How many freshman take AP Gov or History?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son at Einstein took AP US as a freshman. He got a 2 on the AP but that was during COVID and it was a weird online home test shortened to forty five minutes. He took AP govt the next year and got a 5

Can he retake the AP exam? Wondering how this works as I have a child headed to Einstein.

I don’t know, actually. Didn’t think about that.

My main advice to Einstein parents is, unless your kid really wants to take IB, go with APs. If you want to hear my reasoning let me know and I will elaborate.

Yes, I would appreciate that if you don’t mind elaborating.

First, he will not get credit for any of the IP exams he took. He took six IB exams and got between fives and sevens on them and his college is not giving him credit. His college does give credit for AP. We were making the decision about whether to take IB courses during virtual learning and this was not explained to us. We only heard from Einstein that colleges would view AP and IB equally.

Second - and for some kids this may be a good thing - IB is more intense and stressful than AP. Of course that depends somewhat on the course and teacher, but it’s mostly true. I do not think his ninth and tenth grade education prepared him adequately for the IB courses. He barely wrote at all leading up to eleventh grade and then he was thrown into writing a lot. He wasn’t prepared for that. Some kids might want that challenge. For him, it increased his already existing anxiety. So it was a bad fit.

Do note, though, that many colleges DO give credit based on IB exams. Not all colleges give credit for APs, either, and the minimum score for credits will vary.

Yes, college credits for IB courses isn’t a universal given, but it’s not uncommon, either. It’s easy enough to check, if your student has some colleges in mind already.

I gather AP and IB classes are considered to be equally rigorous, at least in terms of admissions consideration—both qualify as the “most rigorous option.” It’s just that the content of AP classes can sometimes be easier to map to specific college course credits than what’s covered in the more the internationally-geared IB classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our school, Kennedy, they push the "gifted" kids to take AP Gov in 9th grade and AP US History in 10th grade.

In my opinion, having just done through this with my son, I don't think kids should be taking AP courses in 9th grade, with probably a few exceptions here and there.

Most kids aren't ready for that kind of rigor or discipline and unfortunately, the lax attitudes of the pandemic from their middle school transition years really didn't prepare them for the reality check that comes with an AP course with regard to study habits and test taking intensity.

That being said, MCPS seems intent on cramming more and more kids on the advanced tracks sooner rather than later, even if the kids flounder and aren't ready. I assume this is because they think it makes them look good, but also because they have such liberal retake/reassessment policies that even if kids do struggle, they have multiple chances for do-overs, so in the end, they can still end up with a B or an A.

However, the truth lies in the AP exam scores, and if you look at the MCPS students taking these AP courses and the exam, a lot of kids are flopping with 1's or 2's on the exams, even though they've got a good classroom grade.

This right here. When your kid is getting an A in an AP course in MCPS and getting a 3 or lower on the test that gives them credit, well it looks pretty bad on the school and the student.

Some top colleges are only accepting 5's on exams now and most that kids that want to push themselves into only take 4's on the exams.

AP classes and honors classes count the same on a weighted scale. They shouldn't, but MCPS does anything for inflated grades.

No reason to take AP Gov and APUSH unless your child is intelligent enough to guarantee 4 and 5's on test.

Question - does the score get sent to colleges? Meaning unless you choose to disclose the score would colleges know? Or would they simply know that you took an AP course and whatever grade you received?

The score only gets sent it you choose to send it.

Under this advice, I would and have encouraged my kids to take APs and not stress about the exam. I think the goal should be taking classes with a strong cohort and getting a great grade on your transcript. If you then get a 4 or 5 great but its all about the class showing up on the transcript from what I am learning. Not sure why anyone would care about the test grade.

The reason why I care is because the disparity between the classroom grade and the exam shows how well or poorly the material was taught.

You have to remember within MCPS that there is an incredible amount of latitude given, with regard to flexible deadlines and test retakes. AP is MEANT to reflect the rigor of college. In college, you don’t get flexible deadlines and retake opportunities.

So kids are earning A’s or AB’s thinking their college ready, when in reality, they aren’t because they aren’t in fact performing at the college level truly since MCPS has so many training wheels on them.

MCPS should be holding itself accountable and view it as a serious issue that as many schools as I listed have less than 50% of their AP students scoring a 3 or more their AP exams.

