High school advanced placement courses are the subject of a two-part story in the Dallas Morning News, revealing something many neighborhood moms already know – taking AP courses doesn’t guarantee that your child will receive college credit. The AP exams are tough, with fewer than half of students passing the test and receiving college credit.

The lengthy feature stories printed in today’s and Sunday’s papers are worth your time, but here’s a recap. AP courses, once an exclusive privilege for high-performing students at elite high schools, are becoming more widely available. Inequities in course offerings still exist, but the biggest inequities are revealed in the passing rates. At Highland Park High, where 88% of kids take at least one AP course, 52% pass the test and get college credit. At Plano West, 53% are enrolled and 80% pass. At Dallas Skyline, where 70% of students are low-income, 25% take AP and 16% pass.

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LHHS students fall somewhere in the middle. About 38% of Wildcats take AP courses and 43% pass the test. When compared to other schools with similar populations, we have more students attempting, but more students failing, the rigorous exams. Carrollton Creekview and Lewisville High, for example, match our low-income student rate of one-third and have passing rates of about 78%, but they only test 38% and 18% respectively. As LH stretches to offer more courses and include more students, the passing rate drops overall. I think that’s a good thing. Encourage more “average” students to give it a try, and encourage bright students to try an AP course in a subject not their specialty.

 

But the bigger question in my mind is – should you fret because your student takes an AP class but doesn’t pass the test? My opinion: heck no. The challenge itself is good prep for college, and the rigorous courseload more closely imitates what they’ll face in a university setting. Remember – most are passing, even excelling in, the class. It’s the nationally standardized test where they score below what a college student should be scoring.

The newspaper brings up another point that I’ve been hearing more in mommy-circles lately – maybe my kid is better off in dual credit courses than AP. Dual credit classes are taught at LHHS by Richland College instructors, with identical coursework, textbooks, and tests. Students find them easier than AP classes, and the college credit is automatically awarded to students passing the class. Once enrolled, students can even take additional courses on the nearby Richland campus over the summer to earn additional college credit – a big savings for parents compared to university tuition.

So what’s best – dual credit or AP courses? As always, the answer depends on your kids. Do they thrive on challenging learning environments? Are they motivated to stretch and learn on their own? Do they rise to the level of whatever is put before them? Or is earning college credit just a means to an end? Ask also if they are so busy with extra-curriculars that an added layer of intensity will send them over the edge.

And here’s another thing to consider. In a time when folks try to grasp every college credit they can before high school graduation, perhaps we’re forgetting one thing. There’s something to be said for taking freshman level courses as a freshman with the rest of your college peers. A student entering university with 30 credit hours jumps right into sophomore level courses with older students. Financial savings aside, sitting in a college classroom with other freshman has its benefits, too.