i PUPILS EXCEL IN AP EXAM
PUPILS EXCEL IN AP EXAM
Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 02/12/2009

AUGUSTA -- Maine's high school class of 2008 saw the nation's highest rate of improvement on Advanced Placement exam scores last year, the Maine Department of Education said Wednesday.

Maine saw a 13.5 percent year-over-year jump in the percentage of students earning a score of 3 or better on the exams. Nationally, 5.6 percent more students in 2008 met the benchmark than in 2007, according to numbers from the College Board's "AP Report to the Nation."

Advanced Placement exams are college-level tests scored on a five-point scale. Colleges commonly award students credit for earning scores of 3 or better.

The most common placement exam in Maine was the English literature test, followed by the U.S. history and English language exams, according to the Department of Education.

According to the College Board report, 19.3 percent of Maine students in the class of 2008 earned a score of 3 or better on an AP exam. Seventeen percent of Maine students in the class of 2007 met that mark.

Nationally, 15.2 percent of students from the class of 2008 earned scores of 3 or better, compared with 14.4 percent of class of 2007 students.

According to the Maine Department of Education, 31.9 percent of Maine's public school students last year took at least one AP exam. Nationally, a quarter of students took at least one of the tests.

"The increase in students scoring well in Maine is great news, but the scores alone are not what's important," Maine Education Commissioner Susan Gendron said in a statement. "It's about the rigor of the courses and more students taking AP courses.

"Students who take AP courses are better prepared for college," she said.

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