How did your HS Freshman perform on AP exams?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS who was straight A grades all year in APUSH and he studied like a demon for the exam, only got a 3

It's called grade inflation.

No it isn't. He is kind of a social studies genius. That's his thing.

The AP examiners clearly did not agree.

This. He isn’t a social studies genius with a 3. I have no idea if grades were inflated or not but there are right and wrong things on the ap exams. Your kid was missing a large section of them.

The exam is only 40% multiple choice. Writing skills and legibility can tank a student on 60% of the test.

Yes, but writing skills are a huge part of high education. That’s like saying my kid would be axing through college but for the writing requirements. Legibility - maybe. But he’s not getting a 3 with amazing output and poor handwriting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Freshman son got a 3 on AP World. He was happy with it, and honestly I was relieved that he passed. He got an A in the course and had an excellent teacher. He said that he wished he had studied more, but his writing skills still need some work. I'm grateful for what he learned in the class, particularly around writing. AP World is the only option for 9th graders at his private, and he'll take AP Modern European next year. (Again, the only AP option for his grade.) If he could just pull 3s and 4s from here on out, I'd be fine with it. He's a great kid but not destined for a T20.

It's pretty insane to expect a 9th grader to do well on AP World History, PP. In MCPS it's usually taken in 11th grade, and believe me, those two years of extra maturity and organizational skills count for a lot. World History is the hardest humanities AP, period. Far more work than US History and US Gov& Pol/NSL. Far harder than European History (it'll be a breeze next year).

You could mention to the school that their AP order is completely messed up.

DCPS does AP World in 10th grade and APUSH in 11th. AP Gov in 12th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Freshman son got a 3 on AP World. He was happy with it, and honestly I was relieved that he passed. He got an A in the course and had an excellent teacher. He said that he wished he had studied more, but his writing skills still need some work. I'm grateful for what he learned in the class, particularly around writing. AP World is the only option for 9th graders at his private, and he'll take AP Modern European next year. (Again, the only AP option for his grade.) If he could just pull 3s and 4s from here on out, I'd be fine with it. He's a great kid but not destined for a T20.

It's pretty insane to expect a 9th grader to do well on AP World History, PP. In MCPS it's usually taken in 11th grade, and believe me, those two years of extra maturity and organizational skills count for a lot. World History is the hardest humanities AP, period. Far more work than US History and US Gov& Pol/NSL. Far harder than European History (it'll be a breeze next year).

You could mention to the school that their AP order is completely messed up.

Not true in my kids' school. About half the kids take AP World, and over half of them got a 4 or 5.

[Anonymous]

Last year (when school year was virtual in MCPS) my freshman got a 1 in APUSH. I knew they wasn’t ready for the test. They got a 4 in AP Government this year as a sophomore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Freshman son got a 3 on AP World. He was happy with it, and honestly I was relieved that he passed. He got an A in the course and had an excellent teacher. He said that he wished he had studied more, but his writing skills still need some work. I'm grateful for what he learned in the class, particularly around writing. AP World is the only option for 9th graders at his private, and he'll take AP Modern European next year. (Again, the only AP option for his grade.) If he could just pull 3s and 4s from here on out, I'd be fine with it. He's a great kid but not destined for a T20.

It's pretty insane to expect a 9th grader to do well on AP World History, PP. In MCPS it's usually taken in 11th grade, and believe me, those two years of extra maturity and organizational skills count for a lot. World History is the hardest humanities AP, period. Far more work than US History and US Gov& Pol/NSL. Far harder than European History (it'll be a breeze next year).

You could mention to the school that their AP order is completely messed up.

DCPS does AP World in 10th grade and APUSH in 11th. AP Gov in 12th.

I disagree. I think APUSH is much harder than World. World is more thematic and APUSH requires much more in depth knowledge and memorization. It’s a ton of material.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS who was straight A grades all year in APUSH and he studied like a demon for the exam, only got a 3

It's called grade inflation.

No it isn't. He is kind of a social studies genius. That's his thing.

The AP examiners clearly did not agree.

This. He isn’t a social studies genius with a 3. I have no idea if grades were inflated or not but there are right and wrong things on the ap exams. Your kid was missing a large section of them.

