GoBigEd

Posted 9:12 AM by Susan Darst Williams

WE CAN ONLY BEAT A FEW BUBBAS?
LET'S BE CLEAR:
NEBRASKA SUCKS ON ADVANCED PLACEMENT

Dang. Too bad. But Nebraska's national rankings on Advanced Placement course measurements released Tuesday by the College Board (www.collegeboard.com) are downright awful:

-- Nebraska kids ranked second to last in the percentage of high-school students who took an AP exam last year, ahead of only the Bubbas in Louisiana, and for the second year in a row.

--Only 9.3% of Nebraska's 2006 graduates took an AP exam, compared to the national average of 24.2%.

-- Only 5.8% of Nebraska's graduates scored a "3" or better on the exams. That's 62% of those few Nebraska kids who did take an AP test. That means four out of 10 of those who tried, failed. And it's probable that lots more kids took the AP classes but elected not to take the year-end exam for fear of failing it. You can get college credit with a "3" at so-so colleges. But most of the better colleges give credit only for a score of "4" or "5." So the stats are even worse than they appear.

-- About that 5.8% success rate: only the Bubbas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama did worse in the scoring and attainment of college credit than Nebraska's kids did.

Just another indication that the opportunities for strong students in Nebraska are pretty paltry in our public schools. Earth to policymakers: how does that look to CEO's who might think about locating their businesses and moving their families to Nebraska?

If I were in charge, heads would roll. But you KNEW that.