This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah's minority high school students are taking Advanced Placement tests in greater numbers.
Last year, the number of Mexican-American students taking the exams to earn college credit jumped 21 percent. Puerto-Rican students' participation spiked by nearly one-fourth. And the number of other Latino students taking the tests climbed by nearly 9 percent.
Those increases combined to make the 2014 class of Utah public school students taking and passing the AP tests larger and more diverse, according to data released Wednesday.
Overall, Latino students made up 1,500 of those taking the tests last spring.
"That is great news," said Mark Peterson, Utah State Office of Education spokesman.
A total of 34,029 exams were taken by 21,600 students in Utah, an increase of 2.4 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively, according to College Board, the private organization that administers the AP program.
Participation by all Utah ethnic groups tracked by College Board increased in 2014, with the exception of American Indian students, whose test-taking fell by 12.8 percent, or 14 students.
Most Utah students passed their tests. Of all tests taken, 67 percent earned a score of 3, 4 or 5 — the scores required to earn college credit — matching the statewide success rate from 2013.
Davis High School in Kaysville had the highest AP participation, with 800 students taking at least one Advanced Placement exam. The school also recorded the state's second-highest success rate, behind Cedar City High School, with 87.6 percent of the AP exams taken at Davis earning a score of 3 or higher.
Nationally, 57 percent of AP test takers earned a score of 3 or higher.
"We have veteran teachers that have been teaching AP for a long time, so they're very comfortable and vested in the AP program," Davis High School Principal Richard Swanson said.
Swanson credited his school's success to the efforts of both students and teachers, as well as a culture in Davis School District that encourages college preparation. He said in recent years there has been a push to get students thinking about their future in early grades and many of the district's junior high schools now offer AP courses in environmental science and human geography.
"Every year we're looking to recruit and bring in kids that we think can have success and do a good job within those classes," he said.
Hillcrest High School in Midvale also was among the Top 10 schools in the state for test takers, with 665 students participating in an AP exam in 2014. Principal Susan Malone said that even if a student fails to earn college credit from the exam, participating in the Advanced Placement program is a valuable introduction to the expectations of higher education.
"Just by going through that experience of taking an advanced-level college curriculum course, I think, can really set you apart in being better prepared," she said.
In a prepared statement, interim State Superintendent Joel Coleman said the rise in students earning college credit during high school shows that Utah students, overall, are increasingly college bound.
"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," he said.
College Board also released data on SAT participation, which continued to decline in Utah. A total of 959 Utah public school students took the SAT, earning mean scores above the national average.
Utah students have traditionally preferred the ACT, a rival college readiness exam, and recent legislation provided funding for all Utah high school students to take the ACT for free.
Peterson said the ubiquity of the ACT in Utah and the growing use of the ACT by colleges and universities throughout the nation has likely contributed to declining interesting in the SAT.
"The ACT is nearly universally accepted," he said. "The SAT still tends to be (used by) the bicoastal schools."
Top Utah schools by number of AP test takers
Davis High School: 800
Skyline High School: 688
Hillcrest High School: 665
Lone Peak High school: 651
Park City High School: 566
Alta High School: 450
Brighton High School: 443
Bountiful High School: 425
Copper Hills High School: 425
East High School: 417
Top Utah schools by AP passing rate
Cedar City High School: 89.4 percent
Davis High School: 87.6 percent
Bountiful High School: 85.5 percent
Sky View High School: 83.9 percent
Olympus Junior High School: 83.6 percent
Brighton High School: 82.5 percent
NUAMES, Layton: 81.7 percent
Timpanogos High School: 80.8 percent
Olympus High School: 80.7 percent
Mountain View High School: 80.4 percent