Paving the Path to Success: A Comparative Analysis of AP and IB Programs in MCPS by School

[ModeratelyMoco]

https://moderatelymoco.com/paving-the-path-to-success-a-comparative-analysis-of-ap-and-ib-programs-in-mcps-by-school/

MCPS Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) Course Numbers by School

Background and Source Data

The number of AP and IB courses offered by high school was analyzed for the years 2020 to 2022.

The numbers are found in the “2022 Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Course Enrollment and Exam Participation and Performance for High School Students in Montgomery County Public Schools” report on the MCPS Office of Shared Accountability web page.

Results and Conclusions

The number of AP, IB, and total AP plus IB courses offered at each school per year is shown.

MCPS offered a total of between 127 and 129 AP and IB courses per year in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Richard Montgomery had the highest number of AP and IB courses each year (77 in 2020, 74 in 2021, 72 in 2022).

All 25 high schools offer AP courses. 8 high schools also offer IB courses.


Table 1. AP and IB courses by school and year
Schools can be divided into 4 groups based on the number of AP and IB courses offered.

50 to 72 courses: Richard Montgomery, Bethesda Chevy Chase, Kennedy, Einstein
40 to 49 courses: Rockville, Springbrook, Seneca Valley, Watkins Mill
30 to 39 courses: Walter Johnson, Wootton, Whitman, Churchill, Quince Orchard, Poolesville
20 to 29 courses: Blair, Blake, Northwest, Clarksburg, Sherwood, Gaithersburg, Damascus, Magruder, Northwood, Paint Branch, Wheaton

AP/IB changes from 2020 to 2022

MCPS offered 129 AP/IB courses in 2020 and 2022. However, most schools showed a decreased number of courses offered in 2022 as compared to 2020.


Table 2. Change in Number of AP/IB courses by school in 2022 vs. 2020
Three schools had an increased number of AP/IB courses in 2022 (Seneca Valley with 5, Paint Branch with 3, and Kennedy with 1). 22 schools had a decreased number of AP/IB courses, with the biggest decreases at Springbrook (8 fewer courses) and Blair (7 fewer courses).

AP Course Changes from 2020 to 2022

AP and IB courses were examined separately. MCPS offered 6 fewer AP courses in 2022 as compared to 2020. Most schools showed a decrease in AP courses offered in 2022 vs. 2020.


Table 3. Change in Number of AP courses by school in 2022 vs. 2020
Three schools had increases in AP course offerings (Paint Branch with 3, Watkins Mill with 2, and Kennedy with 1). Bethesda Chevy Chase and Seneca Valley had no change. The other 20 schools had decreases in AP course offerings, the largest decreases were at Blair and Einstein (7 fewer) and Damascus (6 fewer).


IB Course Changes from 2020 to 2022

MCPS increased IB course offerings from 70 in 2020 to 76 in 2022.


Table 4. Change in Number of IB courses by school in 2022 vs. 2020
Two of the 8 schools offering IB courses showed increases in course offerings in 2022 (Seneca Valley with an additional 5 and Einstein with 1). Kennedy had no change. Five schools showed decreased offerings in 2022 (Springbrook 7, Bethesda Chevy Chase 5, Watkins Mill 3, Richard Montgomery 1, Rockville 1).

Conclusion

Decreases in the AP and IB courses offered may reflect lessened interest of students in these courses, especially for the traditionally less popular or highly specialized courses. It may also reflect decreased enrollment of students, especially in grades 11 and 12, since more juniors and seniors than freshmen and sophomores typically take these classes.

[Anonymous]

It would be interesting if you normalized the data by school population. Some of the smaller schools might rank higher.

Also - AP captures # of test takers by test at a school I believe. Asking the question of what % of students are taking AP courses at each high school gives an indication of school support and preparation for rigor. Just capturing some of the “easier” APs that have a high number of test takers (Gov, Comp Sci, APUSH, Lang, Spanish, Stat, APES) would be insightful.