EDITORIAL: Give students more chances at AP classes

   Hillsborough schools do so many things right, it seems to make the areas needing improvement jump out.
   That was our first thought in reviewing the schools report cards issued by the state Department of Education last week. The compendium of information about schools really shows a district’s strengths and weakness.
   For starters, let’s consider the admirable budgeting job done locally. No one is expected to be happy about their property-tax bills — especially when you see Hillsborough schools get 17 percent less in state revenue than the average New Jersey school district — but when the district spends 14 percent less than the state average on costs per pupil, and makes do with substantially fewer administrators than most comparable districts, the results we get are impressive.
   And these are good statistics, showing a focus on spending where it counts most: students and classrooms.
   That’s where some of the statistics are less positive. Consider, for example, how our high school students do on the High School Proficiency Assessment: while not lackluster, we are lagging in students achieving advanced proficiency in math when compared to districts like ours.
   A higher percentage of Hillsborough students achieved the proficiency score, however, so the aggregated result of students proficient and advanced is the same (at 89 percent).
   But Hillsborough students also lag other comparable districts in SAT scores.
   What could explain this?
   One possible reason may be that fewer Hillsborough students are taking advanced placement classes than in typical districts.
   That’s due in part, because of fewer classes to take: Hillsborough students have 20 AP classes to choose from, but nearly all of our neighboring schools offer more than 25.
   And, those same schools enjoy higher enrollment in AP classes, higher SAT scores and, in the case of math proficiency, much higher scores on the HSPA.
   We think the district should consider expanding AP class offerings — especially in science and math — to address this weakness. Doing so not only often results in better scores, but higher participation rates in the AP classes.
   In fact, more offerings seems to invite better student performance: nearly half of the juniors and seniors at Ridge High School are in AP classes, compared to just 16 percent in Hillsborough.
   The district is mindful of spending, but is there a better way to improve students’ performance than increasing the opportunities for them to learn?
   It doesn’t seem likely.