Higher Test Scores Hold Promise for N.H. Students
WASHINGTON, Feb. 7-Public high school students in New Hampshire took more advanced placement exams last year but scored slightly lower on those tests, according to a new survey.
From 2000 to 2005, on the other hand, both participation and scores increased significantly.
Between 2004 and 2005, there was a two-tenths of a percent increase in the number of AP exams taken by the state’s public high school students and a 4.9 percent decrease in the number of exams scoring a 3 or higher. The scores are ranked from 1 to 5, with 5 equivalent to an A in a college-level course and a 3 indicative of the ability to be successful in college, according to University of California at Berkeley and the National Center for Educational Accountability.
However, the good news is that there have been significant improvements since 2000. According to the report, since 2000, the number of AP exams taken by New Hampshire public school students has increased by 1,120.
The report, released by the College Board, the association that administers the AP program, found that since 2000 the number of exams in New Hampshire receiving a grade of 3 or higher increased by 598, exams taken by low-income students increased by 48, exams taken by African-American students increased by 1 and exams taken by Latino students increased by 26.
A 1999 study by the U.S. Department of Education said participation in AP courses was “the best indicator of whether a student would successfully complete a bachelor’s degree,” according to the report.
On hearing about the increase in test scores, Rep. Jeb Bradley, R-N.H., said, “That’s very good news.” Echoing the President’s State of the Union message that the United States needed to continue to stay educated to remain ahead of other countries, Bradley said, “We need to have an educated work force to remain competitive in the global economy, and if test scores are increasing. then that’s good news.”
The AP test results appeared in the College Board’s second annual Advanced Placement Report to the Nation. The report showed an increase in every state of the percentage of high school students earning a grade of 3 or higher in college-level AP tests.
This survey of results comes after a recent release by the New Hampshire Department of Education that said 45 percent of the state’s high school students plan on attending college, up from 40 percent in 2002.
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