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NAPLES — More and more students, in Collier County and around the state, are realizing how important Advanced Placement classes can be to their future.

For the third year in a row, Florida had the greatest one-year increase in the number of public school students taking AP exams when compared with other states. Florida increased the number of students taking the exams by 14,151 to a total of 117,698.

In Collier County, 2,136 students took 3,608 exams in 2008, compared with 1,801 students taking 3,160 exams last year. That is an increase of 335 students and 448 exams over last year. Students can take more than one AP exam.

Florida students also performed well on AP exams. Florida had the third-greatest increase, 5.9 percent, in the number of students passing AP exams when compared to all other states from 2007 to 2008.

Nationwide, one out of every eight black students who took the AP exam and received a passing grade or higher was from a public high school in Florida.

For Hispanics, the ratio was one out of every seven students.

AP exams are graded on a scale of 1 to 5. A grade of 3 or higher is considered to be passing and will earn a student credit at most universities.

In Collier County, 54 percent of the exams taken received a 3 or higher, a decrease of 2 percent over 2007. However, the number of exams with a 3 or higher was 1,931 in 2008, compared to 1,763 in 2007.

In her memorandum to Superintendent Dennis Thompson, Chief Instructional Officer Martha Hayes said although there was a decrease in the percent of students receiving a passing grade, more students in more classes were scoring three or higher because of the increase in the number of students taking the exams.

She added that Collier County has seen an upward trend in the number of students scoring 3 or higher on AP exams over the last 10 years.

Psychology is still the most popular AP course in Collier County, with 484 exams taken and 226 exams receiving a score of 3 or higher. For AP exams where more than 25 students participated, Spanish language had the highest percentage of Collier students scoring a 3 or higher. Of the 178 exams taken, 162 — or 91 percent — were a 3 or higher.

Barron Collier High School had the most students taking AP exams, with 876 exams taken. But it was Naples High School that saw the largest percentage of students scoring a 3 or above on the AP exams. Of the 643 AP exams given to Naples High students last year, 453, or 70 percent, scored a 3 or above.

At Barron, 165 more students took exams in 2008, and 100 more scored 3 or above than in 2007. At Naples High School, 79 more students took AP exams in 2008, and 65 more scored three or above.

Golden Gate High School saw the largest increase in number of students taking exams. Students took 428 exams in 2008, 170 more than in 2007. Of those 428 exams, 101 scored a 3 or above, an increase of 10 exams over the 2007 figures.

Gulf Coast High School saw 60 fewer students taking AP exams than in 2007, but 14 more students scored a 3 or above on exams than in 2007. Palmetto Ridge High School students took 54 more AP exams than in 2007, and 19 more exams were scored 3 or higher than in 2007.

At Lely High School, 47 fewer students took AP exams in 2008 than in 2007, and 36 fewer students scored 3 or above in 2008. At Immokalee High School, students took 19 more exams. But, the 26 exams that were scored 3 or above were 17 fewer than the 43 exams that were 3 or higher in 2007.

At Lorenzo Walker Career and Technical High School, 34 students took 37 exams in the first year AP exams were offered to students. Of those 37 exams taken, 14, or 38 percent, received a 3 or higher.

For more details on Florida’s performance on the AP exams, visit fldoe.org/evaluation.