Valley Perspective : LAUSD Playing Numbers Game With Exam Program : Increasing the number of students taking Advanced Placement classes won’t automatically add up to higher pass rate, but district hopes it impresses public.

On the front page of The Times for Dec. 6 appeared a Valley Newswatch item announcing that the Los Angeles Unified School District was presenting awards to high schools that had increased their enrollment of students in Advanced Placement (AP) courses. The item noted that AP classes “earn students college-level credits.”

Lest anyone take cheer from this, understand: The LAUSD is awarding schools for increasing enrollment in Advanced Placement classes. No mention is made of whether the district will present awards next year to schools that have high percentages of students passing the AP tests. Students earn college-level credits only if they pass the AP test--taking the class and not taking the test, or not passing the test, won’t earn anyone any college credits.

The purpose of an AP course, U.S. history for example, is to prepare students to take and pass the AP exam given in May by the Educational Testing Service. These are nationally administered tests taken by hundreds of thousands of students each year.

There are many advantages to taking AP classes. It looks good on a student’s transcript when competing for a place at a prestigious college. “College credit” means that the student won’t have to take that class in college. To obtain that credit, a student must score 3 or better on a scale of 1 to 5. Some colleges won’t accept a score lower than 4. A student who passes four AP tests in high school in effect knocks off almost a year of college, saving thousands of dollars in potential tuition costs.

There’s a numbers game going on in the LAUSD. The goal is to increase the number of students taking AP classes, to impress the public and certain federal funding programs that the LAUSD is recognizing the potential academic abilities of its students. Well and good, if schools have been preventing students from taking AP courses. But such is not the case. AP classes by definition involve a great deal of hard work on advanced material usually studied at the college level. Many students don’t want to make the effort. Some who have the capability need to be talked into taking AP classes; but if the motivation isn’t there, neither will there be a passing score.

Another aspect of the numbers game involves student abilities. If the increased enrollment includes students who lack the skills necessary to pass the AP tests, then LAUSD test scores are going to go down. Rest assured that the testing service’s national standard is not going to be lowered, just to do LAUSD students a favor. As for students who take the class but not the test: College admissions offices will look with suspicion on anyone who claims AP classes on the transcript but has no test scores.

It will be interesting to see if there are awards ceremonies next year honoring schools with high percentages (based on high enrollments) of students passing AP tests. The current accolades are like awarding students for breathing.