This study compared performance of seniors at 21 Montgomery County (Maryland) high schools on the Advanced Placement (AP) Tests. The schools were ranked by the percentage of college-educated adults within the school boundaries, and the ranking was compared to Advanced Placement test results (the average number of students, per 100 seniors, who scored 4 or 5 on a test). Some county schools produced an extraordinary number of students who did well on the AP exams--two to five times as many as other schools with similar demographics. Comments from interviews with AP teachers in nine of these exemplary advanced placement programs, focusing on the curriculum areas of English, computer science, social sciences, science, languages, and art, make up the bulk of the report. Successful strategies in implementing AP programs are identified, based on the comments of the exemplary programs' teachers. An appendix offers information on how a school administration or parent advocacy group might replicate the study. (DB)