No, you don't really care. You just want to push your right wing agenda and the "sky is falling" tactic because over 70% of MCPS kids are passing the AP tests, which means it is properly taught.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our school, Kennedy, they push the "gifted" kids to take AP Gov in 9th grade and AP US History in 10th grade.

In my opinion, having just done through this with my son, I don't think kids should be taking AP courses in 9th grade, with probably a few exceptions here and there.

Most kids aren't ready for that kind of rigor or discipline and unfortunately, the lax attitudes of the pandemic from their middle school transition years really didn't prepare them for the reality check that comes with an AP course with regard to study habits and test taking intensity.

That being said, MCPS seems intent on cramming more and more kids on the advanced tracks sooner rather than later, even if the kids flounder and aren't ready. I assume this is because they think it makes them look good, but also because they have such liberal retake/reassessment policies that even if kids do struggle, they have multiple chances for do-overs, so in the end, they can still end up with a B or an A.

However, the truth lies in the AP exam scores, and if you look at the MCPS students taking these AP courses and the exam, a lot of kids are flopping with 1's or 2's on the exams, even though they've got a good classroom grade.

This right here. When your kid is getting an A in an AP course in MCPS and getting a 3 or lower on the test that gives them credit, well it looks pretty bad on the school and the student.

Some top colleges are only accepting 5's on exams now and most that kids that want to push themselves into only take 4's on the exams.

AP classes and honors classes count the same on a weighted scale. They shouldn't, but MCPS does anything for inflated grades.

No reason to take AP Gov and APUSH unless your child is intelligent enough to guarantee 4 and 5's on test.

This weighting is not unique to MCPS.

It absolutely is

Nationally and all privates:

Honors is a 0.5 bump
AP is a full 1.0 bump

Between that and MCPS 89.5 and a 79.5 = an A - there is no other county in the country with inflated grades like MCPS. Not to mention the 50% and constant retakes teachers allow.

Burden of proof is on you to
provide evidence for your rant of made up numbers.

Or the person claiming it is not unique could also show proof that all school districts bump honors and AP classes the same.

I haven't found one other district in the area that counts honors and AP's the same, but for kicks and giggles.....

Every single local private school
Howard County
Fairfax County
Arlington County (slightly different but AP more than honors)
Loudoun County
PG County
DCPS
Frederick County

And almost all of the above have + and - GPA's to further distinguish the highest achievers.
And almost off of the above still have finals in their courses that count towards there final grade
And ALL of the above schools don't have the crazy chart that an A+B always equals an A for the semester grade
You get letter grades and they are divided by 2 for semester and 4 for final grade

So PLEASE stop with think what MCPS does is normal. It is a complete joke

This is embarrassing. I knew MCPS had an easy grading system with constant retakes but I had no idea they were they only district to inflate grades so bad. How do the top top kids that want to go to Ivies separate themselves from the kids that barely pull out A's in 1Q and 3Q and purposely get a B in 2Q and 4Q because they know they will still get the same grade as kids with high A's all Q's. How do colleges that are test optional figure out who are the brightest kids in the school?

The kids you describe are not getting into elite schools. Only a handful of kids are admitted from a given MCPS high school each year. The kids you describe won’t have the letter of recommendations and probably test scores to support their transcripts. And >85% of accepted students submitted test scores at these “test optional” schools.

But the test optional schools say they don't take it into consideration.

And some kids are poor 4 hour test takers but really good at classwork and 1 hour tests that you have in college. It just really stinks.

I guess that is why private school kids get into better schools overall. My kid is going to be a junior and doesn't have one teacher they would want to ask for a recommendation. Most teachers are so overwhelmed and he is a shy kid.

No, they are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our school, Kennedy, they push the "gifted" kids to take AP Gov in 9th grade and AP US History in 10th grade.

In my opinion, having just done through this with my son, I don't think kids should be taking AP courses in 9th grade, with probably a few exceptions here and there.

Most kids aren't ready for that kind of rigor or discipline and unfortunately, the lax attitudes of the pandemic from their middle school transition years really didn't prepare them for the reality check that comes with an AP course with regard to study habits and test taking intensity.

