Question from AP teacher

[Anonymous]

I'd want the better grades. I know my kid would do great on the exam, but sometimes grading is oddly incongruent with what my kids know. (not the teacher's fault)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like you are asking if 30-35% of college bound kids should get a D or F, because that’s the percent that fail the AP from you class? No. That’s ridiculous. A D or F takes a bunch of colleges off the table for juniors and can get a senior rescinded.

It depends on the subject and the high school. Physics C at TJ and AP ES at a bottom of the pack school are different things. AP Lang/Lit is core while psychology and HUG are often electives. Those things matter.

Some APs have a 50-60% fail rate some years. But, I would still wonder about a teacher where 30-35% of college bound FCPS at a HS in the top half of the pack are failing. That seems like weak teaching.

If you can get more kids to pass, absolutely do. But not sure why this requires a 4 to be a B vs, say, an A-? Or why kids who can demonstrate mastery but don’t do high pressure testing well should get a C or D when it would be an A or B I’d you pulled “aligns with AP score” out of the mix.

This is interesting, thanks for your input! Can I ask, why wouldn’t we encourage the college bound students who are failing this AP course to rethink their choices? they are failing for one of the following reasons: 1) their are overstretched with too many AP classes and/or after school commitments; or 2) they are not doing assignments and fall behind quickly; or 3) they are trying their best and doing all the work but because the class is just way too difficult/fast for them they really are only getting bits and pieces of curriculum (still learning which is great but often feel overwhelmed b/c can barely keep up). All these kids, if they do care about the grades and learning, would benefit from slowing down, may be taking lower level class this year, taking extra prep classes before trying again next year? Isn’t this a lesson to learn - make sure to not overcommit.

Teachers always try to support all students but there is only so much you can do at a higher level class of 30 students with large range of abilities.

Of purse there is option 4– teacher error— poor teaching, teaching the does not align well with the exam, teachers who dumb down to appease anxious junior parents, or teachers like one of my kid’s teachers in an elective at TJ— “the STEM is nearly impossible, so I am going to make sure my non-weighted, non-honors non STEM elective is nearly impossible too.

And all good teachers support students. But not every single teacher is good.

[Anonymous]

Yes, all kids should be encouraged to take an AP Class, but not pressured. Plenty are college-ready, enough, without AP.
No, the grading should not be dumbed-down. A likely 3 on the AP Exam is a "C" in the HS class. Not likely to even pass the Exam? No way should they be getting a C in the HS AP class.

[Anonymous]

If you think they will get a 2, give them a D.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine had a very hard grader. Got a C in the class, but got a 5 on the AP exam.

My 2 had the same teacher, got the same grade, and got very different scores on the AP exam, so the grade and scores just don't always correlate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine had a very hard grader. Got a C in the class, but got a 5 on the AP exam.

My 2 had the same teacher, got the same grade, and got very different scores on the AP exam, so the grade and scores just don't always correlate.

Thus the original question of the thread: are you ok with that or would you prefer class grades to be good predictor of AP exam score for most students? Obviously there will always be exceptions.

[Anonymous]

I want my kid’s grade in the class to reflect his mastery of the subject in that class. Taking a 3 hr test is not the same thing as taking a yearlong class.

[Anonymous]

Why does nobody at fcps know what they are doing? Every high school in the state is teaching this course. Use their tests and grading methods and modify as appropriate. Why does fcps waste time having teachers redo all thus stuff that is readily available? A teacher should not need to change more than 25 percent of their coursework per the kids in class and their own method of teaching.

[Anonymous]

I equate a 3 on the exam to a C plus. The kids who get a 3 should be getting around a C to a B during the year. Why is this even a question? This course has been taken by hundreds of thousands by now.

[Anonymous]

I want the grades entered in a timely fashion so I can get after my kid and glue them in front of the kitchen table if they are blowing off the class or not turning in the work, or get them help and tutors if they are doing the work and struggling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, all kids should be encouraged to take an AP Class, but not pressured. Plenty are college-ready, enough, without AP.
No, the grading should not be dumbed-down. A likely 3 on the AP Exam is a "C" in the HS class. Not likely to even pass the Exam? No way should they be getting a C in the HS AP class.

This is stupid. How you do on the exam is no indicative of how you do in the class. Those exams are a specific animal and the questions are often hard to understand (even for me reading the practice tests and I am an excellent test taker). There is not that correlation for a lot of kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, all kids should be encouraged to take an AP Class, but not pressured. Plenty are college-ready, enough, without AP.
No, the grading should not be dumbed-down. A likely 3 on the AP Exam is a "C" in the HS class. Not likely to even pass the Exam? No way should they be getting a C in the HS AP class.

This is stupid. How you do on the exam is no indicative of how you do in the class. Those exams are a specific animal and the questions are often hard to understand (even for me reading the practice tests and I am an excellent test taker). There is not that correlation for a lot of kids.

Yes it is. This is an extremely standardized class with tons of outside standardized material. Any tutor knows exactly what chapter 4 entails. While some people aren't great test takers if you aren't probably AP classes aren't for you for one but also the class specifically teaches to this one test so they absolutely should correlate.

[Anonymous]

How funny that so many people here called OP stupid and incompetent and themselves do not agree on what is the “correct” way to do it. This is the case in point- the approach of assigning grade in AP classes varies from school to school and even teacher to teacher. I have met many AP teachers who’d say “I do it this way:…” and never met an AP teacher who said “in our county we do it this way:..”. And up to today you might have thought “ it is obvious” , but what is obvious that it is not! It usually comes down to what school/department agenda and what is suitable for their student body. And sometimes in singleton classes in school that has other priorities it is left to the teacher to decide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, all kids should be encouraged to take an AP Class, but not pressured. Plenty are college-ready, enough, without AP.
No, the grading should not be dumbed-down. A likely 3 on the AP Exam is a "C" in the HS class. Not likely to even pass the Exam? No way should they be getting a C in the HS AP class.

This is stupid. How you do on the exam is no indicative of how you do in the class. Those exams are a specific animal and the questions are often hard to understand (even for me reading the practice tests and I am an excellent test taker). There is not that correlation for a lot of kids.

Yes it is. This is an extremely standardized class with tons of outside standardized material. Any tutor knows exactly what chapter 4 entails. While some people aren't great test takers if you aren't probably AP classes aren't for you for one but also the class specifically teaches to this one test so they absolutely should correlate.

Why are you making such gross generalizations. OF COURSE you can take and AP class if you aren't a good test taker. Our APUSH teacher's tests, quizzes, assignments, flashcards and a billion other assignment are not the same as the standarized APUSH exam. It's isn't. The other APUSH class at our school doesn't give near the number of assignments my child's does and DC is doing well. Really well. So OFC DC should be taking that regardless of what happens on the AP exam (the only AP taken before had an A in the class but 3 on the exam).

Further, not everyone can just run out and get a tutor to help prepare for every AP class, if that's what you're implying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How funny that so many people here called OP stupid and incompetent and themselves do not agree on what is the “correct” way to do it. This is the case in point- the approach of assigning grade in AP classes varies from school to school and even teacher to teacher. I have met many AP teachers who’d say “I do it this way:…” and never met an AP teacher who said “in our county we do it this way:..”. And up to today you might have thought “ it is obvious” , but what is obvious that it is not! It usually comes down to what school/department agenda and what is suitable for their student body. And sometimes in singleton classes in school that has other priorities it is left to the teacher to decide.

Winner, winner. Totally agree.