West Hartford Leads State in AP Test Takers

When the state released its report on Advanced Placement testing on Wednesday, West Hartford was cited as the district with the highest number of AP test takers.

Combining the students from and high schools who took AP tests in 2010, the district had 903 test takers. The second-highest district was Stamford with 664, and the third was Greenwich with 574.

"We strive to have 60 percent of high school graduates who enter high school as ninth-graders successfully complete one AP course during high school," West Hartford Superintendent Dr. Karen List said by e-mail. "We've been measuring this since 2004. Conard went from 55 percent of grads completing at least one AP course to 72 percent in 2010. Hall went from 60 percent of grads completing at least one AP course to 68 percent in 2010. Clearly we have surpassed our goal. We want our students to experience college level work in high school in order to be college and/or career ready."

According to the report from the state Department of Education, 512  students from Conard took a total of 949 AP tests in 2010, and 74 percent of those tests received a score of 3, 4, or 5. Tests with lower scores are not likely to be considered for college credit.

At Hall, 391 students took a total of 765 AP tests in 2010 and 75.8 percent of those tests received a score of 3, 4 or 5.

Both schools saw an increase in the number of test takers from 2009, when 483 Conard students took at least one AP test and 373 Hall students took at least one AP test.

"Setting goals, using data to track progress, providing teachers with professional development, and not putting a ceiling on what is possible for our children has yielded outstanding results," List said. "The people who deserve the accolades are the teachers who are tireless in their efforts to help our youngsters meet the rigor of AP courses and our students who take on the challenge of college level work in high school."

Overall, Connecticut saw an increase of 2,000 high school students taking at least one AP course in 2010 over 2009.

In a ranking of states based on the percentage of seniors scoring 3 or higher on at least one AP exam at any point in high school, Connecticut was fourth overall, behind Maryland, New York and Virginia, and just ahead of Massachusetts.

For the full report, visit apreport.collegeboard.org.