FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 16, 2011
Montgomery, Ala. – Alabama’s public school Advanced Placement (AP) students continue to excel in participation, according to the The College Board’s annual report. The number of participating students has risen from 7,110 in 2007 to 15,021 in 2011. All minority groups rose in participation, except American Indian, with African-American students showing the largest gain in participation with 3,142 students, a gain of 29.7 percent more than last year.
“The incredible gain in number of students in AP is a real sign of success for ACCESS Distance Learning and the collaborative partnership with A+ College Ready; and of course, for students in AP classes who demonstrate the drive and desire to excel academically,” said Larry Craven, Interim State Superintendent.
ACCESS Distance Learning allows high school students all over the state to have the opportunity to take any AP class. The strong partnership between the Alabama Department of Education and A+ College Ready offers schools multiple resources to encourage and maintain AP classes. A+ College Ready works to expand AP course offerings in the key subject areas of math, science and English and increase the number of students receiving qualifying scores on these Advanced Placement Exams.
The number of overall AP examinations, as well as the number of of exams with a score of 3, 4, or 5 in Alabama continues to soar. In 2011, almost as many students earned 3, 4 or 5 as took exams in 2007. The number achieving a 3, 4 or 5 has risen from 6,732 to 10,968, an increase of 120 percent. Exam participation increased by over 16 percent in 2011 since last year.
Regarding the SAT, Alabama students outperformed the average student in the nation. Alabama had 2,569 students take the SAT in comparison, up 12.3 percent from last year. There was a 26.41 percent jump in the number of African-American test takers, with 641 African-American students taking the SAT.
SAT SCORES
| READING | MATH | WRITING | |
| ALABAMA | 546 | 541 | 536 |
| U.S. | 497 | 514 | 489 |
For more information, visit www.collegeboard.com. For press inquiries, contact [email protected] or 212-713-8052. For all other inquiries, call 212-713-8000.
The A+ Education Partnership was founded in 1991 as a non-profit organization to unite business, civic, parent, government and education leaders around one common goal: improving student achievement.
In 2008, at the request of Governor Riley and the State Superintendent, A+ established a new operating division dedicated to improving student achievement in math, science and English. The division, entitled A+ College Ready, was the recipient of a $13.2 million grant from the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) to establish the Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program (APTIP) a proven program that provides students and teachers with the tools, resources and support needed to achieve academic excellence.
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