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Half True: Greg Abbott claim about Dallas minority students outscoring peers everywhere in America

Gov. Greg Abbott talked up AP test results in his February 2015 State of the State address (Photo by Ricardo B. Brazziell, Austin American-Statesman). Gov. Greg Abbott talked up AP test results in his February 2015 State of the State address (Photo by Ricardo B. Brazziell, Austin American-Statesman).

Gov. Greg Abbott talked up AP test results in his February 2015 State of the State address (Photo by Ricardo B. Brazziell, Austin American-Statesman).

By W. Gardner Selby March 26, 2015

In his February State of the State address, Gov. Greg Abbott extolled test results in the Dallas school district.

He overstated things, it turns out.

Revisiting his vow to create the best education system in America, Abbott continued: "We’ve seen that we can do it. In Dallas, for example, African-American and Hispanic students pass AP exams at a higher rate than any other place in America."

AP, as in advanced placement, tests are offered through the nonprofit College Board. Exam scores of three or higher, on a five-point scale, qualify students for college credit.

And?

The governor drew on research that indicates less than what he proclaimed. Specifically, it suggests that in 2014, black and Hispanic students in Dallas passed math and science AP exams at a better clip than their peers in more than 15 districts nationally having like demographics. This conclusion, that is, didn’t sweep in every AP test nor did it extend to the Dallas students outpacing students everywhere else in the country.

Half True, we concluded. Read the deets. What else?

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Half True: Greg Abbott claim about Dallas minority students outscoring peers everywhere in America