While some officials are pleased with the increased number of students in advanced college-level courses at Wareham High School, others are troubled by stagnant or declining test scores.

Wareham High School Principal Scott Palladino presented five years' worth of data on SAT results and Advanced Placement exam results to the School Committee Tuesday.

He said that both participation and the number of qualifying scores from students on AP exams have increased. A score of at least 3 out of 5 is needed to receive college credit.

"We came to you last year and talked about participation. A big piece with the [Massachusetts Math and Science Initiative] grant was to increase participation," said Palladino. "They're experiencing college-level courses that in year's past, because of pre-requisites, they weren't able to do that," said Palladino.

The grant-funded Mass Math and Science Initiative program provides support for teachers through professional development as well as assistance for students academically and financially, as the courses and exams cost money.

The number of students enrolled in AP courses went from 112 in 2013 to 150 in 2014 and the number of qualifying scores went from 40 to 57 over that period.

But School Committee member Geoff Swett said there was virtually no difference in the percentage of students who received qualifying scores in each year.

"I find it difficult to be pleased with this data," Swett said. "I'm particularly concerned about Math… these numbers are disturbing."

In the Calculus AB course, Wareham students averaged a score of 1.22 in 2014 while the state average was a 3.25. In the Statistics course, Wareham students averaged a score of 1.69 in 2014 while the state average was 3.14.

The trend was the same with SAT Math scores, where the Wareham average score for 2014 was a 460. That was a six-year low and 53 points below the national average.

Palladino said he believed the school's philosophy was to get as many students enrolled in these advanced level courses as possible with the help of the grant.

He said the scores could be improved if the schools were more selective with who took the AP exams. He said at some schools, the end-of-year AP exam is optional for students enrolled in an AP course, but in Wareham, every student enrolled in these AP courses has to take the exam at the end of the year.

But Palladino stressed that he was more concerned with high participation rates in the AP courses.

"I want to push kids. I want to challenge kids. If they fail and score a 1, they've still been acclimated to a college-level course," he said. "They're going to be ready at a higher level than a student in an honors class for the next step."

"Don't get me wrong. We've got work to do," he added. "I'm not saying we're gonna settle for this."