The Advanced Placement (AP) program represents a critical element in Houston Independent School District's (HISD's) efforts to inject rigor into the high school classrooms. Since 2009, the AP course offerings in HISD have been vastly expanded, with more campuses offering a wider selection of AP courses that exposes a larger percentage of the high school population to academic rigor. Dramatically more HISD students are taking AP courses, completing them, taking more AP exams, earning AP exam scores of at least a 3, and receiving AP awards at a record pace. Among the highlights of AP in 2013-2014 are: (1) Student participation in AP courses decreased from 36.1% in 2013 to 33.7% in 2014 in the district; (2) The number of AP exam takers decreased by 1% from 12,966 in 2013 to 12,837 in 2014; (3) However, the number of AP testers in 2014 represents an increase of 125% compared to 2009 when 5,694 HISD students took AP exams; (4) The number of AP exams taken decreased by 1.8% from 22,693 in 2013 to 22,277 in 2014. However, the number of exams taken in 2014 represents an increase of 92.1% compared to 2009 when HISD students took 11,594 AP exams; and (5) Despite the decreases in AP testers and the number of AP exams taken in 2014, 271 more students had AP exams scored at 3 or higher, reflecting an increase of 3.6% from 2013 to 2014.