See AP test performance for charter and public high schools in the Sacramento region

Students in the four-county region took about 35,400 AP tests in the 2019-20 school year. They scored a three or higher — the score usually needed to earn college credit — about two-thirds of the time, the latest state data show.

The number of AP tests taken by the region’s students declined by about 3,000, or 8%, from the prior school year, possibly because of the pandemic, which shut down schools or forced them online toward the end of the 2019-20 school year.

However, the number of scores of three or higher — the score usually needed to earn college credit — did not change much, state figures show.

Students at Mira Loma, Davis, Vista Del Lago, Pleasant Grove, Oak Ridge and Folsom high schools performed at the highest consistent level on the test last school year. More than 80% of test scores at each of those schools were three or higher.

Some schools encourage a large number of students to take AP exams in hopes that some of them will earn college credit. Western Sierra Collegiate Academy in Rocklin, West Campus in Sacramento and Granite Bay had the highest proportion of 10th to 12th-graders taking AP exams. Most students at each of those schools took an AP exam.

Some schools like Cordova High and Luther Burbank High offer International Baccalaureate programs that let students earn college credit. Those schools tend to have a low proportion of students taking AP exams but may have many students earning college credit.