District report shows higher AP enrollment

More students at Burbank and John Burroughs high schools enrolled in Advanced Placement courses last year than they did the previous year, a welcome trend to school officials who say they’ve opened up students’ access to the classes, officials say.

Seventy-six more students enrolled in AP classes during the 2015-16 school year compared to the year before, according to John Paramo, director of secondary education for Burbank Unified.

Paramo shared the data with the Burbank school board during a recent meeting, saying that when he first started working as an assistant principal in Burbank Unified about a decade ago, students were required to take more prerequisite courses before they could enroll in an AP class.

“We’ve opened this door considerably and our students are performing. They are rising up to that challenge,” Paramo said.

In all, 1,218 students at Burbank and Burroughs high schools took a total of 2,793 AP exams during the last school year.

In the 2014-15 school year, 1,142 students were enrolled in AP classes and tested on 2,691 exams.

Paramo also noted that students earning Bs and Cs in their other coursework are succeeding in AP classes and on the exams.

“There are many districts that do not have as open a door as we do,” said school board President Larry Applebaum. “We have really gone from being extraordinarily restrictive to being one of the most liberal and open districts that I can think of.”

In one example of that access, students who are in the 10th grade can enroll in an AP European history course in Burbank Unified, whereas other districts may not allow students to take that course until they they have reached their junior year.

Collectively, 66% of John Burroughs students earned a passing score of 3 or better during the last school year.

Meanwhile, 62% of the students at Burbank High School achieved the same, Paramo said.

He said that the courses with students’ greatest participation include U.S. history, English language and composition, calculus AB and psychology.

AP chemistry is a course that has proved challenging for students, he added.

At Burbank High, 24% of students who took that chemistry course passed during the last school year, down from the 30% who achieved the same the year prior.

Paramo said that at John Burroughs, not enough students signed up for the district to offer the class last year, but the school is providing the class this year.

Students are also counseled about the rigor of AP courses prior to signing up.

“We don’t want to set them up for failure,” Paramo said.

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Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com

Twitter: @kellymcorrigan