DCPS AP and SAT score data from 2016-17 released

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm highly disappointed in Wilson's AP passing rate. I'm curios why DCPS didn't break down the pass rates by FARMS, Race, ESOL, and other demographics.

Supposedly the honors-for-all at Wilson will magically turn those 1s and 2s into 4s and 5s. Just as I'm sure they are all "passing" 9th grade honors English and biology.

My mother taught AP English (elsewhere) for 20+ years and was a reader for those tests every June in Austin. Other teachers at her school (also my alma mater) served as readers as well in other subjects. They got great experience in seeing how other students approached the exam and learning fellow AP English teachers each year during that period. Do any DCPS teachers serve as readers? Selection back then had been based on the teacher's own student performance. The biology and chemistry teachers at my school had a decades-long streak of never having had a student score below a 4.

And for public school kids (or any student) getting a 4 or 5 can save tuition dollars. Some universities give a full year of college credit (6 credits) for a 5, or a semester credit for a 4. At Georgetown, I didn't earn credit, but I was able to place out of required 100-level courses and take much more interesting upper-level electives instead.

DC is doing a disservice by failing to prepare students properly for these exams.

If there is pressure to have everyone at a comprehensive high school pass, what will happen is that fewer students will be allowed to take APs.

However, IMO the magnet schools should be held to a higher standard.

What's wrong with that?! If the class is not geared towards the exam, then it shouldn't be called an AP class. Make it an "intensive" class or whatever. Not everyone should be in AP classes.

Nor should everyone be in honors classes but that doesn't stop DCPS.

[Anonymous]

But I thought the reason Wilson's PAARC scores were poor was because those children and staff were concentrating ever so hard on the AP. Now I'm confused. I mean, surely that wasn't just a convenient excuse...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But I thought the reason Wilson's PAARC scores were poor was because those children and staff were concentrating ever so hard on the AP. Now I'm confused. I mean, surely that wasn't just a convenient excuse...

Touché. For the most part though few will take PARCC after 10th grade. And most (not all) AP classes are taken in 11th and 12th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How could 25% of students at SWW fail to pass even one AP exam with a 3 or higher?

For example, AP Eng Lang is a required course and test for all 11th graders at SWW. AP World and AP US History courses are also required at SWW. Perhaps a quarter of those kids are not a good fit for those courses?

Then shouldn’t they fail the class too?

No there are just some kids who bomb tests for various reasons.

Which will catch up to them when they face final exams in college. The point of making students take AP exams in high school is to ensure they are ready for college.

Not really. I am a mediocre assessment test taker but graduated college with honors. One test doesn’t always accurately reflect knowledge. For example, while a graduate student we had numerous student ace the TOEFL who could not speak or understand English. We then had to scramble to put someone else in their teaching slot.

[Anonymous]

The scores for English Language and English Lit are just awful and embarrassing.

Also, it appears Spanish Language is a pretty big driver of DCPS AP passing numbers (230+ passed with 3 or higher). I'm sure the vast majority of those are native speakers. Same with the Chinese language numbers (high pass rate).

Calculus BC kids are kicking ass. Who is their teacher?!?

[Anonymous]

DCPS has set up the grading breakdowns in all classes so that mastery of material is not necessary to pass. Only 40% of a student's grade is Assessments. You can have a 25% average on assessments, do all other work and still get a 70 in an AP course.

[Anonymous]

in case you didn't see the relevant tables, here are the 3-or-better AP scores by DCPS high school.
Wilson: 463
SWS: 312
CHEC 134
Banneker: 122
McKinley: 64
Ellington: 48
Cardozo: 20
Eastern: 4
Woodson: 4
Dunbar: 3
Roosevelt: 3
Ballou: 1
Phelps: 1
Anacostia: 0
Coolidge: 0

[Anonymous]

my take: for my kids, I'm not going to send them to a DCPS HS where AP passes round to zero. A few is fine. Cardozo doesn't even freak me out. But the others...bad news. How could my kid have peers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:in case you didn't see the relevant tables, here are the 3-or-better AP scores by DCPS high school.
Wilson: 463
SWS: 312
CHEC 134
Banneker: 122
McKinley: 64
Ellington: 48
Cardozo: 20
Eastern: 4
Woodson: 4
Dunbar: 3
Roosevelt: 3
Ballou: 1
Phelps: 1
Anacostia: 0
Coolidge: 0

This chart is misleading as a standalone - you need to also have how many kids took the tests to give some context.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The scores for English Language and English Lit are just awful and embarrassing.

Also, it appears Spanish Language is a pretty big driver of DCPS AP passing numbers (230+ passed with 3 or higher). I'm sure the vast majority of those are native speakers. Same with the Chinese language numbers (high pass rate).

Calculus BC kids are kicking ass. Who is their teacher?!?

The more pressing question is who the hell is teaching AP Chemistry?!?!? Only 5 kids go 3 or higher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:in case you didn't see the relevant tables, here are the 3-or-better AP scores by DCPS high school.
Wilson: 463
SWS: 312
CHEC 134
Banneker: 122
McKinley: 64
Ellington: 48
Cardozo: 20
Eastern: 4
Woodson: 4
Dunbar: 3
Roosevelt: 3
Ballou: 1
Phelps: 1
Anacostia: 0
Coolidge: 0

This chart is misleading as a standalone - you need to also have how many kids took the tests to give some context.

Not misleading. The "takers" column gives you a little bit of context and lets you know how many failed/succeeded, but fundamentally, there isn't some pool of kids at Anacostia who could've aced the AP tests but just somehow opted out because they were already coasting into Harvard or something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The scores for English Language and English Lit are just awful and embarrassing.

Also, it appears Spanish Language is a pretty big driver of DCPS AP passing numbers (230+ passed with 3 or higher). I'm sure the vast majority of those are native speakers. Same with the Chinese language numbers (high pass rate).

Calculus BC kids are kicking ass. Who is their teacher?!?

The more pressing question is who the hell is teaching AP Chemistry?!?!? Only 5 kids go 3 or higher.

AP chem is offered at more than one school. It also has one of the lowest pass rates for all AP test takers internationally.

[Anonymous]

where in DCPS do you get prep to take the AP exam in Latin?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my take: for my kids, I'm not going to send them to a DCPS HS where AP passes round to zero. A few is fine. Cardozo doesn't even freak me out. But the others...bad news. How could my kid have peers?

They would have peers because there are other kids in their grade...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:where in DCPS do you get prep to take the AP exam in Latin?

SWW offers Latin as an alternative to a world language. Not sure if it's offered elsewhere.