AP/IB passing rates for DFW area high schools

[Walter Benjamin]

Originally Posted by Big G

Been down this road many times before, but...

HP, for one, requires EVERY student in an AP class to take the associated test. In contrast, Plano ISD does not. That will skew the results, as Plano kids who are unlikely to pass the exam won't bother to take it.

Just curious, do you know how common that is? Just HP, or other schools too, that do that?


Another look at the raw numbers here, and I have the following thought:

One of the old arguments around here, about schools, is: the Traditional Powers (West Plano, Coppell, Highland Park, Southlake) vs. the Northerly Exurbs (Allen, Frisco, McKinney).

Looking at these numbers, the Northerly Exurbs come off better than they do in measures of SAT and NMSF.

But as Big G points out, we don't have the percentages of each class that takes the test (PSAT/NMSF; SAT; or AP/IB), so it's more of a rough estimate... but for all its flaws, looking at tests like these is still the best most objective measuring stick that we have...

[Mardrew]

The test participation rate and the pass rate are available in the Texas Academic performance report for each school. You can find the overall pass rate by multiplying the participation rate by the pass rate from the report. These reports are available at the TEA website: https://rptsvr1.tea.texas.gov/perfre...ch.html?srch=C


I've done the calculations for a few of the schools.
For All Subjects
School Participation Pass Rate Overall Pass Rate
Highland Park__78.5% 77.8% 61.07%
Lovejoy________63.1% 79.5% 50.16%
Plano West ____51.5% 88.9% 45.78%
Carroll _______49.4% 85.5% 42.24%
Plano _________45.0% 86.1% 38.75%
Coppell _______53.0% 69.8% 36.99%
Liberty _______42.9% 84.3% 36.16%
Plano East ____39.5% 80.9% 31.96%
Frisco ________37.0% 84.8% 31.38%
Prosper _______39.9% 74.3% 29.65%
Flower Mound __32.7% 89.7% 29.33%
Allen _________31.8% 85.1% 27.06%


For Math Only (I added Lake Dallas since they had a 100% pass rate which doesn't look so good once you see that they only had a 1.3% participation rate)
School Participation Pass Rate Overall Pass Rate
Carroll _______24.7% 90.3% 22.30%
Lovejoy _______35.9% 60.8% 21.83%
Highland Park _23.2% 78.5% 18.21%
Plano _________19.5% 88.3% 17.22%
Plano West ____20.4% 82.9% 16.91%
Coppell _______21.7% 73.1% 15.86%
Liberty _______16.0% 76.0% 12.16%
Plano East ____15.3% 74.4% 11.38%
Frisco ________12.1% 81.6% 9.87%
Flower Mound __11.0% 87.7% 9.65%
Prosper _______12.6% 70.7% 8.91%
Allen __________8.9% 78.7% 7.00%
Lake Dallas ____1.3% 100.0% 1.3%

For Science Only School
Participation Pass Rate Overall Pass Rate
Carroll _______25.1% 84.0% 21.08%
Highland Park _26.5% 77.5% 20.54%
Liberty _______23.5% 74.1% 17.41%
Plano West ____14.8% 88.3% 13.07%
Plano East ____16.4% 77.1% 12.64%
Plano _________15.0% 80.5% 12.08%
Lovejoy _______17.8% 63.5% 11.30%
Allen _________13.0% 84.4% 10.97%
Coppell _______14.9% 64.5% 9.61%
Frisco ________11.0% 75.5% 8.31%
Flower Mound ___8.3% 79.3% 6.58%
Prosper ________9.0% 53.0% 4.77%

[Walter Benjamin]

That's excellent -- thank you! And, after correcting for participation, the Traditional Powers are back on top... my previous worldview is confirmed

Originally Posted by Mardrew

The test participation rate and the pass rate are available in the Texas Academic performance report for each school. You can find the overall pass rate by multiplying the participation rate by the pass rate from the report. These reports are available at the TEA website: https://rptsvr1.tea.texas.gov/perfre...ch.html?srch=C


I've done the calculations for a few of the schools.
For All Subjects
School Participation Pass Rate Overall Pass Rate
Highland Park__78.5% 77.8% 61.07%
Lovejoy________63.1% 79.5% 50.16%
Plano West ____51.5% 88.9% 45.78%
Carroll _______49.4% 85.5% 42.24%
Plano _________45.0% 86.1% 38.75%
Coppell _______53.0% 69.8% 36.99%
Liberty _______42.9% 84.3% 36.16%
Plano East ____39.5% 80.9% 31.96%
Frisco ________37.0% 84.8% 31.38%
Prosper _______39.9% 74.3% 29.65%
Flower Mound __32.7% 89.7% 29.33%
Allen _________31.8% 85.1% 27.06%

[M.abus]

DISD pays for all AP, IB, SAT and ACT exams. All the juniors took the SAT last week.

[theloneranger]

Originally Posted by numbersguy100

The DISD pass rates outside TAG and SEM are abysmal. Even Booker T is pretty embarrassing. I wonder how much money the district wastes a year on AP entrance fees.

The district doesn't see it as a waste, they see it as offering kids opportunity. Many/most of the kids taking AP tests in DISD would not even be permitted in AP classes in other districts. The district expects all kids in AP classes to take the tests, and many students register for AP classes in everything, even their weaker subjects, because even getting a 78 in an AP class gets the student more class rank points than a 100 in a regular class.

There are some top students who may suffer from this open-entry policy rather than being in a more selective and rigorous environment, but those are the type of students who 1--will independently study to get where they need to be, and 2--aren't all that common in comprehensive high schools in DISD due to the effects of the magnets and privates.

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by theloneranger

The district doesn't see it as a waste, they see it as offering kids opportunity. Many/most of the kids taking AP tests in DISD would not even be permitted in AP classes in other districts. The district expects all kids in AP classes to take the tests, and many students register for AP classes in everything, even their weaker subjects, because even getting a 78 in an AP class gets the student more class rank points than a 100 in a regular class.

There are some top students who may suffer from this open-entry policy rather than being in a more selective and rigorous environment, but those are the type of students who 1--will independently study to get where they need to be, and 2--aren't all that common in comprehensive high schools in DISD due to the effects of the magnets and privates.

I understand why they do it, I just personally disagree with it, the same way I disagree with the class rank issue you raise. You can call any class you'd like "AP" but if you routinely produce zero students who are capable of passing the exams, it's AP in name only.