Though many schools in San Benito County struggle with
standardized test scores, the best and brightest students appear to
be doing just fine when it comes to Advanced Placement testing in
county high schools.
Hollister – Though many schools in San Benito County struggle with standardized test scores, the best and brightest students appear to be doing just fine when it comes to Advanced Placement testing in county high schools.
In 2003, about 310 San Benito High School students scored high enough on AP tests to make them eligible for college credit – allowing them to skip some entry level courses when they head to school in the fall.
And this month about 18 percent of SBHS’s 2,700 students are taking AP exams in 16 different subjects, ranging from calculus and studio art.
Schools throughout the nation offer hard working, intelligent students the option of taking AP courses, which are designed on college-level curriculum. At the end of each school year, students may take an AP exam for the course they studied. Exams are scored on a range from one to five, with five being the highest. If a student scores a three, four or five on a particular AP exam, they can receive credit at many colleges across the country for their work.
“It is the exact course that they would take at a community college or university their first year,” said Jim Caffiero, SBHS AP coordinator.
Ashley Gomes, a senior at SBHS, is taking AP courses in both United States government and psychology. She said she was attracted to the challenge of the course work, the opportunity to get college credit while she’s still in high school and the fact that having completed AP classes looks good on college applications.
She also likes the way the classes are structured.
“You can be very independent,” she said. “You go at your own pace, and it’s up to you how good you do.”
In addition to cutting the time students spend in college, successfully passing an AP exam can save students and their parents money in tuition costs.
“If a student can spend $65 on an AP test and then skip two semesters of calculus or Spanish and get credit for them, it’s actually a huge saving money-wise,” said Anzar High School Principal Charlene McKowen.
At Anzar this year, 46 students at the campus of about 350 are taking AP exams.
Just getting into an AP class is a small challenge. After completing an application, interested students must be interviewed by the teacher for a particular AP class, and good grades are not always enough – motivation, attendance and attitude are also taken into account, Caffiero said.
“A student must be highly motivated, with good study habits. Because a lot of it is independent,” he said. “They are the student elite on campus.”
The students not only help themselves with their academic prowess, they also help their schools when it comes to standardized tests used to judge public school performance. Students who have made it into AP classes often possess the knowledge to excel on state Standardized Testing and Reporting exams and the California High School Exit Exam, Caffiero said. They typically score in the upper percentiles and can help raise their school’s overall scores Academic Performance Index – a key element to the No Child Left Behind Act.
“I’d say there is a really high correlation,” he said. “You don’t see many AP students that can’t do well on STAR and pass the exit exam.”
While AP students put extraordinary time and effort into their studies, the teachers who teach them are also very dedicated, McKowen said.
They possess an, “Extra love of the subject area and a desire to ratchet up curriculum for interested students … and a willingness to do way more work than the norm,” she said.
Luke Roney covers education and agriculture for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at lr****@fr***********.com
