Ask for your high school's "AP Grade Report"

Jay Matthews makes this suggestion on his Class Struggle blog in the WaPo.

Ever seen the Advanced Placement Grade Report for your high school? I thought not. Most people don’t know it exists. That is why I have so much pleasure going over the reports. It is like reading the principal’s e-mails, full of intriguing innuendo and secrets that parents and students aren’t supposed to know.

Except that parents and students should know this type of thing. Here's why:

The AP Grade Report allows the public to see which AP courses at a school produce the most high grades, and the most low grades, on AP exams. You can gauge the skill of the teachers and the nature of the students who take various AP subjects.

One wonders why the BCPS spends so much time on systems like AIM for communicating with parents, but keeps useful information like Advanced Placement Grade Reports hidden away in the "top secret" drawer.