Every May a large number of high school students across America take AP exams. In May 2008, more than 1.5 million high school students took more than 2.6 million AP exams. AP allows students to pursue college-level studies while still in high school. Over 3000 colleges and universities accept AP exam scores for either college credit or placement in higher-level courses. AP was developed by the College Board and is one of the most successful and respected academic programs in the nation.

There have been numerous studies and articles proclaiming the advantages of AP. AP test scores have been found to be very good predictors of college performance and college graduation rates. A National Center for Educational Achievement study (2005) indicates that passing AP exams shows a strong and consistent relationship to college graduation rates. A study by Geiser and Santelices (2004) indicates that AP examination scores are among the very best indicators of college performance.  Keng and Dodd (2008) report that “for each of the 10 individual AP Exam subjects, AP Credit students consistently outperformed non-AP students of similar academic ability in all college outcome measures” (p. 1).  The college outcome measures were defined by Keng and Dodd (2008) as first-year credit hours and GPA, subject or subject area credit hours and GPA, overall college credit hours and GPA, and subsequent course grade.  Recently, there has been considerable reporting on the benefits of AP courses and exams for minority students and students from poverty backgrounds (AP Report to the Nation, 2009). Such students exceed their educators’ expectations on AP. AP tests and minority student success were made famous by the movie Stand and Deliver (1988) portraying the high success of inner-city Latino students on the AP Calculus exam.

While there is some controversy over AP (e.g., too much material covered in a short time; more breadth than depth) there is strong, research-supported agreement by educators that AP courses and exams are a rigorous and meaningful indicator of academic preparation for college. Also, AP exams provide a uniform standard of academic accomplishment across geography, economic status, ethnicity, and school size. AP exams cover 37 subject areas, and exams are scored on a scale of 1-5, with 5 considered top-level work (a grade equivalent of an "A") in a corresponding college course. A score of 3 or better is often accepted for either college credit or placement.

The AP program began in the middle 1950s on the East Coast, and while it has become, according to former U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley, “the gold standard,” it was not prevalent in Iowa. This may be attributed to the high number of rural schools in the state. Regardless, until only a few years ago, Iowa ranked among the lowest in the nation regarding AP exams-per-student population.

In 2001, the Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) was established with the support of Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). The Belin-Blank Center, in the College of Education at The University of Iowa, and the Iowa Department of Education received federal funding to provide online AP courses and exams to all students at accredited high schools in Iowa. The Belin-Blank Center, in partnership with the Iowa Department of Education, has made a concerted effort to bring AP opportunities to the schools of Iowa, especially to each rural school. The goal of IOAPA has been that, in Iowa, geography will not determine educational opportunity.  The grant has covered the cost of courses and materials.

IOAPA has been a tremendously successful program, and the percentage of schools with access to AP has increased dramatically. These are rather significant changes in only seven years. Perhaps what is most striking is that while the number of schools in Iowa offering AP and the number of Iowa students taking AP exams increased substantially from 2001 to 2008, the performance on the AP exams for Iowa students remains high. In 2008, Iowa students' scores ranked 6th in the nation, with 67% of its students scoring at a level of 3 or better on the AP exams.

The Belin-Blank Center also provides the annual Advanced Placement Teacher Training Institute (APTTI) so that teachers can be prepared to successfully deliver AP courses (for 2009, APTTI will be held in Des Moines from July 13-17). Thus, both through the use of online technology and summer professional development, the Belin-Blank Center has been the leader in Iowa in making access to AP a reality for all of Iowa’s high school students and teachers.

	Year
Indicators of Growth in Iowa*	2001	2008
Number of high schools that offered at least one AP exam	156	220
Number of AP exams taken	5,995	11,786
Number of students taking at least one AP exam	4,069	7,798
Percentage of exams with a score of 3 or higher (national rank in parentheses)	67% (11th)	67% (6th)

*Based on College Board data which includes accredited and non-accredited Iowa schools

The Iowa AP Index

In its continuing efforts to encourage and recognize Iowa schools that have made commitments to providing high-level academic opportunities for its high school students, the Belin-Blank Center publishes the annual Iowa AP Index. The Index, first published in 2005, provides a reasonable measure of AP opportunity in a given high school.

The Iowa AP Index recognizes accredited Iowa schools for providing AP opportunities and recognizes students for their willingness to step up to an academic challenge. Also, the Index provides a fair comparison of AP opportunity across school size. A high AP Index means that a school is offering AP courses, and the school has developed a culture whereby students are encouraged to take AP courses and exams.

The Iowa AP Index for a high school is the ratio of AP exams taken by its students (any grade) divided by the number of its graduating seniors.

Iowa AP Index =

Number of AP exams taken Number of graduates

The 2009 Iowa AP Index is based on the AP exams taken in May 2008 and seniors graduating in May/June 2008. In 2007-2008, there were 383 (356 public and 27 non-public) accredited high schools according to the Iowa Department of Education.  Of these 383 accredited high schools, 211 (196 public and 15 non-public), or 55% of schools, had at least one student take an AP exam in 2008.  Of these 211 accredited Iowa high schools that had at least one student take an AP exam in 2008, 95% (201 schools; 186 public and 15 non-public) agreed to participate in the 2009 Iowa AP Index.

