Long Island School Districts Ranked by AP Test Scores

Many students were scrambling last month to take tests that, if they score high enough, could give them credits before they even enter college in the fall.

Many four-year colleges in the United States accept Advanced Placement scores of 3, 4, or 5 as college credit, allowing students to possibly graduate college early, skip introductory classes, study abroad, enroll in an elective course, take on a second major or save on college expenses.

The New York State Department of Education recently provided Patch with AP test data from every public school district in the state for 2015 and we put together a list to compare performances by school district.

• See also: Long Island School Districts Ranked by SAT Scores

The College Board reports more than 4.5 million exams were taken by 2.5 million students in over 19,000 high schools. Of those exams, almost 70,000 were taken by Long Island public school students, according to a Patch report.

Patch found students in certain school districts earned higher AP scores than others.

• Do these results indicate certain schools better prepare their students for college? Tell us below!

Here are the Long Island school districts with the highest (and lowest) percentage of AP tests taken by students who got at least a 3:

1. Great Neck School District—89 percent
2. Elwood Union Free School District—86 percent
3. Commack School District—84 percent
4. Three Village Central School District—83 percent
5. Half Hollow Hills Central School District—83 percent
6. Port Washington Union Free School District—81 percent
7. Bayport-Blue Point Union Free School District—81 percent
8. Northport-East Northport Union Free School District—80 percent
9. Smithtown Central School District—79 percent
10. Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District—78 percent
11. Roslyn Union Free School District—77 percent
12. Garden City Union Free School District—77 percent
13. Port Jefferson Union Free School District—76 percent
14. Kings Park Central School District—76 percent
15. Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District—75 percent
16. East Meadow Union Free School District—75 percent
17. William Floyd School District—75 percent
18. North Shore Central School District—75 percent
19. Harborfields Central School District—75 percent
20. Sayville Union Free School District—75 percent
21. Jericho Union Free School District—74 percent
22. Shoreham-Wading River Central School District—74 percent
23. Seaford Union Free School District—73 percent
24. Mount Sinai Union Free School District—73 percent
25. Bethpage Union Free School District—73 percent
26. Lynbrook Union Free School District—72 percent
27. Carle Place Union Free School District—72 percent
28. Lindenhurst Union Free School District—72 percent
29. Sewanhaka Central High School District—72 percent
30. Mattituck-Cutchogue Union Free School District—71 percent
31. Farmingdale Union Free School District—71 percent
32. Herricks Union Free School District—71 percent
33. East Islip Union Free School District—71 percent
34. Uniondale Union Free School District—70 percent
35. Oceanside School District—70 percent
36. Greenport Union Free School District—70 percent
37. East Williston Union Free School District—70 percent
38. Syosset Central School District—69 percent
39. South Huntington Union Free School District—68 percent
40. Wantagh Union Free School District—68 percent
41. Sachem School District—68 percent
42. Southampton Union Free School District—67 percent
43. Rocky Point Union Free School District—67 percent
44. Tuckahoe Common School District—65 percent
45. Mineola Union Free School District—65 percent
46. Huntington Union Free School District—65 percent
47. Island Trees Union Free School District—65 percent
48. Cold Spring Harbor Central School District—65 percent
49. Massapequa Union Free School District —65 percent
50. Lawrence Union Free School District—64 percent
51. Levittown Union Free School District—64 percent
52. Glen Cove City School District—64 percent
53. West Islip Union Free School District—63 percent
54. Westhampton Beach Union Free School District—63 percent
55. Connetquot Central School District —62 percent
56. Hewlett-Woodmere School District —62 percent
57. Middle Country Central School District—61 percent
58. East Rockaway Union Free School District —61 percent
59. Baldwin Union Free School District —61 percent
60. Malverne Union Free School District —60 percent
61. Miller Place Union Free School District—60 percent
62. Hicksville Union Free School District—60 percent
63. Plainedge School District—59 percent
64. Brentwood Union Free School District—59 percent
65. West Babylon Union Free School District—59 percent
66. Islip Union Free School District—58 percent
67. Eastport-South Manor Central School District—58 percent
68. Deer Park Union Free School District—57 percent
69. Hauppauge Union Free School District—57 percent
70. Valley Stream Central High School District —56 percent
71. Copiague Union Free School District—56 percent
72. Longwood Central School District—55 percent
73. Bay Shore Union Free School District—55 percent
74. North Babylon Union Free School District—55 percent
75. Hampton Bays Public Schools—54 percent
76. Center Moriches Union Free School District—50 percent
77. Long Beach City School District—50 percent
78. Patchogue-Medford Union Free School District—50 percent
79. Freeport Union Free School District—49 percent
80. Riverhead Central School District—49 percent
81. Southold Union Free School District—49 percent
82. Westbury Union Free School District—48 percent
83. Shelter Island Union Free School District—47 percent
84. South Country Central School District—46 percent
85. Babylon Union Free School District —46 percent
86. East Hampton Union Free School District—45 percent
87. Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District—43 percent
88. Bridgehampton Union Free School District—42 percent
89. Central Islip Union Free School District—39 percent
90. Hempstead Union Free School District—36 percent
91. Rockville Centre Union Free School District—36 percent
92. Locust Valley Central School District—34 percent
93. Sag Harbor Union Free School District—29 percent
94. Amityville Union Free School District—28 percent
95. Roosevelt Union Free School District—24 percent

How we did it

Patch compared the total exams taken with the number of exams with scores higher than a 3 at each respective school district to determine the rankings. For example, 2,362 exams were taken by students in Great Neck Public Schools and 2,105 exams scored higher than a 3. This means 89 percent of the exams taken by students enrolled in Great Neck Public Schools could be accepted for college credit, depending on the institution.

Editor's Note: Some school districts may not be ranked because they were not on the CollegeBoard's New York State Public Schools' SAT, SAT Subject Tests, AP, PSAT/NMSQT summary list.