That being said, MCPS seems intent on cramming more and more kids on the advanced tracks sooner rather than later, even if the kids flounder and aren't ready. I assume this is because they think it makes them look good, but also because they have such liberal retake/reassessment policies that even if kids do struggle, they have multiple chances for do-overs, so in the end, they can still end up with a B or an A.

However, the truth lies in the AP exam scores, and if you look at the MCPS students taking these AP courses and the exam, a lot of kids are flopping with 1's or 2's on the exams, even though they've got a good classroom grade.

This right here. When your kid is getting an A in an AP course in MCPS and getting a 3 or lower on the test that gives them credit, well it looks pretty bad on the school and the student.

Some top colleges are only accepting 5's on exams now and most that kids that want to push themselves into only take 4's on the exams.

AP classes and honors classes count the same on a weighted scale. They shouldn't, but MCPS does anything for inflated grades.

No reason to take AP Gov and APUSH unless your child is intelligent enough to guarantee 4 and 5's on test.

Question - does the score get sent to colleges? Meaning unless you choose to disclose the score would colleges know? Or would they simply know that you took an AP course and whatever grade you received?

The score only gets sent it you choose to send it.

Under this advice, I would and have encouraged my kids to take APs and not stress about the exam. I think the goal should be taking classes with a strong cohort and getting a great grade on your transcript. If you then get a 4 or 5 great but its all about the class showing up on the transcript from what I am learning. Not sure why anyone would care about the test grade.

The reason why I care is because the disparity between the classroom grade and the exam shows how well or poorly the material was taught.

You have to remember within MCPS that there is an incredible amount of latitude given, with regard to flexible deadlines and test retakes. AP is MEANT to reflect the rigor of college. In college, you don’t get flexible deadlines and retake opportunities.

So kids are earning A’s or AB’s thinking their college ready, when in reality, they aren’t because they aren’t in fact performing at the college level truly since MCPS has so many training wheels on them.

MCPS should be holding itself accountable and view it as a serious issue that as many schools as I listed have less than 50% of their AP students scoring a 3 or more their AP exams.

No, you don't really care. You just want to push your right wing agenda and the "sky is falling" tactic because over 70% of MCPS kids are passing the AP tests, which means it is properly taught.

30% failure rate is pretty bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our school, Kennedy, they push the "gifted" kids to take AP Gov in 9th grade and AP US History in 10th grade.

In my opinion, having just done through this with my son, I don't think kids should be taking AP courses in 9th grade, with probably a few exceptions here and there.

Most kids aren't ready for that kind of rigor or discipline and unfortunately, the lax attitudes of the pandemic from their middle school transition years really didn't prepare them for the reality check that comes with an AP course with regard to study habits and test taking intensity.

That being said, MCPS seems intent on cramming more and more kids on the advanced tracks sooner rather than later, even if the kids flounder and aren't ready. I assume this is because they think it makes them look good, but also because they have such liberal retake/reassessment policies that even if kids do struggle, they have multiple chances for do-overs, so in the end, they can still end up with a B or an A.

However, the truth lies in the AP exam scores, and if you look at the MCPS students taking these AP courses and the exam, a lot of kids are flopping with 1's or 2's on the exams, even though they've got a good classroom grade.

This right here. When your kid is getting an A in an AP course in MCPS and getting a 3 or lower on the test that gives them credit, well it looks pretty bad on the school and the student.

Some top colleges are only accepting 5's on exams now and most that kids that want to push themselves into only take 4's on the exams.

AP classes and honors classes count the same on a weighted scale. They shouldn't, but MCPS does anything for inflated grades.

No reason to take AP Gov and APUSH unless your child is intelligent enough to guarantee 4 and 5's on test.

This weighting is not unique to MCPS.

It absolutely is

Nationally and all privates:

Honors is a 0.5 bump
AP is a full 1.0 bump

Between that and MCPS 89.5 and a 79.5 = an A - there is no other county in the country with inflated grades like MCPS. Not to mention the 50% and constant retakes teachers allow.

Burden of proof is on you to
provide evidence for your rant of made up numbers.

Or the person claiming it is not unique could also show proof that all school districts bump honors and AP classes the same.

I haven't found one other district in the area that counts honors and AP's the same, but for kicks and giggles.....

