THE GAZETTE
Page A-10
Wednesday, December 11, 2013 d
AP test scores show slight decline 2013 marks highest number of exams taken n
BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
Montgomery County students took a record-high number of AP exams but earned a smaller percentage of collegeready scores in 2013 compared to 2012, according to College Board data the school system released Friday. About 17,000 students took about 33,600 AP exams in spring 2013, marking a 2 percent increase in the number of exams from last year when about 16,800 students took about 32,000 exams. This year’s students earned a score of 3 or higher — or a college-ready score — on about 73 percent of their exams, which is two percentage points lower than last year. The exam takers still slightly outdid their peers from 2011 who earned collegeready scores on 71.8 percent of their exams. The test is scored on a range from 1 to 5, and a score of 3 or higher indicates a student is qualified to receive college credit or advanced placement. Maryland students overall earned a 3 or higher on about 60.4 percent of their tests and students across the nation earned college-ready scores on
ERVIN Continued from Page A-1 “Valerie Ervin is a justice politician,” Raskin said. Council President Craig Rice (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown said Ervin has been like a mother to him since he joined the council in 2010. Rice said he can’t thank her enough for all of the ways she’s helped him be a stronger council member. Councilwoman Nancy Navarro (D-Dist. 4) of Silver Spring, who served with Ervin on the council and on the county’s Board of Education before that, said it was Ervin who first encouraged her to run
PEPCO Continued from Page A-1 $60.8 million rate increase request as well as $24 million of a $192 million request for a surcharge. Together, the decision tacked $2.47 a month on the average customer bill starting in July. Disappointing to both Pepco and its opponents, the July ruling is under appeal in Baltimore County Circuit Court. To Pepco’s critics, this lat-
about 57 percent of their tests. School board President Christopher S. Barclay said in an interview that, while it is ideal for students to earn college-ready scores, he sees great benefit in students taking the AP courses and tests to help them prepare for college and beyond. Barclay said he thinks the school system needs to increase AP-course access for more students. It also needs to make sure students are well-prepared in lower-level classes before they enter the high-level AP courses, he said. Superintendent Joshua P. Starr said in a statement he was pleased with the exam results but that there are still “significant gaps in performance.” The percentage of collegeready scores dropped across the school system’s Asian, AfricanAmerican, Hispanic and white student groups but increased slightly for students who identified themselves on the exams as two or more races. The largest drops were seen among African-American and Hispanic students. About 47 percent of AfricanAmerican students’ tests got a score of 3 or higher, which is about 4.8 percentage points lower than last year. Hispanic students earned a college-ready score on 56 percent of their tests — about 4 percentage points lower than
last year. Both African-American and Hispanic students in the county school system, however, have achieved significantly higher percentages of college-ready scores than their peers on the state and national levels in recent years, including this year. Comparatively, white students grabbed college-ready scores on 79.6 percent of their tests this year — a decrease of about 1.7 percentage points from last year. Asian students — with college-ready scores on 78.2 percent of their tests — only saw a slight drop from 78.6 percent last year. AP exam participation increased again this year for both African-American and Hispanic students, continuing an increasing trend in recent years. Hispanic students took 4,253 tests in 2013, a increase of 237 from 4,016 in 2012. AfricanAmerican students took 3,297 tests in 2013 — 191 more than 2012 when they took 3,106 tests. The number of AfricanAmerican students taking AP exams has risen about 31.4 percent since 2008. The number of Hispanic students taking the exams has risen about 78.7 percent in the same amount of time. Hispanic students in nine high schools earned a higher percentage of college-ready scores this year compared to Hispanic students at their schools in 2012.
The first several largest increases occurred at Col. Zadok Magruder with an increase of 12.7 percentage points, John F. Kennedy with an increase of 8.2 percentage points and Damascus with an increase of 6.9 percentage points. The other 16 high schools saw decreased percentages of exams with college-ready scores among Hispanic students. The largest decreases occurred at Springbrook, which dropped 20 percentage points; Sherwood, which dropped 11.5 percentage points; and Albert Einstein, which dropped 11.2 percentage points. In eight high schools, African-American students earned a higher percentage of collegeready scores compared to their peers last year. Damascus students earned an increase of 16 percentage points, Wheaton an increase of 8.5 percentage points and Col. Zadok Magruder an increase of 8.1 percentage points. Except for Walt Whitman, which remained the same, the other high schools saw decreased percentages in the number of college-ready scores African-American students earned. Among the largest decreases, Richard Montgomery saw a decrease of 19.3 percentage points, and both Clarksburg and Wootton saw decreases of 15.9 percentage points.
for the school board. She said she’s happy that Ervin will be going on to another level with the new job. “I cannot think of anyone better than you to lead,” she said. Since the vacancy caused by Ervin’s departure is occurring after Dec. 1 of the year before an election, no special election will be held, County Attorney Marc Hansen said Tuesday. The council will have 30 days to appoint a new member approved by a majority of the remaining members to serve out the rest of Ervin’s term, Hansen said. The new member will have to be a Democrat who lives in
District 5, the same as Ervin, he said. If the council fails to act within 30 days, Leggett will appoint a candidate from a list provided by the county’s Democratic Central Committee, he said. Silver Spring Democrat Evan Glass announced in November that he intends to run for the District 5 council seat. Ervin has been on the council since 2006, and served as president for the 2010-11 term. She serves as chairwoman of the Education Committee and as a member of the Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee. She also served on the Board of Education from 2004
until 2006. She has been a strong advocate over the years for the poor, and was instrumental in making Montgomery the first in the country to have a countywide food recovery network. She called the food recovery network as one of her biggest achievements during her time on the council, as well as a program to provide meals over the summer for low-income children. Earlier this session, Ervin was a co-sponsor on a bill that will increase the county’s minimum wage to $11.50 an hour by 2017.
