.0 12.0 5.9 2.2 0.7Pennsylvania 13.1 1.8 5.0 2.7 0.1 0.2 XRhode Island 8.3 1.3 14.6 5.0 0.6 0.4South Carolina 38.2 8.3 3.2 3.2 X 0.3 0.5 X

South Dakota 1.5 0.7 1.8 1.4 5.3 0.6Tennessee 21.7 7.4 2.9 3.8 X 0.1 0.4 XTexas 15.0 3.7 38.5 32.3 0.4 0.5 XUtah 1.1 0.3 8.6 5.4 1.5 0.4Vermont 1.4 0.5 1.5 0.9 0.5 0.5 XVirginia 24.4 6.5 6.3 6.5 X 0.3 0.5 XWashington 4.8 1.6 10.0 6.2 2.1 0.7West Virginia 4.2 0.5 1.0 1.1 X 0.1 0.4 XWisconsin 6.4 1.2 4.6 2.9 1.2 0.4Wyoming 1.1 0.2 7.1 4.5 2.3 0.0Nation 14.5 3.7 15.9 14.3 1.2 0.4

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National Math and Science Initiative’s Training and Incentive Program

Increase

Increase

Percent increase from May 2008 to May 2009 insuccessful AP Exams in math, science and Englishfor African American and Latino students

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Schools with the Largest Numbers of African American and Latino Students Experiencing Success in AP

California Calexico High School (Calexico, Calif.)

Florida Barbara Goleman Senior High School

(Miami, Fla.) Coral Reef Senior High School (Miami,

Fla.) Cypress Bay High School

(Weston, Fla.) Design and Architecture Senior High

(Miami, Fla.) Miami Coral Park Senior High School

(Miami, Fla.) Miami Killian Senior High School (Miami,

Fla.) Stanton College Preparatory School

(Jacksonville, Fla.)

Georgia Southwest DeKalb High School (Decatur,

Ga.)

Illinois Homewood-Flossmoor Community High

School (Flossmoor, Ill.)

Maryland Eleanor Roosevelt High School

(Greenbelt, Md.)

Michigan Renaissance High School (Detroit, Mich.)

Texas Michael E. DeBakey High School for

Health Professions (Houston, Texas) School of Science and Engineering at

Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center (Dallas, Texas)

Valley View High School (Pharr, Texas)

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AP’s growth has been primarily a democratization of the program, inclusion of a greater number of students rather than increasing the number of exams taken by students

Number of AP Exams

Percentage of AP students in the Class of 2009 who took one or multiple AP Exams during their

high school years

1 36.8%

2 20.1%

3 13.3%

4 9.6%

5 6.9%

6 4.9%

7 3.4%

8 2.2%

9 1.3%

10 0.7%

11 0.4%

12 0.2%

13 0.1%

14 0.1%

More than 14 0.1%

AP Exam takers in the class of 2009 took an average of 2.9 AP Exams while in high school.

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Schools Attended by AP Students from the Class of 2009

2009 2008 Change

U.S. Public Schools 12,540 12,323 +217

U.S. Nonpublic Schools 3,377 3,299 +78

International Schools 1,056 1,009 +47

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Preview: September 2010 press conference announcing AP science redesign

“The revised AP biology curriculum unveiled this summer … represents a new departure, substantially different from its counterpart of a decade ago in terms of both content and pedagogy. It encourages teaching practices students should learn to apply … The new curriculum is exciting and encouraging … a major step.”

— William B. Wood, Science magazine, September 25, 2009

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FEBRUARY 10, 2010

Press Conference

© 2010 The College Board.

OVERVIEW

For more information or follow-up questions:

College Board Office of CommunicationsTel: 212-713-8052

E-mail: communications@collegeboard.org

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