Statement from Governor Sonny Perdue Regarding Advanced Placement Testing Results

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue issued the following statement today regarding The College Board’s 5^th Annual Advanced Placement Report:

“I commend Georgia’s AP students and teachers for their hard work and diligence in keeping Georgia globally competitive,” said Governor Perdue. “By continuing to set high goals, Georgia’s students will be best prepared to enter tomorrow’s workforce and help build a stronger Georgia.”

Georgia continues to excel in AP achievement. Students improved in both AP participation and performance from 2007. According to figures released by The College Board today, 16.3 percent of Georgia students scored at mastery level or above (a score of 3 or above) on at least one AP test, ranking Georgia 15^th in the nation. The national average was 15.2 percent.

The 16.3 percent figure represents a 1.2 percent increase over last year and a 4.1 percent increase since 2002. Georgia students exceeded the national average in percentage of students scoring 3 or above in four of the six subject areas: Art, English, Math and Social Science.

Also, more Georgia students are taking the tests. In 2008, 30.3 percent of Georgia’s public school class participated in AP courses and took at least one exam, compared to 28.4 percent last year.

Georgia’s minority and economically-disadvantaged students have also shown great improvement. African-American, Hispanic and low-income students are all participating and achieving at slightly higher levels than in 2007. For Latino and American Indian students, Georgia was specifically pointed out for closing the “equity and excellence gap” (a comparison between total percentage of a certain group graduating and the percentage of that same group who scored a 3 or better on the AP exam).

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