Tag: PGCPS

AP Exam Participation Increases, 40% of All Passing Exams Are from Eleanor Roosevelt HS

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by Genevieve Demos Kelley

Over a six year period, Prince George’s County has made small but significant gains in performance on Advanced Placement exams. The percentage of AP exams receiving a score of 3, 4, or 5 in 2014 is virtually identical to what it was in 2008 and slightly higher than it was in 2013: 27.5% in 2008, 26.3% in 2013, 27% in 2014. However, over the same time period, the percentage of 9th-12th grade students taking an AP exam has steadily increased from 11.4% in 2008 to 16.8% in 2014. This represents a 47% increase in the participation rate and a 25% increase in the raw number of students taking AP exams. This is certainly good news for the county: a comparable passing rate with a much larger percentage of participating students.

The percentage of exams receiving a score of 3, 4, or 5 (usually considered to be passing scores) is still much lower than national and state averages. By a large margin, the passing rate for AP Foreign Language exams (73.7% in 2014) exceeded that of all other subject categories.

Of the 23 high schools in the county sytem, only Eleanor Roosevelt High School’s AP exam passing rate (63.3%) equaled or exceeded the Maryland state average (61%). Eleanor Roosevelt HS accounts for 40% of all exams in PGCPS receiving a grade of 3, 4, or 5.

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Laurel HS Teacher Testifies at Board of Education about PARCC Testing

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The following was presented as a public comment at the Prince George’s County Board of Education meeting on March 26, 2015. The views expressed are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Prince George’s County Advocates for Better Schools.


Good evening. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak tonight.

I am Cheryl Davis and have been involved in education for over 25 years.  I am an English teacher at Laurel High School (with 13 years of experience teaching Advanced Placement English); I have been a business writing consultant; I have been an adjunct professor; and I have even been a home and hospital teacher. This year and last, I have seen more disruption in the education of my students–caused by  poor Common Core Standards implementation and unreasonable testing requirements–than I have in over two decades  of teaching. Continue reading →

Graduation Rate in PGCPS Improves to Record High

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by Genevieve Demos Kelley

The overall four-year graduation rate has increased by 2.47 percentage points to 76.59%, the highest graduation rate on record, according to this PGCPS press release. The improvement builds on a gain of 1.25 percentage points made the previous year. Seven high schools saw gains of three or more percentage points in their graduation rates. Central High School made the largest gain with an increase of 8.72 percentage points.

The dropout rate for the four-year adjusted cohort is 16.73%, down from 18.50% in 2013 and 19.53% in 2013.

The PGCPS graduation rate is still well below the Maryland state average of 86.39%, but four schools met or exceeded the state average: Bowie High School, Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Gwynn Park High School and Charles Herbert Flowers High School.

In an August 2014 news release, it was announced that online credit recovery would be made available at all high schools in an effort to boost graduation rates.