Study: Fewer Black, Latino Students Are Taking AP Exam

Study: Fewer Black, Latino Students Are Taking AP Exam

WASHINGTON -- A new analysis of test-taking data finds that no female, African American or Hispanic students took the Advanced Placement exam in computer science in Mississippi or Montana. Education Week reports that in 11 states no black students took the exam at all, and in eight states no Hispanic students registered for the test. AP is overseen by the College Board, data from which was compiled by Barbara Ericson, computing outreach director and a senior research scientist at Georgia Tech. Though the College Board notes on its website that in 2013 about 30,000 students took the AP exam for computer science, Ericson’s research found that less than 20 percent of those students were female, about 3 percent were African American, and 8 percent were Latino. In the 47 states where girls took the computer science exam, the percentage of female test-takers ranged from about 4 percent (in Utah) to 29 percent (in Tennessee).

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