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AP test-takers rising, discrepencies remain

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Also by Sundeep Malladi:

In-Depth: What's affected by budget cuts? (September 1, 2005)
In-Depth: Rising past the numbers (November 10, 2005)

by Sundeep Malladi

Monday, January 31, 2005

While a rise in Advanced Placement exam test-takers in 2004 among high school students is a welcome improvement to the U.S. Department of Education, other results point to what many call the under-representation of minority groups.

Hispanic students constituted 13.1 percent of test-takers, a number proportionate to their population, while African-American students accounted for only 6 percent of the AP exam-takers.

According to University of Wisconsin professor of economics Lee Hansen, much of the discrepancy relates to the difficulty of the tests.

Some universities, such as Harvard, require that students score a four or higher on exams to receive credit for classes. The proficiency of minority students on exams makes it impossible for them to have a fair chance, Hansen said.

“The percentage of [well-educated] minority students is sadly too low to begin with, and for minority students it’s miniscule,” he said, adding that most of the problems begin at the pre-college level, which is where legislators need to make changes.

Others argue, however, that the U.S. education system is in need of a renaissance.

According to UW professor emeritus of mathematics Richard Askey, as far back as 1923 Americans began pointing out that the Japanese were learning algebra as early as seventh and eighth grade, while Americans were approaching it in ninth grade.

Askey said the main problems are textbooks, and he has found evidence of such inconsistencies even in AP material.

“The AP calculus exam is a bit of a problem because it minimizes skills,” Askey said. “I read the AP material … the description of continuity is wrong.”

Askey also points a finger at poorly qualified teachers.

“[Teachers] can get their certification with not much more than two years of high school math,” Askey said.

However, there are still many who are optimistic for the future.

According to findings published by the Associated Press concerning the class of 2004, 20.9 percent of public high school students took at least one AP exam, whereas only 15.9 percent took an AP exam four years earlier.

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said in a statement that she was pleased to see more high school students challenged with coursework provided by AP exams.

“This new report provides further proof that our children respond when we challenge them academically,” she said.

At the state level, a record number of students took 27,768 AP exams for the 2003-04 school year. Additionally, 68.6 percent of Wisconsin high school students received a passing score for exams taken, surpassing the national average of 59.7 percent.

According to UW professor of educational leadership Allen Phelps, 85 to 95 percent of students see themselves acquiring a bachelor’s degree, and AP exams can help achieve this goal.

“Everybody needs a lot of educational credentials and [AP exams] are an edge against the uncertainty of the future,” Phelps said.

The value of AP testing remains a major player at the college admissions level, according to many higher-education officials.

“Most admissions officers are looking at a whole wide range of data; the fact that they’re taking initiative gives officers an indication of a student’s academic motivation,” Phelps said.

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Anonymous (January 31, 2005 @ 10:01am):

"Askey also points a finger at poorly qualified teachers." ... Should the high school AP teachers be required to pass the AP test, too?

Anonymous (January 31, 2005 @ 1:37pm):

Further evidence that "minority" education isn't a minority problem, its a black problem. Until the black community fixes itself (only they can fix this) blacks will continue to keep themselves at the bottom.

The solution to this is not throwing more money at any education level, its repairing the American black family. If anything we should be spending money to have Bill Cosby giving lectures and setting up programs and an agressive ad campaign to get parents to take some responsibility for their children's future

Anonymous (February 1, 2005 @ 12:45am):

Bill Cosby nicknamed his penis Jell-O and then hit on midgets. Get it?

Anonymous (February 2, 2005 @ 10:02am):

I have to agree that the answer is not just throwing more money around.

Also I don't think the problem is unqualified teachers. If students want to learn, they do learn. When students don't want to learn it is almost exclusively due to laziness, which is not the teacher's fault.
I do think teachers are slightly overpaid, but that is not the real problem here and hasn't been for years. the biggest problem in u.s. education is by far lazy students.