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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend February 16, 2006 South Medford High School students, from left, sophomore Kelly Rotbart, senior Kosta Horaites and junior Nick Card talk about the advantages of taking Advanced Placement classes. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Advanced Placement Students can get a leg up on college by passing AP courses in high school By PARIS ACHEN Mail Tribune Senior Kosta Horaites could graduate this year from South Medford High School with more than a year of college credits under his belt if he went to a large public university. But the valedictorian contender who has taken eight Advanced Placement courses is vying to get into the Ivy League. Brown, Stanford or Yale universities are on his list. "Yale and Stanford won’t necessarily give you credit for AP classes, but the classes will bring up your chances of being accepted," Kosta said. The percentage of high school students mastering AP exams — those achieving scores of 3 to 5 — rose nationwide from 13.2 percent to 14.1 percent between 2004 and 2005, according to an annual report by the College Board. Advertisement Oregon had a 17.7 percent jump in the number of pupils mastering AP exams between 2004 and 2005, the highest increase in the nation. Participation in AP courses in Oregon and the number of those taking exams also increased, by 19.6 percent and 23 percent respectively. "We’re seeing an increase in the number of people taking and passing the exams," said Andrea Morgan, education specialist at the Oregon Department of Education. "But we are still behind the nation in participation. We don’t give as many exams. We don’t have as many courses." Scores of 3 to 5 on an AP exam can earn a pupil as many as eight college credits, depending on what university he or she attends. An increase in awareness about the academic and economic advantages of AP classes and teacher training grants have fueled the AP upsurge in Oregon, Morgan said. "Research shows students who take AP are more likely to go to college, stay in college and graduate on time," she said. "It increases as they take more exams and get successful scores on the exams, but just being in the classes helps kids succeed in college." AP courses are among the primary criteria the most selective colleges consider in admissions, said Greg Jost, AP coordinator at South Medford High School. "AP exams are the greatest predictor of student success in college, greater than the SAT exam," Jost said. Those who get college credits for the exam stand to save hundreds to thousands of dollars in college tuition. At the seven major universities in the Oregon University System, eight credits can cost between $1,200 and $1,400, compared to $82 for an AP exam. The state has led the effort to jump-start AP participation by acquiring regional and federal grants for the past four years to pay for training teachers to be able to teach AP classes, Morgan said. About 40 teachers receive the training each year through the grant, she said. "It’s been a fairly small investment (about $1 million per year), but it has had some pretty dramatic results," Morgan said. "It’s encouraging that Oregon kids have met the challenge, and teachers have been working hard to support the students." Some school districts also pay for teacher training in AP coursework. Another factor contributing to the increase in AP exams is that the state waives the fee for low-income students. Some states, such as Florida, pay for all students to take AP exams as well as cover teacher training. "We don’t have that kind of state support," Morgan said. In Jackson County, schools that did not offer AP classes one to four years ago, such as Phoenix and Eagle Point high schools, recently have launched programs. Butte Falls and Prospect are the only districts in the county that don’t offer AP classes. Schools with longtime AP programs, such as Ashland, North Medford and South Medford high schools, report climbing enrollments in AP classes and better scores. "I think the better scores are a reflection of the teacher’s experience in teaching the course," Jost said. The College Board sends an annual report to each high school on students’ performance on AP exams. However, most schools and districts in Jackson County don’t track the AP test results from year to year, so reports of progress are mostly anecdotal. "Because it’s such a small percentage and the typical kids in AP courses are going to be successful in life, we spend more energy on making sure the students who are struggling are successful," said Doug Jantzi, Medford secondary education director. Students say schools still don’t do enough to inform pupils about AP opportunities. "You don’t hear, ‘You need to take AP classes. They are good for you,’ even though they are," said Kelly Rotbart, a sophomore at South Medford High School. Kelly said most students at the high school don’t know they can take AP Government class as a sophomore. "If my brother hadn’t taken it as a sophomore, I wouldn’t have known," she said. Nick Card, a junior at South Medford High School, said some teachers will encourage students who perform well in class to take AP courses. "I personally would like to see more encouragement," he said. Reach reporter Paris Achen at 776-4459 or e-mail Advanced Placement ">[email protected] . 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