High Numbers of Students Still Taking APs

by Josh Averbach ’18

Late spring means warm weather and the approach of summer. It also means that it is time for AP testing. Some 820 Sherwood students are taking about 1,696 tests this year.

Jamii Avery, a counselor who helps coordinate Sherwood’s AP testing, thinks that students sometimes don’t choose wisely when deciding what AP classes to take. She worries that too many students are making choices about AP classes based on what their friends are doing, not what is best for them as individuals.

According to the College Board, the number of high school graduates who took rigorous AP courses nearly doubled between 2003 and 2013, and the number of low-income students taking AP classes more than quadrupled. Performance also improved during that time period, as there was a greater increase between 2003 to 2013 in the number of students who received scores of three or higher than in students who received scores of one or two. During this time, MCPS became nationally recognized as a school system leading the push to increase the number of students taking AP classes.

Avery worries that too many students prioritize their coursework over their mental health. However she thinks that the school’s AP programs are a strength because of the students who are capable of succeeding with a rigorous slate of courses and put in the work required to do so.

Data compiled by MCPS seems to show that most students are capable of handling AP courses. According to this data, 73.3 percent of exams taken by Sherwood students received scores of three or higher. The school ranked ninth out of 25 MCPS high schools. The majority of schools which performed better than Sherwood based on that statistic, including Walt Whitman, Wootton, and Winston Churchill, are located in and around the particularly affluent areas of Potomac and Bethesda.

Last year, 67.8 percent of Sherwood’s 475 graduating seniors took at least one AP exam, and 55.6 percent of Sherwood’s graduating seniors received at least a three on at least one of their AP exams. The latter statistic ranks Sherwood ninth out of 25 MCPS schools.