More students in Clinton City Schools are taking Advanced Placement exams — a testament to how well the high school is performing, school officials say.
Dr. Mark Duckworth, associate superintendent for curriculum and instruction, presented local school board members with statistics of AP and ACT test scores during Monday afternoon’s work session. Those numbers, Duckworth noted, are continuing to improve.
“These numbers are a good testament to what they are doing at the high school now,” Duckworth said during his presentation.
According to Duckworth, more students took Advanced Placement exams during the 2014-15 school year. A total of 94 students took AP exams, up from the 87 who took similar tests last year. There were 185 individual exams taken among those students this past school year, more than double the 92 tests taken last year.
Two years ago figures indicate that 100 students took 148 Advanced Placement exams. Duckworth’s report showed that 12 different exams were taken in 2014-15.
For students to pass or be considered proficient, they must score a Level 3 or higher on the exam. According to Duckworth, 21 percent of the total students who tested this past school year scored a Level 3 or higher. This number increased from last year’s 20 percent and the 16 percent the previous year.
“We have more upper level scores than in years past,” Duckworth noted.
Students are testing in various subject areas, but U.S. History, English Language and Composition and Calculus seem to be the subjects with the most interest. Of the 10 students who took the Calculus exam this past school year, half passed, scoring a Level 3 or higher. This, board member Diane Viser stated, is a huge accomplishment.
“I’ve kept up with this over the years,” Viser said. “In the past, we have had one student pass the Calculus exam and this year we had five.”
Duckworth sang praises of the high school math team.
“These folks are doing great things over there,” Duckworth said.
The average ACT score is up .1 percent for Clinton City students as well. According to the information Duckworth presented, the composite percentage for the ACT increased from 40.5 in 2013-14 to 40.6 in 2014-15.
“We rose in all subject areas except English,” Duckworth said.
The English score dropped nearly 5 points, from 28.3 to 23.4.