More Low-Income Students Taking AP Classes

But Participation Among Black Students Still Lags, Report Finds

More students from low-income families are taking and passing Advanced Placement tests, but non-Asian minority students—particularly African-Americans—are still underrepresented, according to a report on the tests of college-level material released last week.

The fifth annual report on AP scores was released Feb. 4 by the College Board, the New York City-based nonprofit organization that sponsors the program. In the graduating class of 2008, it shows, 17 percent of the students who took the exams were from low-income families, up from 16.2 percent in the class of 2007 and 11.6 percent in the class of 2003.

"Major initiatives are needed to ensure adequate preparation of students in middle school [and] 9th and 10th grades so that all students will have an equitable chance at success when they go on to take AP courses and exams later in high...