Dive Brief:
- Alabama high school students have improved their Advanced Placement scores more than any other state in the nation.
- Nationally, the number of students passing math, science, and English AP exams has increased by 49% over the past six years, but Alabama has seen a 136% increase in the same period.
- Advance Placement exams are considered rigorous college-level courses that high school students may take for college credit.
Dive Insight:
In 2008 4,037 Alabama students had "qualifying" AP scores. Flash forward to 2014, when the number of "qualifying" scores has more than doubled to 9,534. This improvement is not random: Also in 2008, the state set a goal for improving AP scores. What this shows the rest of the nation is that when strategies are properly planned and given enough time, gains can be made.