Washington, Kennedy high schools top Iowa AP Index

CEDAR RAPIDS - Students at Washington High in Cedar Rapids take more Advanced Placement exams than any other high schoolers in the state, according to the Iowa AP Index released Wednesday.

The index - from the University of Iowa College of Education's Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development - measures school participation in Advanced Placement.

'AP has historically been kind of considered the gold standard for rigorous coursework at the high school level,” said Kristin Flanary, the administrator for the Iowa AP Online Academy in the Belin-Blank Center.

'It's recognized by colleges nationwide.”

This is the eighth year in a row Washington High, 2205 Forest Dr. SE, has placed first. Its index score of 3.35 was calculated by dividing the number of AP exams taken at the school by its number of graduates.

Kennedy High, 4545 Wenig Rd. NE, was third on the list with an index score of 2.85.

Other top-50 area schools and their rankings include Regina High, Iowa City (6); West High, Iowa City (7); City High, Iowa City (12); Linn-Mar High, Marion (16); Jefferson High, Cedar Rapids (29); Prairie High, Cedar Rapids (34) and Xavier High, Cedar Rapids (40).

More than 19,780 AP exams were taken by Iowa students last year. About 63 percent of those exams received a passing score - 3 out of 5 or higher. Nationally, the percentage of passing AP exams was 57.5 percent.

'When students choose to pursue AP classes, Iowa students do really well on them compared to the national average,” Flanary said.