WASHINGTON - More public high school seniors took and passed Advanced Placement tests in nearly every state last year, but racial gaps remained.
In the nation's public schools, 14.1 percent of the class of 2005 passed at least one AP test, up from 13.2 percent a year before, the College Board reported Tuesday. In 2000, 10.2 percent of high school seniors passed a test.
Average scores were steady from 2004 to 2005, even though more students took the exams.
"It is our hope that the AP program can serve as an anchor for increasing rigor in our schools," College Board President Gaston Caperton said at a press conference. "Rigor can be maintained while increasing student participation."
President Bush called for increasing access to AP courses in his State of the Union speech last week as a way to improve American competitiveness in math and science.
Bush's budget proposal for 2007, unveiled Monday, would cut overall education spending by $3.7 billion from this year. But it would increase federal spending on the AP program by $90 million, to $122 million.
"In the world in which we live today, everybody needs a foundation in math and science," said Tom Luce, an assistant secretary in the Department of Education. "If you want to be an auto mechanic today, you have to understand algebra."
The number of students passing at least one AP test increased by nearly 120,000 from 2000 to 2005. But black students continued to take the exams at lower rates than white students, and their overall scores remained a level behind whites last year.
Nationwide, black students make up 13.4 percent of the student population, but only 6.4 percent of the students taking AP exams. A similar ratio of American Indian students also took the exams.
The percentage of white and Latino students taking the tests more closely mirrored their numbers in the classroom.
According to the College Board, 14.1 percent of high school seniors have scored a three or above on an AP exam.
The Advanced Placement Program, which the College Board oversees, offers college level courses in 20 subjects. The most popular subjects are U.S. history, English and calculus.
About 610,000 of the roughly 2.7 million members of the class of 2005 took a total of 1.5 million AP tests. About 380,000 of the students passed at least one test.
Passing an AP exam "is a strong predictor of a student's ability to persist in college and earn a bachelor's degree," according to the College Board's report.
Forty-four states and the District of Columbia increased the percentage of students passing at least one AP test last year. The percentage of students passing at least one test declined in five states - Florida, Nevada, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Wyoming. It was flat in Louisiana.
New York led the nation with 22.8 percent of its high school seniors passing at least one test. Louisiana was last with 2.5 percent.
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