Badin High School students continued to do well on the national Advanced Placement Tests that measure the performance of students taking college-level classes during the 2020-21 school year.

On a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest, a score of 3 on an AP test is typically sufficient to earn college credit in state schools and other institutions based on their parameters.

Badin High students averaged 3.12 on 265 tests taken by students enrolled in 13 AP courses during the 2020-21 school year. Some 70 percent of the tests were scored at the level of 3 or higher, eclipsing Badin’s five-year average of 67 percent that were 3 or higher.

“We did well,” said Patrick Keating, Badin’s assistant principal for academics. “Our total number of tests were down a bit because we added some College Credit Plus (CCP) courses that students took instead of AP classes. But this was overall a very strong performance, particularly when you factor in the effect of the pandemic on the school year.”

Badin students did especially well in U.S. Government and Biology. Of 45 U.S. Government AP tests taken, 84.4 percent of the students scored a 3 or better, with an average of 3.69. In Biology, of 35 AP tests taken, 82.9 percent of the scores were 3 or better, with an average of 3.29.

The Advanced Placement testing organization has done away with previous designations of National AP Scholar and other awards as not appropriate for the high school experience.

We’ve been involved in the AP program for the last two decades,” Keating said, “and our top students have met the challenge that comes with college-level classroom expectations. This most recent data shows us that they continue to do very well in handling the material.”