Every single local private school
Howard County
Fairfax County
Arlington County (slightly different but AP more than honors)
Loudoun County
PG County
DCPS
Frederick County

And almost all of the above have + and - GPA's to further distinguish the highest achievers.
And almost off of the above still have finals in their courses that count towards there final grade
And ALL of the above schools don't have the crazy chart that an A+B always equals an A for the semester grade
You get letter grades and they are divided by 2 for semester and 4 for final grade

So PLEASE stop with think what MCPS does is normal. It is a complete joke

This is embarrassing. I knew MCPS had an easy grading system with constant retakes but I had no idea they were they only district to inflate grades so bad. How do the top top kids that want to go to Ivies separate themselves from the kids that barely pull out A's in 1Q and 3Q and purposely get a B in 2Q and 4Q because they know they will still get the same grade as kids with high A's all Q's. How do colleges that are test optional figure out who are the brightest kids in the school?

They don't. They don't care. They are schools, not employers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just curious. My kid's schedule says honors US History. So am I to assume that his school does 9th grade AP US or Honors US? And that Gov is next year?

Not necessarily. The options for 9th grade could be Honors US or AP Gov.

Same with mine. Freshman taking AP computer science and APUSH. I’m nervous about it but he seems to be aware of the work that he will need to put into it so fingers crossed.

Huh? So then the option for 10th grade is APUSH and Honors Gov? Is that a class. That doesn't make sense

At our school, 9th graders take Honors US or AP Gov. Those who took Honors US take either Honors Gov[NSL] or AP Gov in 10th, and those who took AP Gov take Honors US or APUSH.

Ok, thank you. I have a feeling that is how our school works too. So the reason to take AP Gov in 9th is mainly to have the option to take APUSH in 10th grade. You don't really have the option otherwise. So unless your 10th grade schedule will be drastically harder and you just want to get the AP out of the way freshman year.

But my daughter doesn't need both, has a lot of extra curricular, and I think would be stressed this year taking AP Gov. I just don't see the need.

My rising freshman is taking apush, an ap comp sci and the rest honors. I don't know if this is a great idea or not but it is certainly an option

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The common app, which is what almost all universities use, will allow you to self report AP scores and you can report all, none, or your own self-selected set. If you don't report, then they won't know whether you took it or not.

There's a lot of discussion in the college board about what scores people should report. Suffice it to say, you probably won't self-report below 3. Beyond that, there's a lot of nuance it's not worth going into.

Once enrolled, you can send the official score report to the school you are attending (for credit/placement purposes) but you don't need to send that to all schools you apply to.

College admissions offices see that your kid took an AP class. They also see if they don't report an AP score for that class. Colleges admission offices actually see a lot and aren't stupid; they may be "test blind" but they're not blind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our school, Kennedy, they push the "gifted" kids to take AP Gov in 9th grade and AP US History in 10th grade.

In my opinion, having just done through this with my son, I don't think kids should be taking AP courses in 9th grade, with probably a few exceptions here and there.

Most kids aren't ready for that kind of rigor or discipline and unfortunately, the lax attitudes of the pandemic from their middle school transition years really didn't prepare them for the reality check that comes with an AP course with regard to study habits and test taking intensity.

That being said, MCPS seems intent on cramming more and more kids on the advanced tracks sooner rather than later, even if the kids flounder and aren't ready. I assume this is because they think it makes them look good, but also because they have such liberal retake/reassessment policies that even if kids do struggle, they have multiple chances for do-overs, so in the end, they can still end up with a B or an A.

However, the truth lies in the AP exam scores, and if you look at the MCPS students taking these AP courses and the exam, a lot of kids are flopping with 1's or 2's on the exams, even though they've got a good classroom grade.

This right here. When your kid is getting an A in an AP course in MCPS and getting a 3 or lower on the test that gives them credit, well it looks pretty bad on the school and the student.

Some top colleges are only accepting 5's on exams now and most that kids that want to push themselves into only take 4's on the exams.

AP classes and honors classes count the same on a weighted scale. They shouldn't, but MCPS does anything for inflated grades.

No reason to take AP Gov and APUSH unless your child is intelligent enough to guarantee 4 and 5's on test.

Question - does the score get sent to colleges? Meaning unless you choose to disclose the score would colleges know? Or would they simply know that you took an AP course and whatever grade you received?

The score only gets sent it you choose to send it.