The exam is only 40% multiple choice. Writing skills and legibility can tank a student on 60% of the test.

Yes, but writing skills are a huge part of high education. That’s like saying my kid would be axing through college but for the writing requirements. Legibility - maybe. But he’s not getting a 3 with amazing output and poor handwriting.

They must see a lot of bad handwriting. My recent grad DS has atrocious handwriting and he got 5s in the two tests he took this year (Literature and Human Geography).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that kids with barely legible handwriting (and no accommodations) can't get higher than a 3?

My kid got a 3 and almost every practice scored a 5 on the multiple choice. DC has
bad handwriting and horrible spelling. We think it was an issue. Top student in class at well-regarded school. How can you get accommodations to type?

I’ve taught APWH for years and have had students with AWFUL (like had to be read at all to mostly decipher) handwriting get 4s and 5s.

Do you give them a lot of feedback on practice essays? My kid got NONE. If it’s important, why isn’t it taught? So frustrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS who was straight A grades all year in APUSH and he studied like a demon for the exam, only got a 3

It's called grade inflation.

No it isn't. He is kind of a social studies genius. That's his thing.

The AP examiners clearly did not agree.

This. He isn’t a social studies genius with a 3. I have no idea if grades were inflated or not but there are right and wrong things on the ap exams. Your kid was missing a large section of them.

The exam is only 40% multiple choice. Writing skills and legibility can tank a student on 60% of the test.

Yes, but writing skills are a huge part of high education. That’s like saying my kid would be axing through college but for the writing requirements. Legibility - maybe. But he’s not getting a 3 with amazing output and poor handwriting.

Of course the APs have extensive analysis and writing, as they should. Which is why PP was incorrect to say the test is about "right and wrong" answers. This thread is about freshman taking APs, and they are being compared to seniors taking the same class. PP's point that the other PP's child can't be "a social studies genius" is not necessarily correct, because as a a freshmen his writing skills are not college level yet. It is also why AP's are not designed for freshman. Students writing skills and critical thinking changes significantly from age 14 to 18. By senior year, that kid's writing skill may catch up to his "genius" and then maybe he should sit the test again.

(also on the point about legibility, if the handwriting is illegible the kid might actually have amazing output, but the test reader will never know it because they can't decipher it).

[Anonymous]

Class of 2023:
9th CS Principles-4;
10th CS A-5, APW-4;
11th Calc BC-5, Phy M-4, APUSH-3!

98% for the YEAR in APUSH. 🙄

[Anonymous]

My son (9th grader who got 3 on AP World this year) got typing accommodations. His handwriting is horrific although he doesn't have dysgraphia. When the counselor applied for his ADHD accommodations, she threw in a request him to type. Thankfully it was approved. I think he would have been lucky to get a 2 if he had to handwrite his test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Freshman son got a 3 on AP World. He was happy with it, and honestly I was relieved that he passed. He got an A in the course and had an excellent teacher. He said that he wished he had studied more, but his writing skills still need some work. I'm grateful for what he learned in the class, particularly around writing. AP World is the only option for 9th graders at his private, and he'll take AP Modern European next year. (Again, the only AP option for his grade.) If he could just pull 3s and 4s from here on out, I'd be fine with it. He's a great kid but not destined for a T20.

It's pretty insane to expect a 9th grader to do well on AP World History, PP. In MCPS it's usually taken in 11th grade, and believe me, those two years of extra maturity and organizational skills count for a lot. World History is the hardest humanities AP, period. Far more work than US History and US Gov& Pol/NSL. Far harder than European History (it'll be a breeze next year).

You could mention to the school that their AP order is completely messed up.

PP here. I agree that the AP World class was a lot for a freshman, particularly for my son who is smart but very scattered. Despite the less than stellar test score, he grew a lot from the experience. The teacher was also a rock star and made the subject matter really interesting for my son. I'm glad he has the same teacher next year for AP European. However, I agree that the sequence leaves much to be desired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS who was straight A grades all year in APUSH and he studied like a demon for the exam, only got a 3

It's called grade inflation.

No it isn't. He is kind of a social studies genius. That's his thing.

The AP examiners clearly did not agree.

