Advanced Placement Participation Grows

College Board Also Finds That More Students Show Master on Tests

The proportion of high school students demonstrating mastery of Advanced Placement courses has increased since 2000, as has the proportion of students taking such courses, according to a report on the college-level program released last week.

The College Board, the New York City-based organization that administers the program, said 13.2 percent of the students in the class of 2004 demonstrated college-level mastery of an AP course in high school, defined as scoring a 3 or higher on the AP test’s 5-point scale.

For the class of 2000, 10.2 percent of students scored 3 or higher. Many colleges offer academic credit for scores of 3 or higher, although some require a score of 4 or 5...