More District 158 students took AP exams last year

A record number of high school students in Huntley Unit District 158 took advantage of Huntley High School’s extensive offerings of Advanced Placement courses in the 2010-2011 school year, with about one in six students taking an AP class.

During the 2010-2011 school year, 371 students from freshmen to seniors sat for 555 advanced placement exams in one of 16 subjects the high school offers. That’s up from the 259 students who took 393 exams in the 2009-2010 school year, according to statistics released last week.

“We’ve made it our focus to expand the offerings in a number of areas of interest,” said Mike Moan, director of curriculum and instruction. “Teachers develop courses and work with the college board on curriculum that allows students to take the tests and have great results.”

The percentage of students scoring a three — the minimum score colleges generally accept for the course to count toward college credit — or higher on an advanced placement exam in 2010-2011 dipped slightly compared to the 2009-2010 school year. But Moan said district officials are pleased that a higher number of students are taking AP exams.

In 2010-2011, 79.8 percent of students scored three or higher, compared to 2009-2010 when 86.9 percent did.

“In the last five years, the number of AP exams per AP student has gone down, which means we have a wider variety of students taking those exams,” Moan said. “Some students may be taking one AP class, but more are being exposed to the curriculum. We want kids to do well, and they do, but we also want more students taking AP courses and preparing for college.”

Board member Tony Quagliano said student success in AP courses in high school means savings in tuition and time for parents and students.

“Some of these kids who are performing well are getting almost a year’s worth of college credit,” Quagliano said. “With the cost of education, that’s a pretty big value.”

The fee for each exam is $87.

Quagliano said the board discussed adding subjects, like U.S. Government, which is ranks fifth in the number of students who take the exam nationally. District 158 added Chinese and Spanish to its list of AP subjects.