Oregon student enrollment in AP classes shows 16.2% increase

Feb 09,2007 00:00 by Bend Weekly News Sources

State Schools Superintendent Susan Castillo announced Tuesday that Oregon saw a 16.2% increase in the number of students participating in Advanced Placement classes over the previous year. A total of 8,535 students took AP exams last year, up from 7,342.

Since 2001, the number of Oregon public school students participating in AP increased by 3,581 or 72.3%.

Since 2001, the number of Oregon public school students participating in AP increased by 3,581 or 72.3%. In addition, even as more students participated in the courses and took the exams, Oregon saw a 14.4% increase in the number of students that scored a 3 or higher on their AP exams, generally considered the measure of whether a student receives college credit or not.

Overall, the state showed increases in every area of AP participation – all students, males and females, and all racial/ethnic populations.

“Oregon has benefited from federal grants to expand the number of students taking the AP Exam and to expand the number of teachers prepared to teach AP courses,” Castillo said. “The good news in this report is that targeted assistance to schools and students is paying off. AP programs provide Oregon students with a wonderful, rigorous course of study that is excellent preparation for those students going on to college. I am very pleased to see Oregon’s numbers increasing.”

“We know that we have many talented students who are not looking at AP as an option, and we need to encourage them to see themselves as high-performing students. AP is as much about aspiration as it is about achievement,” Castillo said.

The Advanced Placement Program provides rigorous college-level curriculum to high schools students. Since its inception in 1955, AP has provided motivated high school students with the opportunity to take college-level courses in a high school setting. Students who participate in AP gain college-level skills, and can earn college credit while they are still in high school on the basis of their scores on national AP examinations.

Research shows that students that take even one AP course, regardless of their AP Examination score, are more likely to enroll in, persevere, and complete college than students that have not taken AP. AP courses are taught by dedicated and enthusiastic high school teachers who follow course guidelines developed and published by the College Board.

There are currently more than 110,000 teachers leading AP courses in high schools worldwide. AP is strengthened by their participation in professional development workshops and Summer Institutes and in the annual AP Reading where thousands of AP teachers and college faculty gather at college sites across the United States to score the AP Exams using rigorous guidelines.