LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Data obtained from the Nevada Department of Education shows a wide gap at schools across the Clark County School District on who is passing and failing Advanced Placement exams.

According to AP scores from the 2021/2022 school year, students at Coronado High School had an 85% passing rate, while at Canyon Springs High School around 10% of students passed.

From a score of 1 to 5, a 3 or above is considered passing.

At Canyon Springs High School, 589 AP exams were taken and 531 scored a 1 or 2.

Other schools with a high number of failures were Cheyenne, Clark, Eldorado, Western, and Mojave high schools.

“A kid who gets a 1, really you can say they didn’t put a lot of effort into it. And maybe they weren’t prepared. Maybe the teacher didn’t do what they’re supposed to do,” James Terranova said.

It’s his first year teaching AP US History at Canyon Springs. Terranvoa was surprised by the low scores.

“I gave every kid one of these,” Terranova said, pointing to a t-shirt he made. “AP US History. Canyon Springs. Noli Timere, which means do not be afraid in Latin because I don’t want them to be afraid of the test.”

Only 58 exams were considered passing at Canyon Springs last year.

Terrnavoa says there needs to be accountability for low test scores.

“They really want to succeed on these tests, and if we’re not paying attention to teachers who have 80 or 90 percent of their kids failing, then we’re doing the kids a disservice,” Terranova said.

There are stand-out CCSD schools where students scored very well.

Coronado High School students scored the highest on AP exams in the district. Marie Picini is graduating from there this year and going to attend Boston University.

“I’ve done much better, taking the night before off. Just calming myself down, watching a movie. Thinking about something else,” Picini said.

Picini credits her teachers for passing.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to do it without those teachers, they are the most valuable resource of Coronado and they care so much about their students,” Picini said.

Of the nearly 1400 exams Coronado students took, 1360 had a score of three or above.
Other top-scoring schools were Advanced Technologies Academy, Arbor View, Green Valley, Clark, and West Career and Technical Academy.

CCSD AP Exam Scores 2021/2022