Under this advice, I would and have encouraged my kids to take APs and not stress about the exam. I think the goal should be taking classes with a strong cohort and getting a great grade on your transcript. If you then get a 4 or 5 great but its all about the class showing up on the transcript from what I am learning. Not sure why anyone would care about the test grade.

The reason why I care is because the disparity between the classroom grade and the exam shows how well or poorly the material was taught.

You have to remember within MCPS that there is an incredible amount of latitude given, with regard to flexible deadlines and test retakes. AP is MEANT to reflect the rigor of college. In college, you don’t get flexible deadlines and retake opportunities.

So kids are earning A’s or AB’s thinking their college ready, when in reality, they aren’t because they aren’t in fact performing at the college level truly since MCPS has so many training wheels on them.

MCPS should be holding itself accountable and view it as a serious issue that as many schools as I listed have less than 50% of their AP students scoring a 3 or more their AP exams.

No, you don't really care. You just want to push your right wing agenda and the "sky is falling" tactic because over 70% of MCPS kids are passing the AP tests, which means it is properly taught.

30% failure rate is pretty bad.

No. It's not. It's a college course/test.
The average passing rate nationwide is below 50%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The common app, which is what almost all universities use, will allow you to self report AP scores and you can report all, none, or your own self-selected set. If you don't report, then they won't know whether you took it or not.

There's a lot of discussion in the college board about what scores people should report. Suffice it to say, you probably won't self-report below 3. Beyond that, there's a lot of nuance it's not worth going into.

Once enrolled, you can send the official score report to the school you are attending (for credit/placement purposes) but you don't need to send that to all schools you apply to.

College admissions offices see that your kid took an AP class. They also see if they don't report an AP score for that class. Colleges admission offices actually see a lot and aren't stupid; they may be "test blind" but they're not blind.

False. From what I saw this last admissions cycle, there were many kids that went fully test optional and got into very selective schools. Annoying to see kids with awful SAT + AP scores and similar grades etc, that got into "better" schools that the kids that studied hard for the tests and did well. This is unfortunately the state of test-optional admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our school, Kennedy, they push the "gifted" kids to take AP Gov in 9th grade and AP US History in 10th grade.

In my opinion, having just done through this with my son, I don't think kids should be taking AP courses in 9th grade, with probably a few exceptions here and there.

Most kids aren't ready for that kind of rigor or discipline and unfortunately, the lax attitudes of the pandemic from their middle school transition years really didn't prepare them for the reality check that comes with an AP course with regard to study habits and test taking intensity.

That being said, MCPS seems intent on cramming more and more kids on the advanced tracks sooner rather than later, even if the kids flounder and aren't ready. I assume this is because they think it makes them look good, but also because they have such liberal retake/reassessment policies that even if kids do struggle, they have multiple chances for do-overs, so in the end, they can still end up with a B or an A.

However, the truth lies in the AP exam scores, and if you look at the MCPS students taking these AP courses and the exam, a lot of kids are flopping with 1's or 2's on the exams, even though they've got a good classroom grade.

This right here. When your kid is getting an A in an AP course in MCPS and getting a 3 or lower on the test that gives them credit, well it looks pretty bad on the school and the student.

Some top colleges are only accepting 5's on exams now and most that kids that want to push themselves into only take 4's on the exams.

AP classes and honors classes count the same on a weighted scale. They shouldn't, but MCPS does anything for inflated grades.

No reason to take AP Gov and APUSH unless your child is intelligent enough to guarantee 4 and 5's on test.

Question - does the score get sent to colleges? Meaning unless you choose to disclose the score would colleges know? Or would they simply know that you took an AP course and whatever grade you received?

The score only gets sent it you choose to send it.

Under this advice, I would and have encouraged my kids to take APs and not stress about the exam. I think the goal should be taking classes with a strong cohort and getting a great grade on your transcript. If you then get a 4 or 5 great but its all about the class showing up on the transcript from what I am learning. Not sure why anyone would care about the test grade.

The reason why I care is because the disparity between the classroom grade and the exam shows how well or poorly the material was taught.

You have to remember within MCPS that there is an incredible amount of latitude given, with regard to flexible deadlines and test retakes. AP is MEANT to reflect the rigor of college. In college, you don’t get flexible deadlines and retake opportunities.

