American high school seniors took more than 1.5 million Advanced Placement exams last year, closing the gap with the SAT test and dramatizing the rising influence of AP on school curriculums, college admissions and assessment of schools and state education programs.
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Jay Matthews and others write so much about AP courses. The value of such courses seems to be assumed by a clear majority of high schools, which point with pride to their course offerings. Colleges expect to see these courses on the transcripts of students applying to college (excepting the UW system, which is well aware of MMSD’s offerings). I’m looking at a handout “Quick Facts about Madison Metropolitan school district”. This handout does include information on the number of students taking and passing AP tests, implying some importance to those tests. Why then is it that West and East High have so few AP courses? Will our students have the same opportunity for competitive application to a variety of colleges? Will high performing minority/low income students have a chance to “test the waters” in terms of potential college success? AP courses could be a link to high school graduation and pursuit of post secondary education for them. What can be done to have increased AP courses offered as just one option for students?