est request for more money is not surprising. Joseph M. Rigby, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Pepco Holdings Inc., told investors in November it would seek another rate hike. “It just seems to be endless,” said Abbe Milstein of Powerupmontco, a listserv for electric utility issues. “There seems to be no finality because the commission has no control here. The utilities are controlling the commission.” Milstein founded Powerupmontco after the June 2012
derecho left her neighborhood in the dark for eight days. If the past is any indication, a large portion of Pepco’s request should be rejected, Del. Heather Mizeur, a 2014 Democratic gubernatorial candidate, said in a prepared statement. “Pepco’s return on equity should be tied to its performance and Pepco’s performance does not justify an increase,” said Mizeur (D-Dist. 20) of Takoma Park. “Marylanders deserve a commission that protects consumers and holds investor-owned utilities
accountable.” Even though Pepco’s rates have risen with each request, Montgomery County Councilman Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1) of Bethesda, an outspoken critic of the utility, noted that the commission has denied the lion’s share of what it asks for each time. Montgomery County has spent about $360,000 over the last four years fighting rate increases, county spokesman Patrick Lacefield said.
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Professional Services
SINGERS Continued from Page A-1 from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. He is currently earning a master’s of music education at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, and he also sings with the Washington Master Chorale in Washington, D.C., where he also serves as artistic administrator. In 2011 during his first year at Damascus High, the Chamber Singers performed at Riverside Church in New York City, earning a “Gold” rating from the WorldStrides Heritage student performance program that has enabled the Damascus singers to perform at Carnegie Hall in March. They will share the stage with several other high school groups to form one large choir under the direction of conductor Anton Armstrong. “They’re getting to work with musicians other than me,” said Isaac
Diverse program Opening the winter concert is “Heleluyan,” in which the group sings the word “hallelujah” as sung by the Muscogee Indians in the American South. Different sections of singers
WATERSHED Continued from Page A-1 A former land-use lawyer and member of the Planning Board, Floreen chairs the Council’s Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee, which is scheduled to meet Jan. 13 for the first of two work sessions. “The focus will be on the facts and on the science,” she said about the sessions. Floreen said her committee will examine the conflicting environmental studies on the predicted effect of large retail and housing projects on the water quality of Ten Mile Creek. “Environmental issues have come to the forefront, but nevertheless, the master plan calls for [growth],” said Floreen. Several environmental speakers at the hearing asked council members to support independent studies of Ten Mile Creek but Floreen said the job right now is to evaluate existing reports. “I don’t know what we’ll do,” she said about the requests. Joining the PHED committee on Jan. 13 will be the Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee chaired by Councilman Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1) of Bethesda. Berliner and Council President Craig Rice (D-Dist. 5) of Germantown, who represents Clarksburg and Boyds, did not immediately respond to email and calls for comment on Monday. Also members of the PHED committee are Council Vice President George Leventhal (DAt large) and Marc Elrich (D-At Large), both of Takoma Park.
start the song at different times to perform a canon accompanied by a shaker, tambourine and large drum. “It’s a really warm projectopener” said Isaac about the piece. “There are four different groups [creating] one tapestry.” Also on the program is “Northern Lights” by Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo, who lives in New York. The work premiered at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., in 2008. “It’s a fairly difficult piece, but ... the students fell in love with it, and we can’t go back,” said Isaac. Inspired by the shimmering aurora borealis lights above his native Oslo, Gjeilo set the music to Latin text from the Song of Solomon. The Chamber Singers will also sing “Prayer of the Cat,” a song in two parts that is part of Ivor Davies’ “Prayers from the Ark.” The first section features witty lyrics about cats and mice, and the second with an Amen echoes Handel’s “Messiah.” “It’s meant to be fun and light-hearted,” Isaac said. Also on the Chamber Singers list is the English version of an old German song translated into English as “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming.” vterhune@gazette.net. Elrich has previously said that studies support protecting the watershed with limited development. Leventhal said he’s still evaluating the issue. “I’m assessing all the information,” Leventhal wrote in an email on Monday. “I’m not prepared to state my position yet.” The Ten Mile Creek watershed drains into the Little Seneca Lake reservoir, a backup water supply for the Washington, D.C., region in times of drought. Developers cite councilapproved visions for growth in the 1994 master plan. They also claim modern environmental site design techniques will protect the watershed from scouring, siltation and pollution from water running off paved surfaces from new development. But environmentalists assert the environmental techniques are still unproven on a wide scale. They argue that it’s not worth taking the risk of irrevocably harming Montgomery County’s last relatively clean watershed and potentially damaging the reservoir. Environmentalists have also made it clear they are watching how council members vote on the issue during the 2014 election cycle, when many members will be running for another term. Floreen said the pending 2014 County Council elections will not affect her review of the situation. She also said that even if it weren’t an election year, parties on both sides of the issue would be just as adamant about their positions. “I don’t think they’d be any less passionate,” she said. vterhune@gazette.net
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