Local teens shine in national AP tests
A group of Rockbridge County High School students is already succeeding at college-level work, according to recent Advanced Placement test results.
And with a little financial help, school officials are hoping to increase the number of students taking the test.
Out of 90 AP tests taken at RCHS last spring, 76 percent were assigned a score of three or higher. That score is the equivalent of a passing grade on a college level course, according to the College Board, which administers the AP exams.
RCHS offers 11 Advanced Placement courses to students beginning in 10th grade. The course curriculum mirrors college-level work. Each spring, students can take a national test, scored on a scale of one to five, to receive college credit for the course.
While the score requirements vary among colleges and universities, a score of three is the minimum most colleges will accept to grant college credit.
The test results weren’t a surprise to RCHS Director of Guidance Debbie Pruett.
"This would be a general trend for us,"said Pruett. "Our students are well prepared throughout their high school career."
But while most RCHS students who take the exam do well on it, RCHS is well below the state and national average for the percentage of students taking AP exams.
Last year, only 6 percent of RCHS students took an AP exam, compared to more than 34 percent of Virginia public high school students and almost 25 percent of students nationwide.
Pruett says that the high testing fees keep many students who take Advanced Placement classes from taking the corresponding exam. According to the College Board Web site, each exam costs $84.
"If a student has to take three or four AP tests, that’s a chunk of change,"said Pruett.
Financial relief is in sight for students this school year. RCHS will require many students who take an AP course to take the exam in the spring. Students will pay for one of their exams, but RCHS will cover the costs of any additional course exams students take.
"We dug deep and found the money,"said Pruett.
AP Government teacher Dennis Moore estimates that only half of his 54 students will take the exam in May. He says that if the school can ease the financial burden, students should have to take the tests.
"With the amount of work they’re doing, they might as well take the test."
Success on AP tests is a trend across the state. In Virginia, the public high school class of 2007 ranked third in the nation with 22 percent of students earning a three or better on AP tests during their high school career. The national average is 15.2 percent.
While RCHS has offered an AP program since the high school opened in 1992, Parry McCluer High School offered its first AP class this school year. Eleven students are in AP Biology and will take their first AP tests this spring.
Next year, the school will also offer AP courses in chemistry, physics, calculus and literature.
PMHS Principal Haywood Hand says that the school has focused on dual enrollment courses in the past to allow students to receive college credit. In dual enrollment courses, students simultaneously meet high school requirements and gain college credit through Dabney S. Lancaster Community College
"What we’re trying to do is let the AP classes fill in the seams where the dual enrollment doesn’t meet,"said Hand.
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