CCSD Students Improve Advanced Placement Scores

CANTON, GA — High school students in the Cherokee County School District improved their performance on College Board Advanced Placement exams in 2018, with 74 percent of students scoring a 3 or higher, up from 71 percent in 2017. Across the district's six high schools, 2,495 students took 4,771 exams this year.

The exams are administered during a two-week period in May, and students received their individual scores in July. The College Board released national and state summary data on the exams this week, which showed the pass rate for Georgia increased from 59 to 60 percent, and the national rate increased from 58 to 59 percent. AP exams are scored on a scale of 1 to 5, and scores of 3, 4 or 5 are eligible for college credit consideration.

“AP courses are the most rigorous courses offered at the high school level, and these students challenged themselves to aim for the highest bar,” said CCSD Superintendent Dr. Brian Hightower. “I am extremely proud of their dedication, and I am also proud of our AP teachers for providing the college-level instruction needed to ensure their students could succeed on the national exams. AP achievement makes it possible for students to start college with a semester or more of credit, which is a huge time and cost savings.”

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Most students take an exam at the end of an affiliated AP course at their high school. While offerings vary at each school, Cherokee County high schools offer a minimum of 20 AP courses, with 32 of the 36 national curriculum courses available in the district, plus research and seminar options.

CCSD also had 787 students recognized by the College Board as AP Scholar award winners, honoring students who score consistently high across multiple exams. Students can earn honors in four categories:

• AP Scholar: scoring a 3 or higher on 3 or more exams
• AP Scholar with Honor: average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on 4 or more exams
• AP Scholar with Distinction: average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on 5 or more exams
• National AP Scholar: average score of at least 4 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 4 or higher on 8 or more exams.

You can view the list of AP Scholar honorees by each school by visiting CCSD's website.