M-DCPS Continues Stellar Rise in AP Exam Results, Enrollment

The College Board has released the final results for the May 2020 Advanced Placement (AP) examinations for Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS). These results summarize the performance of the students who participated in AP courses during the 2019-2020 school year and took the corresponding AP exam. Students in M-DCPS demonstrated an overall passing rate of 65 percent, an increase of 8 percent from 2019.

“These are remarkable results considering the several challenges that our students and teachers faced in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Schools Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho. “I am greatly impressed, but not surprised, by the ingenuity and creativity of our teachers to ensure our students succeed.”

The District worked closely with the College Board to ensure that infrastructure and support were in place to make the administration of the 2020 AP exam a success. The AP Program provides high school students the opportunity to enroll in advanced courses of study and to earn college credit and/or advanced placement credit, while still enrolled in high school. AP courses include 38 classes in various subject areas, such as the arts, social sciences, languages, science, literature, mathematics and computer science. Students are recommended for college credits if they receive a score of 3 or higher on a 5-point scale on the corresponding AP exam. 

Since the 2010-2011 school year, there has been a continued increase in both enrollment and percentage of students scoring a 3 or higher on the exams. M-DCPS has seen a dramatic increase in the participation and performance of students in AP courses. Highlights of M-DCPS AP results include:

• Miami-Dade AP enrollment data shows an increase of 85 percent from 17,049 in 2008 to 31,606 in 2019-2020.
  
  
• The total number of AP examinations taken increased by 65 percent from 30,434 in 2008 to 50,158 in 2020.
  
  
• The total number of AP course offerings in M-DCPS high schools has increased by 49 percent from 838 in 2008 to 1,250 in 2020.

• While increasing participation, the performance of M-DCPS students on AP exams has also increased. In 2008, 40 percent of students scored a 3 or higher on the AP exam, and in 2020, 65 percent of students scored a 3 or higher, an increase of 25 percentage points.  

• Among the Hispanic subgroup, the percent of students scoring a 3 or higher has increased by 24 percentage points, from 41 percent in 2008 to 65 percent in 2020.

• Among the African-American subgroup, the percent of students scoring a 3 or higher has increased by 25 percentage points from 18 percent in 2008 to 43 percent in 2020.

• The total number of qualifying 3, 4, and 5 scores (of all tests taken) increased by 168 percent from 12,118 in 2008 to 32,450 in 2020.

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