LOCAL TEENS POST HIGH PASS RATES ON AP TESTS ADVANCED PLACEMENT EXAMS ARE CATCHING ON.

Byline: Amy Raisin Staff Writer

Hundreds of local high school students earned passing exams on the Advanced Placement exams, with districts reporting that more students are taking the honors-level tests that help students get into college.

More than 80 percent of the tests taken in the Oak Park and Las Virgenes districts were passed, while Simi Valley High had 69 percent passing, according to recently compiled reports sent to the districts from the College Board, which administers the exams each spring.

``The AP program has tripled in our district in the last decade,'' said Richard Simpson, assistant superintendent, instructional services, at Conejo Valley Unified School District.

According to Simpson, 160 students from three high schools in his district - Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks and Westlake high schools - earned the passing grade or higher.

``It's a very high-expectation community,'' Simpson said. ``Students want to help themselves on their college applications and it's important for our students and our parents that we provide this top-end opportunity.''

The AP program, administered nationwide by the College Board, consists of courses and exams taken by certain high school students each May in subjects including English, biology, U.S. history and even music theory.

Passing scores - a 3, 4 or 5 - are noted on all transcripts the following fall, often helping students with college admittance and ultimately earning them college units.

Students are permitted to test in as many subjects as they wish, as early as their first year in high school, but school officials said it is rare for a student not enrolled in an AP or honors course to take an AP exam.

Districts received reports about their scores this week, officials said, but students received scores last fall.

Simi Valley Unified School District also received numerous awards - or passing grades - with many students taking more than one exam, according to Bob Rizzardi, coordinator of programs for the district.

``I think the word has gotten out about the value of these exams,'' Rizzardi said, adding that he is impressed with ``the vast number (of students) not only taking the APs, but the number of tests being taken.''

Nearly 500 tests were taken by 237 Simi Valley High School students in May and 348 awards were earned, according to Rizzardi. He added that 19 percent of those award-winners earned the highest score.

Another school in Simi Valley's district, Royal High School, had 266 passing scores among the 236 students tested. Santa Susana High School in Simi Valley earned 42 AP awards from the 87 exams taken, Rizzardi said.

It is not uncommon, officials said, for a student with four or five passing AP exams to be credited with at least one college semester before he or she steps foot on a college campus.

Both Oak Park and Las Virgenes Unified School District received student AP honors, as well. Agoura Hills and Calabasas high schools received 28 and 65 honors, respectively. Oak Park High School, the only high school in its district, earned 46 awards, officials said.

AP TESTS

Tests successfully passed, by district:

SIMI VALLEY UNIFIED:

--Simi Valley HS:...348, 69 percent

--Royal HS:.........266, 59 percent

--Santa Susana HS:...42, 49 percent

TOTAL:..............656

LAS VIRGENES UNIFIED:

--Agoura HS:.........28, 85 percent

--Calabasas HS:......65, 80 percent

TOTAL:...............93

OAK PARK UNIFIED:

--Oak Park HS:.......46, 86 percent

TOTAL:...............46

CAPTION(S):

Box

Box: AP TESTS (see text)