(Chicago Tribune) A record number of Illinois students enrolled in rigorous Advanced Placement classes last school year, but the proportion of teens who passed the end-of-year exam continued its steady decline, according to data released Tuesday.
Last year, Illinois public high school students passed about 70 percent of the 76,683 exams they took in subjects such as calculus, French literature and computer science. Six years ago, the pass rate was 72 percent.
Experts attribute the decline to the fact that more low-income and African-American students are taking the exams–but failing at higher rates. Such students often attend urban or rural schools where AP classes sometimes are not as rigorous as they should be. That leads to failure on the exams.
Six years ago, African-Americans in Illinois passed 29 percent of the AP tests they took. Last year, their pass rate dropped to 23 percent.
In 2001, low-income students passed 38 percent of the exams, compared with 30 percent last year.
The Illinois figures, generally, mirror national trends.
‘This is a key issue we are facing,’ said Trevor Packer, executive director of the AP program for the College Board. ‘We need to ensure that all students have access to the rigorous curriculum they need to do well on the exams.’
College officials have complained that the growth in AP courses has resulted in a watered-down curriculum in some districts. In response, the College Board launched an audit of all AP classes this year to ensure they are rigorous. (more…)
I am in a little bit of rush this morning, but this is something worth investigating. If I have time, I will try to revisit this post later.
12:03 PST
My only thought on this is “Equal opportunity does not mean equal results”. Watering down requirements for enrollment into these programs is counter-productive and belittles our kids in the name of social engineering.
