Maryland students have once again secured a number one ranking—this time in the number of students scoring a 3 or higher out of five on an Advanced Placement test.
The state moved up from 27.9 percent in 2011 to 29.6 percent in 2012, the highest percentage in the nation, according to a report released by the College Board Wednesday. A total of 48.2 percent of Maryland students took the exam in 2012, up from 46.4 the previous year.
In comparison, 28 percent of all Howard County high school students, including over half of the seniors enrolled in an AP class in 2012, with 82 percent also taking the corresponding exam. In addition, 82 percent of the exams resulted in a score of 3 or higher, with 56 percent scoring a 4 or higher, according to Howard County Public Schools.
Governor Martin O'Malley released the following statement after the results were announced:
"Because of the better choices we’ve made together to invest in our children’s future, we’ve built the number one public schools in the nation," O’Malley said. "Thanks to our hardworking students, our dedicated educators and our outstanding parents, Maryland’s high school students have achieved the nation’s best performance on AP exams for seven years in a row—outperforming their peers and gaining the skills they need to learn, earn and grow in the future."
"The most important investments we make as a people are investments in public education. Even in the toughest times, we’ve chosen to increase school funding 45 percent since 2006. Those investments are giving our principals, our teachers and our students the resources to continue to lead the nation in graduation rates, student achievement and the highest participation rate in AP science, technology, engineering and math exams in our state’s history."
In her statement, Maryland State Department of Education Superintendent Lillian Lowery stressed the importance of continuing to make improvements.
"We are determined to graduate Maryland students who are ready for either college or the workforce, and the AP program provides students with a strong foundation upon which to build their future," Lowery said. "Our students continue to make progress, but there is plenty of room for improvement. We must eliminate gaps in achievement between student subgroups, making certain all of our students have outstanding opportunities."
Nationwide, 19.5 percent of students scored 3 or higher, a jump from 18.1 percent in 2011, according to the College Board.
New York and Massachustes trailed in second place with 28 percent and 27.9 percent respectively.
On the other end of the spectrum, Mississippi ranked last with only 4.6 percent of students scoring a 3 of higher on an Advanced Placement exam.
Our three kids go to private school (for the religious aspect of it) and I can definitely see its not above public school. Public schools have much more to offer. There is definitely more rigor and more classes offered in public school. More choices and more challenges given to them.
After screwing up bond ratings, what else Would McGraw-Hill do to make a buck?
What you DO get from a private school is better student/teacher ratios, which can really help if your child needs that extra attention in learning. Other then that, private schooling isn't appreciably superior in anything but cost.
I draw upon the several acquintances I know both at work and socially whose kids go to Maryland private schools now. I know a couple who are public school teachers, and their children go to public school by choice. Honestly, I'd have looked to put my kid in private school if I didn't live in "a good area", with a highly rated public school system. There is certainly rationale for going the private school route if the particular schools where you live aren't up to snuff. All public schools aren't the same quality. Perhaps your parents put you in private school because of this scenario. Or maybe they just fed into the hype, wanted to keep up with the 'neighbors'. Jealous? Nah, not at all. I put my kid in 4 years of Goddard School because I was certain it was worth the money. When I looked into a couple of local private schools for kindergarden, I saw nothing to remotely indicate that they would be superior to Gunpowder Elementary at all. I still don't today.
Especially when there's a subset of people who want to universally discount the ones that are provided, such as in this article.
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