More seniors took Advanced Placement tests in '05, passed
But the racial gaps have continued, College Board says
WASHINGTON -- More public high school seniors took and passed Advanced Placement tests in almost every state last year, but racial gaps remained.
In the nation's public schools, 14.1 percent of the class of 2005 passed at least one AP test, up from 13.2 percent a year before, the College Board reported yesterday. In 2000, 10.2 percent of high school seniors passed a test.
Average scores were steady from 2004 to 2005, although more students took the exams.
''It is our hope that the AP program can serve as an anchor for increasing rigor in our schools," the College Board president, Gaston Caperton, said at a press conference. ''Rigor can be maintained while increasing student participation."
In Massachusetts, 4.2 percent more students in the graduating class of 2005 passed an AP exam with a score of 3 or higher than the graduating class of 2000, according to the College Board report. Almost one-fifth of the class of 2005 passed an AP exam during their high school years.
But a gap remained in Massachusetts between the percentage of black and Latin students in the class of 2005 in public high schools and the percentage of those who have taken an AP exam. African-Americans made up 8.3 percent of the class of 2005 in Massachusetts, but only 3.2 percent of those students took an AP exam. Latin students make up 7.4 percent of the state's most recent graduates, but only 4.4. percent have taken an AP test.
''It is good news that more Massachusetts high school students, including students who have been traditionally underserved in the past, are taking AP courses," David P. Driscoll, education commissioner, said in a statement. ''However, the achievement gap persists, and this is a serious concern."
President Bush called for increasing access to AP courses in his State of the Union speech last week, as a way to improve the country's competitiveness in math and science.
Bush's budget proposal for 2007, which was unveiled Monday, would cut overall education spending by $3.7 billion this year. But it would increase federal spending on the AP program by $90 million, to $122 million.
The number of students passing at least one AP test increased by nearly 120,000 from 2000 to 2005. But black students continued to take the exams at lower rates than white students, and their overall scores remained a level behind whites last year.
Nationwide, black students make up 13.4 percent of the student population, but only 6.4 percent of the students who are taking AP exams. A similar ratio of American Indian students took the exams. The percentage of white and Latin students taking the tests more closely mirrored their numbers in the classroom.
The Advanced Placement Program, which the College Board oversees, offers college-level courses in 20 subjects.
About 610,000 of the roughly 2.7 million members of the class of 2005 took a total of 1.5 million AP tests. About 380,000 of the students passed at least one test.
Forty-four states and the District of Columbia saw an increase in the percentage of students who passed at least one AP test last year. But that percentage declined in five states -- Florida, Nevada, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Wyoming. It was flat in Louisiana.
Tracy Jan of the Globe staff contributed to this report. 
