Pomona, Walnut Unified Named to 2011 AP Achievement List

The Pomona Unified School District has announced that it is one of 388 schools nationwide named to the 2011 Advanced Placement Achievement List by the College Board.

The Walnut Valley Unified School District was also named to this list.

According to the College Board, the award is granted to districts that both increase access to AP courses — which aim to provide college-level instruction to high school students — and also maintain or improve the rate of students passing AP exams in those subjects.

According to a press release from the PUSD, nearly 200 more students partcipated in AP classes districtwide from 2008 to 2010 and the number of students passing exams with a 3 increased from 40 percent to 41 percent over the same period of time.

"This is the result of a very intentional effort on our part to increase academic rigor at our high schools," Superintendent Richard Martinez said. 

According to state data provided at kidsdata.org, the percentage of students in the PUSD completing college preparatory courses more than doubled between 1998 and 2008.

In 1998, the district had only 11.1 percent of students passing courses required for the University of California or Cal State schools, which was 30 percent below the average level for Los Angeles County.

In 2008, the district surpassed the county rate with 33.8 percent of students passing college preparatory classes with a grade of C or above.

A total of 37 districts from California were recognized by the College Board on this list.

PUSD was also recognized in this list for having more than 50 percent of its AP student population composed of American Indian, African American, and Hispanic/Latino students, which the College Board identifies as historically underserved populations.

The complete list of schools named to this year's AP Achievement List is available online.