Albany AP Testing results

During the weeks of May 5 through May 12, about 293 students took AP tests in 19 subjects. College and career coordinator Becca Burns ordered a total of 514 tests for AHS students. Some of the tests not offered on the AHS campus are music theory, environmental science and economics.

AP tests are considered particulary important because the results can be used for college admissions; passing AP tests may also yield college credit for students.

So, AHS is known as one of the best high schools in California, but does that mean our students do well on the AP exams? Here are the mean AHS scores of the AP tests from 2005 to 2007, provided by Becca Burns. Results from 2008 tests will be available in July. AP tests are scored in a 5 point scale, with a score of 3 or higher is considered passing.

Even though AHS is an excellent school, the 2007 scores do not represent the best from Cougar test takers. Many scores dropped year over year, such as Biology, Chemistry, English Language, Spanish, and Statistics.

Lois Peterson, retired AP Biology instructor, expressed her concerns over the AP Biology class. “Overall, with the increased number of applicants for AP Biology with an increasingly supportive process of admitting students, there are more and more students who are struggling with heavy demands of AP Biology.”

Albany students traditionally do well in Calculus BC. Elisabeth Klein, former math department chair, mentioned that the whole math honors system has made the students of Calculus BC successful.

AP Comparative Government was first offered last year, and the scores did not upset instructor Kevin James.

“I am very pleased that over 80% of the students who took the test passed, and that half of the students who took the test earned scores of 4 or 5,” said Mr. James.

However, James continued, “Most of the AP exam results at Albany High School reflect selection bias to some extent—students must test into most of our AP classes.”

It is also interesting to note that the percentage of students enrolled in AP classes who take the AP tests is dropping in many classes.

AP Statistics, for example, went from 81% test participation in 2005 to 33.3% in 2007.

AP English, went from 92% test participation in 2005 to 49% in 2007.

Ned Purdom, English department chair, said, “Seniors express various reasons for not taking the AP English exam. The cost of the test, the notion that the English Language test is considered less difficult, and the fact that many already have all the college English credit they can get, are the reasons students report to us.”

Stay tuned for 2008 results.

8 Responses

1. 10:20 AM on May 22nd, 2008Anonymous:

   lol scantron omg!
   Not ap test rofl!

2. 2:55 PM on May 26th, 2008Anonymous:

   hehe keng… i love how the only ap classes you talk about are ones your taking next year

3. 4:42 PM on May 27th, 2008Keng:

   hey! i also talked statistics and english, which i am not taking them next year. Who are you???

4. 6:42 AM on June 5th, 2008Mom:

   It is sad that the comments above do not reflect correct English grammar, punctuation or capitalization.

5. 6:00 AM on June 6th, 2008Anonymous:

   It is sad that the above comment does not reflect appreciation of students comments.

6. 11:21 AM on June 13th, 2008Anonymous:

   It is sad that the above comment felt the need to interject on anything when they could have spent their time doing something more productive. Plus: students has an apostrophe.

7. 9:04 PM on June 27th, 2008Susannah:

   New rules for SAT testing - you can release only the scores that you want colleges to see:
   http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/2008/06/24/kids-can-pick-which-sat-scores-a-college-sees.html?msg=socialweb_1
   Can you do this for AP tests?

8. 5:31 AM on July 30th, 2008ayman:

   when do the scores come online?

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