Source: Belleville News Democrat
Many are reluctant to enroll in courses
WASHINGTON - Participation in the Advanced Placement program has more than doubled in 10 years. But this surge in college-preparatory testing has not reached most African-American students, according to a Washington Post analysis of 2006 exam results in 30 school systems with about 5,000 or more black high school students.
The Washington Post reviewed AP data from nine of the 10 school systems in the nation with the largest black populations, from New York City, with 115,963 African-American students in grades 9 through 12, to Baltimore City, with 22,225. One of the 10, Detroit, declined to provide data. The analysis considered 20 other school systems, all among the 80 largest for black high school populations, that are known for their rigor. The analysis considered the number of passing exams by black students and weighed it against black student enrollment in grades 9 through 12. A score of 3 or higher on the five-point AP scale is considered passing because it is the typical cutoff for credit and advanced standing in college.
The AP program began in 1955 as a means for top high school students to take college courses. A national surge in AP testing began in the late 1990s as a quest for greater rigor for a broader spectrum of high school students.
Participation among black students has tripled in 10 years. But the numbers were so low 10 years ago that by 2006, none of the largest school systems in the country could meet the goal of having 1,000 passing tests from black students.
In the 1 million-student New York City system, the nation's largest, black students in 2006 produced 987 AP tests that earned scores of 3 or higher. Chicago's 56,379 black students yielded 581 passing AP tests. Philadelphia schools (37,831 black students) had 144.
"I get very upset when I'm looking at the scores," said Terry Grier, superintendent of schools in Guilford County, N.C., and a national authority on AP. Guilford schools are known for black AP achievement: The system pays for exams, recruits vigorously from the minority student population and, in spring 2006, produced passing tests from African-Americans at more than twice the national rate.
Comparing the number of passing tests to the overall student population illustrates a twofold problem: Black students take AP tests at a much lower rate than others, and blacks who take AP tests are less likely to pass -- one-quarter of blacks tested in spring 2006 earned passing grades, well below the overall pass rate of 58 percent in U.S. public schools.
Superintendents, scholars and students point to several factors hindering black students' success in the AP program. Many African-Americans are reluctant to enroll in AP courses, particularly if it means being the only minority student in the class. And those who enroll in AP study without adequate preparation might not be ready for the "shock of rigor" in a college-level course, said Trevor Packer, director of the AP program.