Eastern Tech Tops in County in AP Exam Success Rate

had the greatest success rate in Baltimore County among its students taking Advanced Placement exams, according to College Board Advanced Placement results from the 2009-2010 school year.

Among students who took AP exams at Eastern Tech, 84.3 percent passed with a score of three or above. This compares to a 66.4 percent pass rate average throughout the county.

“These test results reaffirm the work of the students, faculty and staff at Eastern Tech,” school Principal Tom Evans said. “We will continue to work on making additional strides at the school.”

Additionally, Eastern Tech had 60.3 percent of its 2010 graduates pass at least one AP exam. Only Carver Center for the Arts had a greater success rate (61.1 percent).

Last school year, 4,855 Baltimore County Public School students took AP exams, representing an 11 percent gain in participation over 2008-2009. Students also took a total of 9,783 exams last year. The overall pass rate also represents a slight decrease as the system had a 68 percent pass rate in the 2008-09 school year.

As for other Essex-Middle River public schools, and Chesapeake had overall pass rates of 32.1 and 20.3 percent, respectively. Among graduating seniors in 2010, Kenwood had 7.3 percent pass at least one AP exam while 9.3 percent of Chesapeake’s seniors accomplished the same goal.

Among students taking AP tests, the most popular colleges and universities to receive those scores are: University of Maryland, College Park (243); Towson University (199); University of Maryland, Baltimore County (167); Community College of Baltimore County (115); and Stevenson University (75). These are the same schools found by the National Student Clearinghouse to be where most BCPS students enroll immediately after graduation.

"The results lend further support to initiatives underway in the school system to increase academic rigor for all students and to continually expand learning opportunities for students," said Superintendent Joe A. Hairston in a statement. "We have been working over the course of the past several years to ensure more consistent preparation for advanced coursework across the school system."

Statewide, 26.4 percent of seniors earned a score of three or higher on one or more AP exams in 2010, the highest percentage in the nation for the third straight year and 1.6 percentage points better than 2009, according to the College Board’s “Annual AP Report to the Nation.”

A score of 3 or better is considered “college mastery level” on the AP exams, and many colleges and universities award college credit for high school students scoring in that range.

“Maryland is a national model for quality public education even in tough times. Today’s recognition of the highest level of performance on AP exams serves as a testament to the dedication and hard work of our talented educators, principals, superintendents and students who continue to demonstrate outstanding achievement for our public schools,” said Gov. Martin O’Malley in a statement.

“In Maryland, we’ve set a goal to improve student achievement and college and career readiness by 25 percent by 2015. Together, we can build on the progress we’ve made for our best-in-the-nation schools to continue to identify ways to reform and improve so our students can be globally competitive and prepared for the new economy.”