Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District students score well on Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate examinations

 

Scores well above state and national results were earned by students at the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District's four comprehensive high schools on the prestigious Advanced Placement program examinations.

And a record number of International Baccalaureate evaluations with a 99% passing rate were achieved by students in the equally prestigious IB program at Valencia High School.

Passing scores – three or higher on a five-point scale for AP and four or higher on a seven-point scale for IB – can earn university credits and allow students to bypass introductory courses. Decisions on credits and class placements are made by individual universities.

A total 4,376 AP examinations were administered to freshmen through senior students at El Dorado, Esperanza, Valencia and Yorba Linda high schools, and 454 IB evaluations were posted for junior and senior students at Valencia High School during a May testing period.

Here's how the schools fared on AP tests, according to district-provided data:

El Dorado: 976 tests were administered in 21 subjects for a 74% pass rate. The six highest scoring tests for the Hawks were 3-D Art and Design, German Language and Culture, Calculus AB, 2-D Art and Design, Biology and Spanish Language and Culture.

Esperanza: 652 tests were administered in 23 subjects for a 73% pass rate. The six highest scoring tests for the Aztecs were Drawing, 2-D Art and Design, 3-D Art and Design; Biology, Statistics and Spanish Language and Culture.

Valencia: 1,676 tests were administered in 26 subjects for a 78% pass rate. The six highest scoring tests for the Tigers were 3-D Art and Design, Chemistry, Macroeconomics, Computer Science Principles, Chinese Language and Culture and Spanish Literature and Culture.

Yorba Linda: 1,072 tests were administered in 24 subjects for an 86% pass rate. The six highest scoring tests for the Mustangs were Computer Science Principles, Spanish Language and Culture, Chinese Language and Culture, German Language and Culture, 2-D Art and Design and French Language and Culture.

State and national pass rates range in the lower 60 percentiles.

The most popular test was English Language and Composition, taken by 625 students (150 at El Dorado, 102 at Esperanza, 237 at Valencia and 136 at Yorba Linda), followed by European History, taken by 343 students (106 at El Dorado, 59 at Esperanza, 104 at Valencia and 74 at Yorba Linda), and U.S. History, taken by 254 students (68 at El Dorado, 44 at Esperanza, 76 at Valencia and 66 at Yorba Linda).

Valencia's IB students were evaluated in 19 subjects, with passing scores earned by 448 out of 454 evaluations for the 99% pass rate. All 72 senior IB students earned IB's diploma, according to coordinator Fred Jenkins. Global pass rates averaged 80%.

This year, the campus has 461 IB students, 162 in 9^th grade, 130 in 10^th grade, 87 in 11^th grade and 82 in 12^th grade, according to IB counselor Mark Stanley.