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Area schools use different philosophies when it comes to Advanced Placement tests

Baltimore County has come a long way since the 1992-1993 school year when only about 2 percent of public school students took an advanced placement (AP) exam.

In 2011, 2,626 of the 7,175 (36.6 percent) students took at least one AP exam, according to a release from Baltimore County Public Schools.

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Of the 10,251 exams taken last year, 63.8 percent scored a 3 or above, a passing rate, the release stated, that beat both the state (59 percent) and national averages (55.8 percent).

AP tests are judged on a scale of 1 to 5, with 3 or above considered passing. Many colleges, including the Community College of Baltimore County andUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore County, will grant credit or accelerated standing to a student who scores a 4 or 5 on the AP exam, which cost $86 this year.

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The cost for 30 credit hours, a full credit year, at UMBC, is $9,467, according to Elyse Ashburn, a spokeswoman for the school. That includes tuition and fees.

At CCBC, it costs $3,052 per year for tuition in fees for two semesters of 12 credit hours each, according to the school's website.

Catonsville High School

Despite a drop in its passing and participation rates from 2010 to 2011, Catonsville High School has remained well above the county average the past two years.

Catonsville had 43.9 percent of its students take at least one AP exam in the 22 AP courses it offers and 67.2 percent passed, according to a release from Baltimore County Public Schools. In 2010, 49.2 percent of its students took at least one AP exam with 77.1 percent passing.

The school currently has 1,757 students enrolled, according to a Baltimore County Public School website.

"The main motivator for us as a public school is to challenge the students to reach the highest level," principal Deborah Bittner said. "Research shows that students are much more prepared for college if they have the opportunity to take the advanced placement test."

Any Catonsville High student who wishes to may take an AP course. But school officials will counsel students who may not have the academic background that prepares them for the more rigorous courses.

"We don't want the kids to not meet with success," Bittner said. "Our goal is that every child who takes an AP course will pass the final exam."

Bittner has seen the emphasis on AP courses working.

"We get letters and comments (from colleges) consistently about how well-prepared our students are," she said. "We attribute that to the preparation through the AP program."

Lansdowne High School

Lansdowne High School saw a slight bump in its passing rate on AP tests from 2010 (40.3 percent ) to 2011(42.7 percent) with its participation rate (28.4 percent in 2010 and 28.1 percent in 2011) staying nearly the same.

The school, which has an enrollment of 1,175 this school year, offers 14 AP classes ranging from psychology, statistics and U.S. History to French and music theory.

"Obviously, we want the passing rate to be better than what it is. But any increase is movement to achieving that goal," said Ken Miller, the school principal. "The ultimate goal would be 100 percent."

Miller noted that his school has adopted strategies, such as examining PSAT scores, to identify students who might succeed in AP courses.

Previously, the school based its decisions on teacher recommendations and students' grades, he said.

"Part of the goal is starting not just in the 11th grade, but starting to identify the ninth-graders and getting them in a track (to AP courses)," Miller said.

One factor contributing to the school's participation rate that falls 8.5 percentage points below the county average, Miller said, is the number of students doing vocational studies.

"We have a great electrical and carpentry program," Miller said. "Some of those students might not want to go into an AP program because that's not their focal point."

Western Tech

Another area school with a large amount of vocational students is Western School of Technology and Environmental Science, which showed considerable increases in the number of its students who took and passed the exams in the 17 courses the school offers.

In 2010, 36.8 percent of its students took at least one AP exam and 60 percent of the scores were a 3 or above, according to the county.

In 2011, the percentage of students taking an AP exam rose to 46.8 percent and the pass rate climbed to 68.3 percent.

In the 2010-2011 school year, Wesern Tech had 891 students, according to a Baltimore County Public School website.

"I believe it should be open to all kids," said Murray Parker, the school's first-year principal. "The opportunity to take an advanced placement course is important for any high school student."

In addition to teacher recommendations, PSAT scores and a student's desire to take the course, the school uses a web-based tool from College Board called AP Potential to determine which students are likely to succeed in an AP course.

The tool, according to the College Board website, shows correlations between PSAT scores and AP exam results.

When students whose future plans may or may not include college, succeed in an AP course, they gain confidence, Murray said.

"The fact that we're building confidence in students that they're going to do well at the next level is very important to me," Murray said.

Mount de Sales Academy

The three area private schools also have AP courses, but results from those do not calculate into the county's statistics.

Karen Fuchs, Mount de Sales Academy's director of guidance, estimated about 80 percent of the all-girls Catholic high school's students take at least one AP exam each year.

The school has about 500 students in grades nine through 12, according to its website.

"We do encourage students who are capable of handling the coursework to take those classes," Fuchs said. "I think it speaks highly of the teachers, even in the lower grades working with freshmen and sophomores."

In addition to looking at past academic success, Fuchs said the Catonsville school looks for signs of the intangibles that mean a student can handle a college-level course.

"They have to have the drive and ability to want to succeed and push themselves," Fuchs said, noting the school currently offers 12 AP courses and next year will have 13.

Mount de Sales had 143 students take AP exams in both 2010 and 2011 but saw its passing rate drop 12 percentage points from the year before, according to a release from the school.

Seventy percent of its 2010 graduating class scored 3 or better on at least one AP exam and the number increased to 71 percent for the class of 2011.

Mount St. Joseph High School

Mount St. Joseph High School reserves its AP classes for only its elite students, according to assistant principal Dave Norton.

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Norton holds an assembly each year for students interested in taking at least one of the school's 19 AP courses and 500 attend.

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After the assembly, students fill out an application for each AP course they wish to take. A committee then reviews the students' applications, grades, levels of coursework taken and PSAT scores to select who qualifies for AP courses.

The committee also uses the AP Potential tool, Norton said.

About half the students who attended the assembly will end up in an AP classroom, he said.

"Not every student's going to get into an AP class, because (some) aren't ready for it," Norton said. "We usually raise the bar pretty high."

Of the school's 1,025 students in the 2009-2010 school year, 483 were juniors and seniors.

With 144 AP test-takers, the school had a participation rate of 29.8 percent.

That rate climbed the next school year when 188 (35.7 percent) of the school's 527 upperclassmen took at least one AP test, according to an email from the school.

In 2010, the all-boys Catholic high school saw 73.5 percent (200) of the 272 AP exams taken by its students score a 3 or above, according to a release from the school.

The next year, Mount St. Joe students scored a 3 or higher in 71.3 percent (254) of the 364 tests taken, the release stated.

Those passing rates fell just short of the Baltimore school's goal of 80 percent, Norton said.

Editor's note: Seton Keough High School did not provide AP exam scores or an interview despite repeated requests.

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