Editorial: Advanced Placement - WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.

Editorial: Advanced Placement

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Alabama ranks number one in the nation in an education metric and it is a big one - advanced placement progress.

In the first year of a targeted expansion initiative, a group of Alabama high schools increased passing scores on AP tests by 81 percent.

Congratulations to the students at the four Montgomery high schools -  Brewtech, Robert E. Lee, Booker T. Washington Magnet and Loveless Academic magnet - who increased AP exam success by 62 percent.  

This will help reverse an unsettling metric from college entrance exam administrators who say  only one of every six students who graduated from Alabama high schools this year was adequately prepared for college-level work in English, math, science and social studies.   

We applaud other initiatives this school year in Montgomery public schools that should help as well:   Every middle and junior high school will be part of the pre-AP program.  Mentoring programs will begin in five junior high schools.  Five of seven career academies will begin operating.  Jefferson Davis High School will join the other area schools in the AP expansion initiative.  Jeff Davis has already boosted enrollment in AP math, science and English from 82 to 188.

Montgomery public school enrollment increased by more than 400 students this year.

Continued focus on improved curriculum should keep those numbers rising.