Put studies to the test

Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008 | 2:06 a.m.

School Board member Carolyn Edwards is proposing a requirement that common sense dictates should be in place.

Edwards says all students enrolled in Advanced Placement courses should take the final exams associated with those courses. Her proposal is a response to the fact that about 30 percent of Clark County students enrolled in AP courses do not take the exams.

The AP program, which offers college-level courses to high school juniors and seniors, is administered by the nonprofit College Board in cooperation with local districts.

Exams are given in May and the results are not available until mid-July, weeks after local districts have given students their grades. This is why AP exams are optional in Clark County and many other school districts across the country.

Yet this is not an insurmountable barrier. Many districts, including those in Nevada’s Douglas and Washoe counties, make taking the exam a requirement.

Las Vegas Sun reporter Emily Richmond, in a story in Friday’s paper, wrote about a major study undertaken last year of college students in Texas.

The study found that students who had taken AP courses and who had taken the exams were more likely to graduate on time and with higher grades than students who had taken the courses but skipped the exams.

The likely reason for this is that if students know the exams are mandatory, they will be more apt to fully apply themselves during their classes.

There is only one drawback to taking the exams — they cost $84 each. Many families, especially those with two or more children in school, cannot afford this. And as Richmond reported, the district’s budget for subsidizing the exam is not big enough to meet the demand.

We agree with Edwards’ proposal. If the board adopts it as policy, however, it should find a way to make it affordable for families with financial hardships.