Introduction

This is the third year the Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development (Belin-Blank Center) has presented the Iowa AP Index as an indicator of Advanced Placement (AP®) opportunities for Iowa students. Because AP exams are scheduled in late spring, the Iowa AP Index for a given year is based on the exams and graduates of the previous year. Thus, the 2007 Iowa AP Index is based on the May 2006 AP exams and May/June 2006 graduates.

Every May a large number of high school students across America take AP exams. In May 2006 more than 1.3 million high school students took more than 2.3 million AP exams. AP allows students to pursue college-level studies while still in high school. Over 3000 colleges accept AP exam scores for either college credit or placement in higher level courses. AP was developed by the College Board and is one of the most successful and respected academic programs in the nation.

There have been numerous studies and articles proclaiming the advantages of AP. AP test scores have been found to be very good predictors of college grades and college graduation rates. A National Center for Educational Accountability study (2005) indicated that passing AP exams shows a strong and consistent relationship to college graduation rates. Recently, there has been considerable reporting on the benefits of AP courses and exams for minority students and students from poverty backgrounds. Such students exceed their educators’ expectations on AP. AP tests and minority students were made famous with the movie “Stand and Deliver” portraying the high success of inner-city Latino students on the AP Calculus exam.

While there is some controversy over AP (e.g., too much material covered in a short time; more breadth than depth) there is strong, research-supported agreement by educators that AP courses and exams are a rigorous and meaningful indicator of academic preparation for college. Also, AP exams provide a uniform standard of academic accomplishment across geography, economic status, ethnicity, and school size. AP exams cover 37 subject areas, and exams are scored on a scale of 1-5, with 5 considered top-level work (a grade equivalent of an "A") in a corresponding college course. A score of 3 or better is often accepted for either college credit or placement.

The AP program began in the middle 1950s on the East Coast, and while it has become, according to former U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley, “the gold standard,” it was not prevalent in Iowa. This may be attributed to the high number of rural schools in the state. Regardless, until only a few years ago, Iowa ranked among the lowest in the nation regarding AP exams per student population.

In 2001, the Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) was established, with the support of Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). The Belin-Blank Center, College of Education at The University of Iowa, and the Iowa Department of Education, received federal funding to provide online AP courses and exams to all students at accredited high schools in Iowa with a special focus on rural schools. The grant covers the cost of the courses and materials.

Since 2001, IOAPA has been a tremendously successful program and the percentage of schools with access to AP has increased dramatically. These are rather dramatic changes in only six years. Perhaps what is most striking is that while the number of schools in Iowa offering AP and the number of Iowa students taking AP exams increased dramatically from 2001 to 2006, the performance on the AP exams for Iowa students remains high. In 2006, Iowa students ranked 7th in the nation, with 70% of its students scoring at a level of 3 or better on the AP exams. In 2005, Iowa ranked 10th.

The Belin-Blank Center, in partnership with the Iowa Department of Education, has made a concerted effort to bring AP opportunities to the schools of Iowa, especially to each rural school. The goal of the Belin-Blank Center has been that, in Iowa, geography will not determine educational opportunity.

In addition, the Belin-Blank Center also provides the annual Advanced Placement Teacher Training Institute (APTTI) so that teachers can be prepared to deliver AP courses (for 2007, APTTI will be in Des Moines from July 9th-20th). Thus, both through the use of online technology and summer teacher training, the Belin-Blank Center has been the leader in Iowa in making access to AP a reality for all of Iowa’s high school students and teachers.

	Year
Indicators of Growth in Iowa*	2001	2006
Percentage of schools that offered at least one AP exam (national rank in parentheses)	37% (45th)	54% (26th)
Number of high schools that offered at least one AP exam	156	227
Number of AP exams taken	5,995	9,833
Number of students taking at least one AP exam	4,069	6,607
Percentage of exams with a score of 3 or higher (national rank in parentheses)	67% (11th)	70% (7th)

*Based on College Board data

The Iowa AP Index

In its continuing efforts to encourage and recognize Iowa schools that have made commitments to providing high-level academic opportunities for its high school students, the Belin-Blank Center publishes the annual Iowa AP Index. The Index, first published in 2005, provides a reasonable measure of AP opportunity in a given high school.

