Life on Himes 10 JESUIT PERSPECTIVES • FALL 2016 AP Distinction Jesuit’s Advanced Placement Program Sets New Marks his past school year was another extraordinary one for Jesuit High School’s Advanced Placement (AP) program, with record-setting results across the board. In July, the school announced its highestever pass rate, 84%, on the AP exams taken this May, while also continuing the tremendous growth and expansion of the AP program. During the 2015-16 school year, Jesuit offered more AP courses (20) with more students enrolled in AP than ever before – 346 students taking 693 exams. An amazing fi ve AP courses at Jesuit earned perfect 100% pass rates, and two others were near-perfect (99% and 98%). “Once more, our AP scores refl ect the commitment of our teachers and students to academic excellence,” said Debbie Pacheco, Jesuit’s assistant principal for academics. “As we continue to expand our AP program and become more inclusive, our scores continue to increase. I could not be more proud.” The 100% pass rates were achieved in the two AP art classes taught by Kevin Ball ’03 (Art: 2-D and Studio Art: Drawing); the two AP math courses taught by Molly Biebel (Calculus AB and Calculus BC); and in AP Psychology taught by Bill Eggert ’77. In AP testing, scores are reported on a 5-point scale, with a score of 3 or better considered passing. American colleges and universities typically grant placement and course credit to students who obtain high scores on the examinations. Jesuit’s AP results compare favorably to national and state averages. Of all AP tests taken nationally last year, 57.5% earned a passing score (3 or better). Of all AP tests taken in Florida in 2015, 50.4% earned a passing score. Jesuit’s AP Psychology and Calculus scores are particularly outstanding. Last year was the fi rst AP Psychology was offered at Jesuit, and Eggert taught three sections, with every student passing the AP exam. The two AP Calculus courses achieved the highest average score of any Jesuit AP course. Calculus AB students averaged 4.9, and Calculus BC students averaged 4.8. Of the 50 students who took either Calculus AB or Calculus BC, 46 earned the highest possible score of 5. Human Geography, taught by Vindri Gajadhar and Jesuit’s lone AP course for freshmen, achieved a 99% pass rate, a year after earning a 98% pass rate. AP English Language, taught by Greg Malafronte ’05, had a 98% pass rate in 2015-16, after scoring a 100% the year before. Among the other very high AP exam pass rates at Jesuit this past school year are Statistics (95% - teacher April Bombka), Chemistry (94% - teacher Debbie Pacheco), Spanish Language (92% - teacher Juan Cruz), English Literature (88% - teacher Paul Davis), Biology (86% - teacher Amy Martin), and Latin (83% - teacher Nick Werner). These exemplary results are occurring as Jesuit has signifi cantly expanded its AP offerings and vastly increased AP enrollment in recent years: • The 693 exams taken by Jesuit students in 2016 is a 62% increase over 2014 (429). • The 346 students enrolled in AP courses in 2016 is a 65% increase over 2014 (224). • The 20 AP courses offered in 2016 is four more than last year (16 in 2015) and more than double seven years ago, 2009, when Jesuit offered 9 AP courses. Jesuit’s AP test protocol maintains the integrity of the school’s pass-rate data, since all enrolled AP students at Jesuit must take the AP exam in that course. (Some schools allow students in AP courses to opt out of the AP test.) For the 2016-17 school year, Jesuit is continuing its Advanced Placement development with the implementation of AP Capstone, an innovative program offered by fewer than 2% of high schools nationwide that allows students to develop the research, collaboration, and communication skills vital to future success, and to earn an AP Capstone Diploma. O Vindri Gajadhar’s AP Geography course for freshmen had a 99% pass rate T Advanced Placement at Jesuit 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 AP courses 11 12 14 16 20 Students enrolled 145 189 224 333 351 # of AP exams taken 247 327 429 635 711 Pass Rate 62% 73% 81% 77% 84%
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