GCISD's Advanced Placement (AP) Program

Currently 54% of GCISD graduates attend a 4-year college, and 72% attend either a 2 or 4-year college. One of the keys to continue to improve on these figures is to increase the enrollment in our Advanced Placement (AP) program. This program offers students the opportunity to take college level courses at our high schools, which gives students the chance to earn a higher credit weight per class versus standard courses. Also, students in AP courses can take an end of year course exam, which allows them to earn college credits based on their test scores.

In summary, AP courses give students the experience of a college course while having the support provided in a high school environment. Performance in AP courses is a good barometer to predict future success in college. However, even students that do not pass the end of year AP exams are well served for their future college lives by having the experience of a more rigorous high school coursework.

The following table compares the AP programs of the main suburban districts in North Texas, based on student participation and passing rates. The data was provided by the TEA and College Board websites for the 2007-2008 school year. The AP exam passing criteria is a score of 3 or above.

As the table shows, GCISD has the second highest participation rate in North Texas, and the 6th highest AP exam passing rate. It is expected that a higher level of participation in the AP program will result in a lower passing rate among students. However, top AP programs continue to increase student participation while maintaining or increasing the exam passing rates.

In order to compare the AP programs among school districts, a simple calculation that gives equal weight to participation and passing rates could be used. The AP Index included in the table is based on multiplying the participation and passing rates for each district. Using this figure, GCISD places 4th among AP programs in North Texas.

I would like to encourage all parents to get more information about the pre-AP and AP programs offered at our secondary schools, in order to help us make all students aware of these options. GCISD has a very strong AP program, and all our students should take advantage of this opportunity.