So kids are earning A’s or AB’s thinking their college ready, when in reality, they aren’t because they aren’t in fact performing at the college level truly since MCPS has so many training wheels on them.

MCPS should be holding itself accountable and view it as a serious issue that as many schools as I listed have less than 50% of their AP students scoring a 3 or more their AP exams.

No, you don't really care. You just want to push your right wing agenda and the "sky is falling" tactic because over 70% of MCPS kids are passing the AP tests, which means it is properly taught.

30% failure rate is pretty bad.

No. It's not. It's a college course/test.
The average passing rate nationwide is below 50%.

The point of taking a college class isn't to fail it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The common app, which is what almost all universities use, will allow you to self report AP scores and you can report all, none, or your own self-selected set. If you don't report, then they won't know whether you took it or not.

There's a lot of discussion in the college board about what scores people should report. Suffice it to say, you probably won't self-report below 3. Beyond that, there's a lot of nuance it's not worth going into.

Once enrolled, you can send the official score report to the school you are attending (for credit/placement purposes) but you don't need to send that to all schools you apply to.

College admissions offices see that your kid took an AP class. They also see if they don't report an AP score for that class. Colleges admission offices actually see a lot and aren't stupid; they may be "test blind" but they're not blind.

False. From what I saw this last admissions cycle, there were many kids that went fully test optional and got into very selective schools. Annoying to see kids with awful SAT + AP scores and similar grades etc, that got into "better" schools that the kids that studied hard for the tests and did well. This is unfortunately the state of test-optional admissions.

How did you "see"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The common app, which is what almost all universities use, will allow you to self report AP scores and you can report all, none, or your own self-selected set. If you don't report, then they won't know whether you took it or not.

There's a lot of discussion in the college board about what scores people should report. Suffice it to say, you probably won't self-report below 3. Beyond that, there's a lot of nuance it's not worth going into.

Once enrolled, you can send the official score report to the school you are attending (for credit/placement purposes) but you don't need to send that to all schools you apply to.

College admissions offices see that your kid took an AP class. They also see if they don't report an AP score for that class. Colleges admission offices actually see a lot and aren't stupid; they may be "test blind" but they're not blind.

False. From what I saw this last admissions cycle, there were many kids that went fully test optional and got into very selective schools. Annoying to see kids with awful SAT + AP scores and similar grades etc, that got into "better" schools that the kids that studied hard for the tests and did well. This is unfortunately the state of test-optional admissions.

How did you "see"?

Sara Harberson application nation Facebook group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our school, Kennedy, they push the "gifted" kids to take AP Gov in 9th grade and AP US History in 10th grade.

In my opinion, having just done through this with my son, I don't think kids should be taking AP courses in 9th grade, with probably a few exceptions here and there.

Most kids aren't ready for that kind of rigor or discipline and unfortunately, the lax attitudes of the pandemic from their middle school transition years really didn't prepare them for the reality check that comes with an AP course with regard to study habits and test taking intensity.

That being said, MCPS seems intent on cramming more and more kids on the advanced tracks sooner rather than later, even if the kids flounder and aren't ready. I assume this is because they think it makes them look good, but also because they have such liberal retake/reassessment policies that even if kids do struggle, they have multiple chances for do-overs, so in the end, they can still end up with a B or an A.

However, the truth lies in the AP exam scores, and if you look at the MCPS students taking these AP courses and the exam, a lot of kids are flopping with 1's or 2's on the exams, even though they've got a good classroom grade.

This right here. When your kid is getting an A in an AP course in MCPS and getting a 3 or lower on the test that gives them credit, well it looks pretty bad on the school and the student.

Some top colleges are only accepting 5's on exams now and most that kids that want to push themselves into only take 4's on the exams.

AP classes and honors classes count the same on a weighted scale. They shouldn't, but MCPS does anything for inflated grades.

No reason to take AP Gov and APUSH unless your child is intelligent enough to guarantee 4 and 5's on test.

Question - does the score get sent to colleges? Meaning unless you choose to disclose the score would colleges know? Or would they simply know that you took an AP course and whatever grade you received?

The score only gets sent it you choose to send it.

Under this advice, I would and have encouraged my kids to take APs and not stress about the exam. I think the goal should be taking classes with a strong cohort and getting a great grade on your transcript. If you then get a 4 or 5 great but its all about the class showing up on the transcript from what I am learning. Not sure why anyone would care about the test grade.

