To: Rep. McKell, M.,
Subject: Utah State Office of Education News Release: Utah Public Schools Again Increase Participation, Diversity on AP; Participation Down, but Scores Up Again on SAT Exam
Date: 2014-10-08T15:56:07Z
Attachments: image001.jpg , image002.jpg , OPO_UT.pdf , OPO_UT_PUB.pdf , 2014HSSummary.pdf , AP&SATScores.pdf , Body:
Note: Attachments include a formatted version of this news release, one-page overviews of AP and SAT scores and participation of both Utah public schools and all Utah schools (public and private) and a list of individual public high school student participation and scores. College Board does not furnish USOE with scores from individual private high schools. Scores are not included for high schools with five or fewer participants.
October 8, 2014
Contact: Mark Peterson, public relations director
801-538-7635 · mark.peterson@schools.utah.gov
Utah Public Schools Again Increase Participation, Diversity on AP;
Participation Down, but Scores Up Again on SAT Exam
SALT LAKE CITY – A total of 21,600 Utah public school students – a 5 percent increase over the previous year – took advanced placement (AP) exams in 2014 while maintaining last year’s 67 percent rate of earning college credit on those exams, according to College Board data. The College Board also noted Utah’s average SAT scores increased in reading, math and writing in 2014, but just 959 public school students took the test, a decrease of 8.1 percent.
Diversity also increased on AP exams in Utah including a 20.8 percent increase in Mexican American student participation, an 8.2 percent increase in black student participation and a 5.9 percent increase in Asian student participation. White student participation increased 3.5 percent. Only American Indian student participation decreased. That was by 12.8 percent or 14 students.
Utah public school students scored a 3, 4 or 5 on the AP exams – good enough to earn college credit – at a rate of 67 percent, comparted to the national rate of 57 percent.
“The really good news here is that in comparable demographics – students who are college bound – Utah’s public school students are performing consistently well,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joel Coleman. “About a quarter of our graduating seniors earn college credit through AP while in high school. Another 27,000 students – probably with some overlap – earn college credit through concurrent enrollment. Both AP and concurrent enrollment participants are looking more and more like our public schools as a whole and this bodes well for our future.”
The College Board also reported that 84 fewer Utah public school students took SAT college entrance exam in 2014, but the mean scores in reading were up 4 points to 598, math mean scores up 7 points to 594 and writing mean scores up 4 points to 573. Comparative national scores were 492 in reading (flat), 501 in math (down 2 points) and 478 in writing (also down 2 points). Utah SAT participation is waning as all students now take the ACT exam.
More information: https://www.collegeboard.org/program-results.
Top 10 Utah Public High Schools for AP Participation
School Test Takers
Davis High School, Kaysville 800
Skyline High School, Holladay 688
Hillcrest High School, Midvale 665
Lone Peak High School, Highland 651
Park City High School, Park City 566
Alta High School, Sandy 450
Brighton High School, Cottonwood Heights 443
Bountiful High School, Bountiful 425
Copper Hills High School, West Jordan 425
East High School, Salt Lake City 417
Top 10 Utah Public Schools for AP Passing Rate
School % Tests 3, 4, or 5
Cedar City High School, Cedar City 89.4
Davis High School, Kaysville 87.6
Bountiful High School, Bountiful 85.5
Sky View High School, Smithfield 83.9
Olympus Junior High School, Holladay 83.6
Brighton High School, Cottonwood Heights 82.5
NUAMES, Layton 81.7
Timpanogos High School, Orem 80.8
Olympus High School, Holladay 80.7
Mountain View High School, Orem 80.4
Top 10 Utah Public High Schools for SAT Participation
School Test Takers
Skyline High School, Holladay 116
West High School, Salt Lake City 91
Park City High School, Park City 68
Hillcrest High School, Midvale 39
Olympus High School, Holladay 38
Davis High School, Kaysville 37
Brighton High School, Cottonwood Heights 26
Alta High School, Sandy 23
Timpview High School, Provo 19
Bingham High School, South Jordan 17
Highland High School, Salt Lake City 17
Top 10 Utah Public High Schools for SAT Total Average Mean Score
School Score
Utah County Academy of Sciences, Orem 1980
Logan High School, Logan 1918
Timpview High School, Provo 1918
West High School, Salt Lake City 1905
Lone Peak High School, Highland 1894
Bountiful High School, Bountiful 1890
Orem High School, Orem 1866
Hillcrest High School, Midvale 1850
Davis High School, Kaysville 1848
Provo High School, Provo 1848