Students urged to take AP tests

WASHINGTON -- College-level courses offered in high school, such as Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate, do not appear to improve academic performance in college, unless students take the tests at the end of each course, according to a major study by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley.

But, the report emphasized, performing well on the difficult exams is a better predictor of success in college than nearly anything else in a student's high school record.

The report is expected to create controversy among college recruiters, high school educators, and students preparing for college, because the most selective colleges virtually require that students take the college-level courses. Many school districts give extra grade points for taking them, a practice the Berkeley researchers say may have gone too far.

The AP program, run by the New York-based College Board, is one of the fastest-growing in the country. The number of students taking AP exams rose from 133,702 in 1981 to 1,017,396 in 2004. The IB program, although much smaller, also grew rapidly.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reported today that college students around the nation will be forced to pay more of the cost of their education under new federal rules that govern most of the nation's financial aid.

The Times, citing two analyses of the rules, said the changes, which will save the government some $300 million, will affect about 1.3 million students who will receive smaller Pell Grants. Another 89,000 students who would otherwise receive the scholarships, will get no federal money.

The Berkeley study, based on a sample of 81,445 students at eight University of California campuses, contradicts in some ways a 1999 US Education Department report, based on a sample of about 8,700 students, that said the more intense academic experience provided by honors or college-level courses in high school made it more likely that those students, particularly minorities, would graduate from college.

The Berkeley report, obtained yesterday by The Washington Post, is also at odds with recent research by the National Center for Educational Accountability, based on 78,079 Texas college students, that suggested even doing poorly on a college-level test was more likely to improve chances of college graduation than not taking the course and test at all.

The 29-page report by Saul Geiser and Veronica Santelices did, however, endorse the view among high school educators that taking AP and IB courses and tests is important preparation for college. The scores on the difficult AP test ''have a greater predictive weight [on future college academic performance] than any other factor except high school grades," the report said.

The Berkeley study was inspired by the University of California policy of giving a full extra grade point -- making each A worth five points rather than four -- for any grade in any AP, IB, or honors course, even if the student did not take the exams.