This. He isn’t a social studies genius with a 3. I have no idea if grades were inflated or not but there are right and wrong things on the ap exams. Your kid was missing a large section of them.

The exam is only 40% multiple choice. Writing skills and legibility can tank a student on 60% of the test.

Yes, but writing skills are a huge part of high education. That’s like saying my kid would be axing through college but for the writing requirements. Legibility - maybe. But he’s not getting a 3 with amazing output and poor handwriting.

Does he have a dysgraphia diagnosis? My DD has CB accommodations for a computer because she has a dysgraphia diagnosis. She honestly cannot read her own handwriting sometimes. She also has difficulty with content if she is focused on writing. We had to submit a neuropsych report with the diagnosis and she has to use accommodations in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS who was straight A grades all year in APUSH and he studied like a demon for the exam, only got a 3

It's called grade inflation.

No it isn't. He is kind of a social studies genius. That's his thing.

The AP examiners clearly did not agree.

This. He isn’t a social studies genius with a 3. I have no idea if grades were inflated or not but there are right and wrong things on the ap exams. Your kid was missing a large section of them.

The exam is only 40% multiple choice. Writing skills and legibility can tank a student on 60% of the test.

I didn't know this. His handwriting is awful. I thought the essays were typed. Thank you. So we know where to go from here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone else think this is a sign that something is off? Full disclosure, I think you should have to sit for the exam to receive AP credit (I think school districts should pay for it). To get the GPA and rigor bump of an AP but not be prepared for the test makes no sense to me.

This is a systemic problem - so understand why kids would not subject themselves to the test if it doesn’t matter - but I think it devalues the AP distinction.

Agree. It’s the AP arms race at its finest. Thank you, Jay Matthews and the Challenge Index. Combine that with grade inflation and easy standards and this is the result: kids getting As in the class but 3 or under on the exam.

Full disclosure for me is that my kids go to private schools that do not offer APs. I feel very strongly that the CB has their hooks in our education system and is laughing all the way to the bank. I get it, though, if your school offers AP, you basically have to take it for college purposes.

I don’t think you understand AP courses very well. Many of them have challenging and difficult content and give you a good foundation for college.
I would say it takes a few years to figure out how to optimally teach an AP course. So if you have a teacher who has taught it for 3 years or less, they could be doing their best but will likely fall short. It is often tricky to get the pacing right. It took me until year 5 when I felt I finally nailed it and my students scores dramatically improved. I also teach an AP course that is considered very difficult and has a low pass rate

They give an excellent foundation for college. They wee designed by teams of college professors and high school teachers and are graded by these same groups. I regularly had my students come back to tell me their freshman and sophomore years of college were significantly easier for them than for their classmates who hadn't taken AP (or IB) classes.

Interesting because there are multiple posts here and elsewhere from college profs who feel these test do not prepare kids for college:

College prof here. Content coverage is solid but, generally speaking, insufficient depth, critical thinking, and analytical writing to prep for a college course imo. IB courses much more effective in those respects. I consider AP courses valuable to a point but students who receive AP course credit and opt out of college intro courses do not tend to do well in intermediate and UL coursework.

I think it may depend on the subject. My kid is at an Ivy and went straight into multi variable calculus after getting a 5 in AP Calculus BC. Had no trouble keeping up and got an A. The Ivy also put my kid in an advanced chemistry class after they got a 4 in AP Chem. It was a little bit of a struggle to keep up but no real issue and kid got an A- in the advanced college class. Also, went straight into the 2nd year of college physics after taking AP Physics and had no issues keeping up. My kid was not able to coast their freshman year of college. They worked very hard but the AP classes from a mediocre public had prepared them well.

It makes sense that courses which are not writing-intensive would transfer more effectively to college-level work. It's the analytical writing part that public school kids tend to lack when they go to college, even if they managed to score reasonably well (3s/4s) on the exams in the humanities and social sciences. My kid's US Gov and Politics teacher was solid in terms of content but spent no time on writing / essay preparation. DH and I worked with DS on that when he did practice tests.

[Anonymous]

Did any 9th graders take the AP Physics 1 exam?
My kid got a 2 and was a bit crushed by it.
Said the 3 h exam was the worst experience of his life. It is a hard class.
I’m not sure why they have some 9th graders take it.