Give These Schools Credit

Kudos are in order for North Hollywood High School and Van Nuys High School, both in the San Fernando Valley, for their showing in the 1993 Advanced Placement tests.

Students who take the AP exams have completed rigorous advanced placement courses and can be tested in 24 different subjects areas. Those who receive the equivalent of a 3 or higher on a 5-point grading scale for the exams receive college credit for their work, enabling them to skip certain courses as college freshmen.

For its part, Van Nuys High administered 625 of the rigorous tests, more than any other high school campus in the Los Angeles Unified School District. It also offered tests in the greatest number of subject categories (21 out of 24), and its students scored at the highest levels in 20 of those subjects. Most of those taking the test at Van Nuys were enrolled in its math/science and medical magnet programs.

North Hollywood High School ranked third among Los Angeles district schools in the number of AP exams administered and in the number of subject areas covered. Its students recorded scores as high as those at Van Nuys in most of the subjects tested.

Nationwide, less than 63% of all students who took AP exams this year did well enough on them to obtain college credit. The success rate in California was 65.5%.

One measure of a school’s success--and that of the district in which it is located--is its ability to challenge students who are gifted or highly motivated. Van Nuys and North Hollywood high schools appear to have answered that call in admirable style.