The statistics for graduating seniors were provided by the Iowa Department of Education, and the statistics for the AP exams were provided by the College Board.

The top schools on the Index range from rural to urban, include a wide spread of geography in Iowa, and include both public and non-public schools. A high AP Index would be 1.00, which means that the number of AP exams for that school equals the number of graduates. Ten schools achieved or surpassed this standard. (Magnet schools and Specially Accredited College Preparatory Schools are considered separately. See Note 5.)

The top 50 schools range in graduating class size from 15 to 559. There are 40 public and 10 non-public schools in the top 50.

The #1 school on the 2009 Iowa AP Index is George Washington High School, a public high school in Cedar Rapids. John F. Kennedy High School, also in Cedar Rapids, is ranked #2.  Regina High School in Iowa City, a small non-public high school, ranked #3, is the highest ranked non-public school.  Regina High School is also the smallest school in the top ten, with 59 graduates in May/June 2008.  The largest school in the top 50 is Valley High School in West Des Moines with 559 graduates, and the smallest school is Prince of Peace College Preparatory in Clinton with 15 graduates. In order to view the list of the top 50 schools, go to the link at the bottom of the page. The Belin-Blank Center congratulates the top Iowa AP Index schools, their students, and educators.

References:

• AP Central
• AP Report to the Nation (February 4, 2009)
• The Iowa Department of Education Education Statistics
• The National Center for Educational Achievement
• Saul Geiser and Veronica Santelices, "The Role of Advanced Placement and Honors Courses in College Admissions" (July 1, 2004). Center for Studies in Higher Education. Paper CSHE-4-04.  http://repositories.cdlib.org/cshe/CSHE-4-04
• Keng, L., & Dodd, B. G. (2008).  A comparison of college performances of AP and Non-AP student groups in 10 subject areas(College Board Research Report No. 2008-7).  New York: The College Board.

Note 1: Iowa AP Index

This Index is a modification of the “Challenge Index” developed by Jay Mathews of the Washington Post. Modification made with permission.

Every high school in Iowa, public and non-public, that is accredited by the Iowa Department of Education was invited to participate in the 2009 AP Index.  Magnet schools and Specially Accredited College Preparatory High Schools were not included in the AP Index ranking.  Non-accredited schools and home schools were not included in the AP Index ranking.

The AP exams are administered annually in May. It takes several months to receive data from the Iowa Department of Education and to verify with the College Board. Thus, the 2009 Iowa AP Index is based on the May 2008 AP exam numbers and May/June 2008 graduation numbers.

We calculated an AP Index score separately for all the accredited public schools for 2008 exam data (excluding the non-public schools) taking into account all the exams taken by Iowa students and all graduating seniors in Iowa public schools.

2009 Iowa AP Index for all Public High Schools in Iowa

=

10,547 Exams 34,573 Grads

=

0.31

(Thus, 1 AP exam was taken for every 3 students graduating from an accredited Iowa public high school.)

For comparison, last year’s 2008 AP Index for all Iowa accredited public high schools was 0.29.  Thus, the Index for 2009 (0.31) indicates an increase in AP opportunities in the state.

The Belin-Blank Center recognizes the Des Moines Central Academy, a magnet school, and Rivermont Collegiate, one of Iowa’s Specially Accredited College Preparatory Schools. 

Central Academy is nationally recognized for its outstanding offering of a wide variety of AP courses as well as the excellent performance of its students. Because Des Moines Central Academy is not a typical high school but a magnet school for other Des Moines high schools, it was not ranked with the high schools. Its AP Index of 6.07 puts it into a “class of its own.”

The state’s Specially Accredited College Preparatory Schools were not ranked with the high schools. The Belin-Blank Center gives special recognition to Rivermont Collegiate, a private college preparatory school located in Bettendorf. Rivermont places special emphasis on AP coursework and exams. This is reflected in their outstanding index of 4.00.  Iowa Christian Academy, a Specially Accredited College Preparatory School, in West Des Moines is recognized for an index of 1.21.

The Belin-Blank Center sends a Certificate of Recognition to all the schools ranked in the top 50. In addition, the top 25 schools will be honored at the annual Belin-Blank Recognition Ceremony on Sunday, October 18, 2009 at The University of Iowa.

Each participating school will receive its 2009 Iowa AP Index in a confidential letter. The Belin-Blank Center suggests comparing the current 2009 Index with the 2008 Index. If the 2009 Index is higher, this indicates progress regarding AP opportunities and will prove to be a meaningful indicator of progress each year of the Index. Schools may also consider comparing their Index to the state Index (0.31) mentioned in Note 4 as a measure of the AP opportunities in their school versus the state average.

The Belin-Blank Center advocates that schools offer advanced and high-level courses to its high school students. We realize that a number of high schools offer college-level options that are not AP. We encourage and appreciate that schools offer such options. The Iowa AP Index only focuses on AP opportunities.