By DAN TOMASELLO

LYNNFIELD — The number of Lynnfield High School students taking Advanced Placement exams increased last year, Principal Bob Cleary said at a recent School Committee meeting.

The AP program provides students with the opportunity to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school. The AP program also gives students an opportunity to earn college credit, advanced placement or both if students excel on AP exams.

AP exams are graded on a 5-4-3-2-1 numeric scale, with 5 being the highest and 1 being the lowest. Generally, scores of 3 or above will result in advanced standing or college credit for incoming freshmen. Scores of 1 and 2 do not merit college placement. According to the College Board, a number of colleges and universities grant credit and placement for scores of 3, 4 and 5 but each college ultimately determines which scores it will accept.

Cleary said 189 students took an AP exam last spring.

“Roughly 70 percent of the Class of 2021 took at least one AP exam,” said Cleary. “The high school administrated 405 AP exams, which was up from the 382 the year before. The percentage of students that scored a 3 or higher was around 70 percent. We typically have between 70 and 80 percent of students score a 3 or higher on an AP exam. We are pretty happy with those scores.”

Cleary said the high school had 22 AP Scholars, who are students who scored a 3 or higher on three or more exams. The high school had eight AP Scholars with Honor, who are students who scored at least 3.25 on all AP exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on four or more exams. He said 20 students were named AP Scholars with Distinction, which recognizes students who receive an average score of 3.5 or better on all AP exams taken and scores of 3 or higher on five or more exams.

School Committee member Phil McQueen noted that the College Board has not yet released the global average for the AP exams. He attributed the COVID-19 pandemic for the delay.

“I think the College Board is holding back the global average scores because it is going to show a dramatic drop,” said McQueen.

Cleary agreed.

“We are always confident that our scores are higher than the global average,” said Cleary. “We were lucky. Even with the hybrid model, our kids were in school for 170 days last year. Not every school was like that. There were a number of schools that were remote for a large portion of last year.”

In response to a question from School Committee member Jamie Hayman, School Counseling Department Head Kathryn Moody said the number of colleges and universities giving college credit to students who score a 3 or higher on AP exams is “dwindling.”

“I think fewer and fewer schools are giving credit,” said Moody. “If a student is majoring in engineering, they are probably not going to get out of a calculus class because they got a 5. Schools are getting pickier, and the more competitive schools are less likely to award credit. I think the number is going to continue to go down because colleges want students taking advantage of the classes on their campuses.”

Breakdown of results

The average AP Biology exam score was 3.13, which was higher than the 2020 average of 3.07. There were 23 LHS students who took the AP biology exam, which represented an increase of eight students from 2020.

According to the data, the average AP Calculus AB exam score was 3.12, which was less than 2020’s average of 4.00. There were 17 students who took the Calculus AB exam, which surpassed the 11 students who took the exam in 2020.

The average AP Chemistry exam score was 2.30, which was slightly less than 2020’s average of 2.35. There were 10 students who took the AP Chemistry exam, which represented a decline of 10 students.

The average AP English Language and Composition exam score was 3.55, which was less than 2020’s average of 3.98. Thirty-eight students took the AP English Language and Composition exam, which was lower than the 51 students who took the test in 2020.

The data revealed that the average AP English Literature and Composition score was 3.04, which was less than 2020’s average of 3.90. There were 48 students who took the AP English Literature and Composition exam, which represented an increase of six students.

According to the data, the average AP Economics score was 2.95, which was lower than the 2020 average of 3.33. There were 19 students who took the AP Economics exam, which surpassed the 12 students who took the test in 2020.

The average AP Physics exam score was 3.19, which was less than 2020’s average of 4.10. There were 16 students who took the AP Physics exam, which represented an increase of six students.

According to the results, the average AP Psychology exam score was 3.00, which was a slight dip from 2020’s average of 3.51. There were 103 students who took the AP Psychology exam, which surpassed the 92 students who took the test in the spring of 2020.

The average AP Statistics exam score was 2.67, which was less than 2020’s average of 3.64. There were 21 students who took the AP Statistics exam, which was higher than the 14 students who completed the exam in 2020.

According to the data, the average AP U.S. History exam score was 3.40, which was less than the 2020 average of 3.62. There were 35 students who took the U.S. History exam, which represented a decline of 10 students.

The average AP Spanish exam score equaled 2.46, which was slightly less than 2020’s average of 2.53. There were 35 students who took the AP Spanish exam, which was significantly higher than the 17 students who took the test in 2020.

According to the data, the average score for the AP French exam was 1.89, which was lower than 2020’s average of 2.40. There were nine students who took the test, which represented an increase of four students.

The average AP European History exam score was 3.75, which was higher than 2020’s average of 3.50. There were four students who took the test, which was identical to 2020.

According to the results, the average AP Computer Science exam was 3.59, which was slightly less than 2020’s average of 3.75. There were 17 students who took the test, which was less than the 28 students who took the AP Computer Science exam in 2020.

The average AP Studio Art 2D exam score was 5.00, which was higher than 2020’s average of 4.75. There were three LHS students who took the AP Studio Art 2D exam, which was one less student than last year.

Lynnfield High administered the AP Calculus BC exam for the second time last spring, and the average score for the three students who took it was 4.67. The average score for the three members of Class of 2020 who took the test was 3.67.

McQueen was pleased with the high school’s AP scores

“There was a little bit of a dip in Lynnfield, but I think generally these are really solid results,” said McQueen.