The Iowa AP Index recognizes Iowa schools for providing AP opportunities and students for their willingness to step up to a high academic challenge. Also, the Index provides a fair comparison of AP opportunity across school size. A high AP Index means that a school is offering AP courses, and the school has developed a culture whereby students are encouraged to take AP courses and exams.

The Iowa AP Index for a high school is the ratio of AP exams taken by its students (any grade) divided by the number of its graduating seniors.

Iowa AP Index =

Number of AP exams taken Number of graduates

The 2007 Iowa AP Index is based on the AP exams taken in May 2006 and seniors graduating in May/June 2006. In 2006, there were 385 (358 public and 27 private) high schools in the Iowa Department of Education electronic address database. Of these 385 high schools, 227 (205 public and 22 private) schools had at least 1 student take an AP exam in 2006. Of these 227 schools, 125 (112 public and 13 private) consented to participate in the Iowa AP Index.

The statistics for graduating seniors were provided by the Iowa Department of Education and the statistics for the AP exams were provided by the College Board.

The top schools range from rural to urban, include a wide spread of geography in Iowa, and include both public and private schools. A high AP Index would be 1.00, which means that the number of AP exams for that school equals the number of graduates. Eight schools achieved or surpassed this standard.

The top 50 schools range in class size from 11 to 539. There are 42 public and 8 private schools in the top 50.

The #1 school on the 2007 Iowa AP Index is Rivermont Collegiate High School, a small private school in Bettendorf. The largest school (based on total graduates) in the top 50 is Valley High School in West Des Moines, and the smallest schools are Russell High School in Russell and Prince of Peace High School in Clinton, both with graduating classes of 11 students. In order to view the list of the top 50 schools, go to the link at the bottom of the page. The Belin-Blank Center congratulates the top Iowa AP Index schools, their students, and educators.

Note 1: Iowa AP Index

This Index is a modification of the “Challenge Index” developed by Jay Mathews of the Washington Post. Modification made with permission.

Every high school in Iowa, public and private, that is accredited by the Iowa Department of Education was invited to participate in the Index. Magnet schools were not included.

The AP exams are administered annually in May. It takes several months to receive data from the Iowa Department of Education and to verify with the College Board. Thus, the 2007 Iowa AP Index is based on the May 2006 AP exam and graduation numbers.

We also calculated the 2007 Iowa AP Index for all the public schools for 2006 exam data, taking into account all the exams taken by Iowa students and all graduating seniors in these schools. Private schools were not counted because we did not have a complete list.

2007 Iowa AP Index for all Public High Schools in Iowa

=

9,041 Exams 33,801 Grads

=

0.27

(In the state, a little over 1 AP exam was taken for approximately every 4 graduating students)

The Iowa AP Index for all Public High Schools in Iowa last year was 0.24. Thus, the Index for 2007 (0.27) indicates an increase in AP opportunities in the state.

The Belin-Blank Center again gives special recognition to the Des Moines Central Academy. The Academy is nationally recognized for its outstanding offering of a wide variety of AP courses as well as the excellent performance of its students. Because Des Moines Central Academy is not a typical high school but a magnet school for other Des Moines high schools, it was not ranked with the high schools. Its AP Index of 5.85 puts it into a “class of its own.” The Belin-Blank Center wants to again acknowledge the exceptional leadership in AP of the Des Moines Central Academy as well as its educators and students.

The Belin-Blank Center is sending a Certificate of Recognition to all the schools ranked in the top 50. In addition, the top 25 schools will be honored at the annual Belin-Blank Recognition Ceremony on Saturday, October 6, 2007.

Each participating school will receive its 2007 Iowa AP Index in a confidential letter. The Belin-Blank Center suggests comparing the current 2007 Index with the 2006 Index. If the 2007 Index is higher, this indicates progress regarding AP opportunities and will prove to be a meaningful indicator of progress each year of the Index. Schools may also consider comparing their Index to the state Index (0.27) mentioned in Note 4 as a measure of the AP opportunities in their school versus the state “average.”

The Belin-Blank Center advocates that schools offer advanced and high-level courses to its high school students. We realize that a number of high schools offer college-level options that are not AP. We encourage and appreciate that schools offer such options. The Iowa AP Index only focuses on AP opportunities.