Jersey lags other states on teens in AP classes Tuesday, May 20, 2008 • BY BEV McCARRON AND JEANETTE RUNDQUIST • Star-Ledger Staff New Jersey is lauded as one of the nation's highest-achieving states when it comes to advanced placement high school courses designed to prepare students for college. However, the state trails in the number of students who take AP classes. Some critics say too many New Jersey students are being denied the opportunity to take the classes, which help children prepare for and get accepted to college. While some states have created financial incentives to expand their enrollments, state officials said they don't have the money for such a program. Some 23.7 percent of New Jersey's high school class of 2007 took AP exams last year, the yardstick used to measure participation, according to the College Board, which oversees the courses. That's below the national average of 24.7 percent, and behind such states as Florida, Arkansas and New York. New Jersey ranked 21st in the percentage of students taking at least one AP test. That could help explain why New Jersey students scored so well on the tests -- third in the nation, with 71 percent passing, compared with 59 percent nationally. Those high passing rates, education experts say, indicate that more students should be in advanced placement, even at the risk of bringing down scores overall. "There are many more students in New Jersey who could benefit from these sorts of courses, and who could pass the test but are not getting the access," said Trevor Packer, the College Board vice president in charge of the AP program. Joseph Renzulli, director of the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, said there has been a national push to get more kids into AP courses by preparing them as early as middle school. While some New Jersey schools offer a dozen or more AP courses, from Italian to calculus, others may have one or none at all. Some schools restrict AP to their top students. Also affecting the numbers, fewer AP students in New Jersey than in the nation choose to take the year-end exam, where students can earn college credit if they pass. States with a higher percentage of students in AP have implemented various incentives. Florida offers bonuses to schools and teachers, and, like a growing number of other states, helps students pay for the $84 exam. New Jersey has no statewide plan. "We'd like to see more students participate in AP and more teachers adapt and adjust their teaching style to support students to do well in this," said assistant commissioner Jay Doolan in the state Department of Education. "But based on our fiscal resources, we don't have funding like other states to provide those kinds of incentives." There is wide disparity among New Jersey school districts in the percentage of students in AP, even in wealthy districts, according to the New Jersey School Report Card issued by the DOE. An infusion of money and focus on boosting achievement in the poorest districts have increased AP courses there, although the numbers still lag far behind suburban schools. Once uncommon in city schools, now every Newark high school offers an AP course. The poorest students qualify for federal funding for the test, and, according to the state, the number in New Jersey who obtained a fee waiver more than doubled since 2002, to 3,830 last year. In middle-income districts, expectations for students may not be as high and money is sometimes an issue. Bloomfield, a middle-income district in Essex County, offers nine AP courses, and about 7 percent of students take an AP exam, according to DOE data. In part, the cost is "prohibitive for some," said Bloomfield High School principal Chris Jennings. To encourage more students to take AP, Mount Olive High School, another middle-income district, in the 2006-07 school year began allowing students who didn't have a high enough grade point average to sign up for a course. The numbers have risen, and courses are being added, said guidance director Denise Meehan. Warren Hills Regional High School began reimbursing students who pass the test. "There have been teachers in the past who discouraged kids who they did not feel would get a high score," said Stephanie Bell, language arts supervisor. "But our students do well and we are pretty proud of our AP program, so that kind of thing has really gone away." In many upper-income districts, AP classes are a given part of the culture. Even among these districts, however, participation rates vary. For example, in Hunterdon County, one of the state's wealthiest, the highest participation is at North Hunterdon Regional High School. Students are recruited into AP courses and administrators pride themselves on open enrollment. Last year 36 percent took an AP test. A few miles away, at Hunterdon Central Regional High School -- where the entry criteria are much tougher -- the number is 18 percent. At Bridgewater-Raritan High School in Somerset County, 25 percent of students took an AP test, while at nearby Ridge High School in Bernards, 50 percent did, according to the state. At Bridgewater-Raritan, students must meet strict grade requirements and complete an application, which includes teacher input, to take AP courses. "We're not trying to be exclusionary, but we're trying to maintain the rigor of the courses we offer, and ensure that kids are prepared for the level of expectation of those classes," said David Matonis, supervisor of special programs. Some other high-performing districts -- Cherry Hill, Montclair and Ridgewood among them -- have dropped most requirements for students who want to take AP courses. Cherry Hill school officials recruited students and parents, and alerted staff to expect students with some gaps in knowledge because they hadn't taken tougher courses earlier. "The kids who are doing well will still do well, you're just adding other kids to the mix," said assistant superintendent Jim Gallagher, who said the initiative began as a way to bring more minorities into AP. © 2008 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.