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Several high schools in the Long Beach Unified School District rank in the top 20, and in some instances are No. 1, among California’s more than 1,300 traditional high schools, in terms of the raw number of African American and Latino students who pass certain Advanced Placement college prep exams.

Two local schools posted No. 1 rankings, according to data supplied by Gregg Fleisher, president of the National Math and Science Initiative.  The California Academy of Mathematics and Science achieved a No. 1 ranking in English Literature, while Millikan High School posting a No. 1 ranking by producing the highest number of Latino and African students in the state who passed the AP World History Exam.  Other local schools were not far behind, with Wilson at No. 3 for AP U.S. History, and No. 4 in AP World History.  Lakewood ranked No. 3 for AP World History, and No. 5 or AP Biology.  Poly ranked No. 3 for AP English Literature and No. 7 for AP U.S. History.

One caveat: large high schools have a greater advantage in Fleisher’s ranking because he uses raw numbers, not pass rate, and LBUSD has some large high schools.  NMSI is working on additional rankings that take into account the size of the high schools.
“But already this validates our own data showing that more kids are passing the tests since we began providing greater access to AP courses several years ago,” said LBUSD Superintendent Christopher J. Steinhauser.

The data source, NMSI, is an organization started as a public-private partnership, led by private donors such as Exxon Mobil Corporation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation.

State Ranking Raw Number of Students Passing AP Exams
Among more than 1,300 schools