Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) has continued to increase Advanced Placement (AP) exam passing rates, while also increasing AP enrollment.
More than 30,000 M-DCPS students participated in an AP course in 2017-18, showing an overall passing rate of 55 percent, a 2 percent increase over the previous year.
“At Miami-Dade County Public Schools, we know that every child has the potential to reach remarkable heights of academic achievement regardless of their zip code,” said schools superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho. “The results of the 2018 Advanced Placement exams demonstrate that innovative teaching, instructional rigor and robust educational programs provide the right formula for exceptional student achievement. Miami-Dade is a model for school districts across the nation for raising the bar on student academic success.”
Through the AP Program, students have the opportunity to enroll in advanced courses of study and earn college credit and/or AP credit while still in high school. Taking AP classes that earn college credit can help offset the cost of college, saving students and families thousands of dollars in tuition fees. M-DCPS offers 37 AP courses including the arts, social sciences, languages, science, literature, mathematics and computer science.
Scores on the AP examinations range from 5 to 1 and are interpreted as follows: 5 – Extremely Qualified; 4 – Well Qualified; 3 – Qualified; 2 – Possibly Qualified, and 1 – No Recommendation. During the past 10 years, M-DCPS has seen a dramatic increase in the participation and performance of students in AP courses. Highlights of M-DCPS AP results include:
• While increasing participation, the performance of M-DCPS students on Advanced Placement exams also has increased. In 2008, 40 percent of students scored a 3 or higher on the AP exam and in 2018, 55 percent of students scored a 3 or higher, an increase of 15 percentage points.
• Among the Hispanic subgroup, the percent of students scoring a 3 or higher has increased by 15 percentage points, from 41 percent in 2008 to 56 percent in 2018.
• Among the African-American subgroup, the percent of students scoring a 3 or higher has almost doubled from 18 percent in 2008 to 34 percent in 2018.
• Hispanic and Black students, with improvement of 15 and 16 points respectively from 2008 to 2018, nearly doubled the improvement achieved by their white counterparts, with 8 points improvement. This level of improvement illustrates the remarkable decrease in the achievement gap for M-DCPS students.
• The total number of passing scores (of all tests taken) increased by 131 percent from 12,118 in 2008 to 28,046 in 2018.
• The total number of AP course offerings in M-DCPS high schools has increased by 50 percent from 838 in 2008 to 1,258 in 2018. Additionally, unduplicated student enrollment data demonstrates an increase of 76 percent from 17,049 students enrolled in at least one AP course in 2008 to 30,063 in 2018.
• The total number of AP examinations taken increased by 67 percent from 30,434 in 2008 to 50,670 in 2018.
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