According to a report from Education Week, despite the number of students taking the AP computer exam increasing 24 percent from last year, three states had zero girls take the exam and nine states had no African-American students.

In Mississippi, Montana and Wyoming, not one girl and not one African-American took the AP computer science exam last year, according to data released from the tests’ administrator- the College Board.

In ten states, fewer than ten girls sat on the exam while fewer than ten African-American students did the same in 23 states.

On the bright side, that isn’t to say that the girls who are taking the exam are faring poorly. In Iowa, 24 girls took the exam and 100 percent of them passed.

In Alaska, Iowa, Kansas and Wisconsin, girls were more likely to pass than boys.

For African-America students, the pass rate went up from 33 percent in 2014 to 38 percent in 2015, though still being the lowest pass rate for any other racial subgroup.”

Also “[n]otably, Mississippi has the highest population of African-Americans—about half of the state's high school graduates last year were black, according to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. Yet of the five AP computer science test-takers, all were white or Asian and male.”

Read the full story here.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

11/06/2015