African American and Hispanic seniors’ performance tops the national average

Thirty-nine percent of Montgomery County Public Schools graduating seniors from the class of 2004 scored a 3 or higher on at least one AP exam while in high school – three times the national average of 13 percent and double the Maryland average of 19.4 percent, according to the new College Board Report to the Nation.

MCPS has dramatically increased access to AP level exams for students – and the number scoring a 3 or more - growing from 2,757 graduating seniors in 2000 to 4,573 graduating seniors in 2004. The data also demonstrate that performance among ethnic groups surpasses the national average of 13 percent for all groups:

• African Americans – 14.6 percent
• Asian Americans – 52.6 percent
• Hispanics – 23.4 percent
• Whites – 49.7 percent

Over the last four years, student performance on AP exams has improved significantly for each racial and ethnic group in terms of percentage of graduating seniors who attained at least one score of 3 or better during their high school careers.

Montgomery County Public Schools
	2000	2004
African American	8.1 percent	14.6 percent
Asian American	38.7 percent	52.6 percent
Hispanics	15.5 percent	23.4 percent
Whites	37.0 percent	49.7 percent

The College Board released its Report to the Nation outlining student performance on Advanced Placement tests on January 25. This report shows that Maryland ranks second in the nation – behind New York – with the highest percentage of seniors scoring at least one 3 on an AP exam during their high school careers. MCPS students comprised a significant portion of the overall number of students taking the AP tests in Maryland and contributed heavily to the state’s second place ranking nationally.