The reason why I care is because the disparity between the classroom grade and the exam shows how well or poorly the material was taught.

You have to remember within MCPS that there is an incredible amount of latitude given, with regard to flexible deadlines and test retakes. AP is MEANT to reflect the rigor of college. In college, you don’t get flexible deadlines and retake opportunities.

So kids are earning A’s or AB’s thinking their college ready, when in reality, they aren’t because they aren’t in fact performing at the college level truly since MCPS has so many training wheels on them.

MCPS should be holding itself accountable and view it as a serious issue that as many schools as I listed have less than 50% of their AP students scoring a 3 or more their AP exams.

No, you don't really care. You just want to push your right wing agenda and the "sky is falling" tactic because over 70% of MCPS kids are passing the AP tests, which means it is properly taught.

30% failure rate is pretty bad.

No. It's not. It's a college course/test.
The average passing rate nationwide is below 50%.

The point of taking a college class isn't to fail it.

The point of taking any class isn't to fail but many people fail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At our school, Kennedy, they push the "gifted" kids to take AP Gov in 9th grade and AP US History in 10th grade.

In my opinion, having just done through this with my son, I don't think kids should be taking AP courses in 9th grade, with probably a few exceptions here and there.

Most kids aren't ready for that kind of rigor or discipline and unfortunately, the lax attitudes of the pandemic from their middle school transition years really didn't prepare them for the reality check that comes with an AP course with regard to study habits and test taking intensity.

That being said, MCPS seems intent on cramming more and more kids on the advanced tracks sooner rather than later, even if the kids flounder and aren't ready. I assume this is because they think it makes them look good, but also because they have such liberal retake/reassessment policies that even if kids do struggle, they have multiple chances for do-overs, so in the end, they can still end up with a B or an A.

However, the truth lies in the AP exam scores, and if you look at the MCPS students taking these AP courses and the exam, a lot of kids are flopping with 1's or 2's on the exams, even though they've got a good classroom grade.

This right here. When your kid is getting an A in an AP course in MCPS and getting a 3 or lower on the test that gives them credit, well it looks pretty bad on the school and the student.

Some top colleges are only accepting 5's on exams now and most that kids that want to push themselves into only take 4's on the exams.

AP classes and honors classes count the same on a weighted scale. They shouldn't, but MCPS does anything for inflated grades.

No reason to take AP Gov and APUSH unless your child is intelligent enough to guarantee 4 and 5's on test.

Question - does the score get sent to colleges? Meaning unless you choose to disclose the score would colleges know? Or would they simply know that you took an AP course and whatever grade you received?

The score only gets sent it you choose to send it.

Under this advice, I would and have encouraged my kids to take APs and not stress about the exam. I think the goal should be taking classes with a strong cohort and getting a great grade on your transcript. If you then get a 4 or 5 great but its all about the class showing up on the transcript from what I am learning. Not sure why anyone would care about the test grade.

The reason why I care is because the disparity between the classroom grade and the exam shows how well or poorly the material was taught.

You have to remember within MCPS that there is an incredible amount of latitude given, with regard to flexible deadlines and test retakes. AP is MEANT to reflect the rigor of college. In college, you don’t get flexible deadlines and retake opportunities.

So kids are earning A’s or AB’s thinking their college ready, when in reality, they aren’t because they aren’t in fact performing at the college level truly since MCPS has so many training wheels on them.

MCPS should be holding itself accountable and view it as a serious issue that as many schools as I listed have less than 50% of their AP students scoring a 3 or more their AP exams.

No, you don't really care. You just want to push your right wing agenda and the "sky is falling" tactic because over 70% of MCPS kids are passing the AP tests, which means it is properly taught.

You keep citing the 70% percent district wide rate, even though I pointed out to you that several high schools in MCPS have much lower pass rates. My kid is at one of those schools.

The fact that you’re ignoring the data shared to continue pushing your narrative that nothing is going wrong in MCPS speaks volumes about your agenda and your privilege.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At Einstein college bound kids all take AP Gov and APUSH. I agree with your DD’s assessment.

That is not true. I'm an Einstein parent of two college-bound kids, and neither took APUSH.

The top Einstein students all take APUSH.