Maryland AP Scores on the Rise

USA Today is reporting that after years of struggle, AP scores are up in Maryland.

Like virtually all of its neighboring Southern states, Maryland was coming up against reality: In its bid to rapidly expand AP, more kids were taking the classes — and more were failing, scoring a 1 or 2 on a five-point scale. Southern states, which include Maryland by U.S. Census Bureau definitions, now lead the nation in AP failure rates, with nearly half of all tests scoring a 1 or 2, according to a USA TODAY analysis. Nationwide, 41.5% of AP tests taken last year earned a failing score. In the South, it was 48.4%.

But unlike many neighbors, Grasmick shook the system out a bit.

She began auditing coursework and hired a full-time trainer to work exclusively with AP teachers. She pushed for schools to align curricula so that virtually all roads led to AP or comparable high school courses.

And she required administrators in the state’s 24 school districts to distribute a spreadsheet, showing exactly which schools had high pass rates — and high failure rates — on AP tests. “It’s color-coded, and it’s very powerful,” Grasmick says.