Georgia’s public-school class of 2020 has the 17th-highest Advanced Placement (AP) pass rate in the nation, according to data released by the College Board today.
Georgia’s AP pass rate, and its rank among other states, stayed the same from the class of 2019 to the class of 2020 – an encouraging indicator given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the latter group of students.
“I’m so proud of the class of 2020 for their continued accomplishments, and extremely pleased to see that Georgia’s students maintained their strong performance on AP exams even given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in their final year,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said. “In a challenging time for schools and students, this is good news as we continue our work to expand advanced learning opportunities to all students.”
The percentage of students earning a 3 or higher on an AP exam was 23.2 percent for Georgia’s class of 2020, as it was for the class of 2019. Georgia students recorded stronger AP performance than most Southern states, scoring higher than their peers in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.
The percentage of low-income AP test-takers who scored 3 or higher increased in Georgia for the second year in a row, rising from 43.7 percent for the class of 2019 to 49.4 percent for the class of 2020. This figure is based on the performance of students who used an AP exam fee reduction, which states look to as a marker of equitable participation for low-income students.
Overall, 38.5 percent of Georgia’s class of 2020 took an AP exam while in high school. This is a slight decrease compared to the class of 2019 – of those students, 40.5 percent took at least one AP exam. The national participation rate dropped slightly as well, from 39.9 to 38.3 percent.
2021 AP Honor Schools
Additionally, Superintendent Woods today named the 2021 Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Schools.
“I extend my heartfelt congratulations to this year’s AP Honor Schools,” Superintendent Woods said. “I commend them for their hard work to build strong Advanced Placement programs and, as a result, provide high-quality opportunities for Georgia students.”
Categories (click the links to see awarded schools in each category):
AP Access and Support Schools
Schools with at least 30 percent of AP exams taken by students who identified themselves as African-American and/or Hispanic and 30 percent of all AP exams earning scores of 3 or higher
AP Challenge Schools
Schools with enrollments of 900 or fewer students and students testing in English, math, science, and social studies
AP Schools of Distinction
Schools with at least 20 percent of the total student population taking AP exams and at least 50 percent of all AP exams earning scores of 3 or higher
AP Expansion Schools
AP schools with 25 percent growth in AP student participation from May 2019 to May 2020 and a minimum of 25 students testing in May 2019
AP Humanities Schools
Schools with a minimum of five students testing in each of the following AP categories: one ELA course, two history/social science courses, one fine arts course, and one world language course
AP Humanities Achievement Schools
AP Humanities schools (see above definition) with at least 50 percent of all AP Humanities exams earning scores of three or higher
AP STEM Schools
Schools with a minimum of five students testing in at least four AP STEM courses (AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, AP Physics C, AP Computer Science A, AP Computer Science Principles)
AP STEM Achievement Schools
AP STEM schools (see above definition) with at least 50 percent of all AP STEM exams earning scores of 3 or higher
