Maryland Achieves Seventh Straight Year of Leading the Nation in Top Scoresย 

Governor Martin Oโ€™Malley today released the following statement after the College Board announced that Maryland students have achieved yet another number one national ranking in Advanced Placement (AP) success.ย 

โ€œBecause of the better choices weโ€™ve made together to invest in our childrenโ€™s future, weโ€™ve built the #1 public schools in the nation,โ€ said Governor Oโ€™Malley. โ€œThanks to our hardworking students, our dedicated educators and our outstanding parents, Marylandโ€™s high school students have achieved the nationโ€™s best performance on AP exams for seven years in a row โ€“ outperforming their peers and gaining the skills they need to learn, earn and grow in the future.

โ€œThe most important investments we make as a people are investments in public education.ย  Even in the toughest times, weโ€™ve chosen to increase school funding 45% since 2006. Those investments are giving our principals, our teachers and our students the resources to continue to lead the nation in graduation rates, student achievement and the highest participation rate in AP science, technology, engineering and math exams in our stateโ€™s history.โ€

According to the College Boardโ€™s โ€œAnnual AP Report to the Nation,โ€ the percentage of Maryland seniors who earned a score of 3 or higher on one or more AP exams reached 28.6 in 2012, the highest percentage in the nation and an increase over the 27.9 percent tallied in 2011.