AP exams free next year?

[Anonymous]

Not a fan of monopolist College Board collecting $3 million of our tax dollars with no accountability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not a fan of monopolist College Board collecting $3 million of our tax dollars with no accountability.

what kind of accountability are you looking for from the CB?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even putting $1000 on a credit card at 20%/yr s a better deal than any year of college. Financial aid for lower middle class isn't that generous.

The real risk is the wasted money from all the kids who will fail the AP tests. MoCo already has a 25% failure rate, sure to increase when tests are free.

Agree.

My guess is that they will try this for one year. It will lead to an even higher failure rate, and they'll scrap the plan.

Who is they? Multiple counties in the state of Maryland? Or the State of Maryland itself which pretty much clearly indicated this is what they wanted to see?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even putting $1000 on a credit card at 20%/yr s a better deal than any year of college. Financial aid for lower middle class isn't that generous.

The real risk is the wasted money from all the kids who will fail the AP tests. MoCo already has a 25% failure rate, sure to increase when tests are free.

This is what happens when you let anyone sign up for AP classes. Students should have a proven track record of academic success in previous honors courses prior to being allowed in AP classes.

Don't even need that. Just need to give legit quarterly exams to show progress and qualify for AP exam. Nothing wrong with exposing whoever wants to the material, so long as they aren't disruptive.

When the teacher has to slow down the class because there are students in it who don't belong, it affects everyone.

No one "has to" slow down. That's a bad teacher who needs to do their job properly.

This is my neighbor’s biggest issue with teaching AP classes. She has students in some of her classes who cannot do the work because they read below grade level and have frequent absences. Because of the public school district’s obsession with equity, those students are allowed to sign up for her classes. She’s required to accommodate them which slows down the students who are prepared for the class.

It shouldn’t. Accommodation can take many forms. PowerPoint outline notes (they provide this in college and med school). Dedicated time to stop by during lunch or after school for assistance. Referral to tutoring or support class. Referral for reading evaluation services. Email reminder to entire class the week of exams and ensuring dates are correct and up to date in Canvas. Request if a conference w/ student and counselor. Study guides. None of these require slowing down the class.

AP classes are not on-level courses. Kids should not be gate kept from them and should be encouraged to take challenges. They should also be provided the expectations of taking such as class (ie you will need to devote 30-45 mins per night to this class).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a fan of monopolist College Board collecting $3 million of our tax dollars with no accountability.

what kind of accountability are you looking for from the CB?

I am looking for score reporting akin to what they do for SAT. That would be number of multiple choice questions correct/incorrect; general point reporting for essays and short answer questions. Currently it's a black box - take the test, get a number 1-5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even putting $1000 on a credit card at 20%/yr s a better deal than any year of college. Financial aid for lower middle class isn't that generous.

The real risk is the wasted money from all the kids who will fail the AP tests. MoCo already has a 25% failure rate, sure to increase when tests are free.

This is what happens when you let anyone sign up for AP classes. Students should have a proven track record of academic success in previous honors courses prior to being allowed in AP classes.

Don't even need that. Just need to give legit quarterly exams to show progress and qualify for AP exam. Nothing wrong with exposing whoever wants to the material, so long as they aren't disruptive.

When the teacher has to slow down the class because there are students in it who don't belong, it affects everyone.

No one "has to" slow down. That's a bad teacher who needs to do their job properly.

This is my neighbor’s biggest issue with teaching AP classes. She has students in some of her classes who cannot do the work because they read below grade level and have frequent absences. Because of the public school district’s obsession with equity, those students are allowed to sign up for her classes. She’s required to accommodate them which slows down the students who are prepared for the class.

It shouldn’t. Accommodation can take many forms. PowerPoint outline notes (they provide this in college and med school). Dedicated time to stop by during lunch or after school for assistance. Referral to tutoring or support class. Referral for reading evaluation services. Email reminder to entire class the week of exams and ensuring dates are correct and up to date in Canvas. Request if a conference w/ student and counselor. Study guides. None of these require slowing down the class.

AP classes are not on-level courses. Kids should not be gate kept from them and should be encouraged to take challenges. They should also be provided the expectations of taking such as class (ie you will need to devote 30-45 mins per night to this class).

They are no on-grade level courses but yet on-grade level students and below are allowed to take them. Teachers bend over backwards but at the end of the day, students who can’t keep up slow down the class and exhaust the teacher. Teachers should not be expected to give their own personal time to students who shouldn’t be in the class in the first place. Why should the teacher be expected to catch students up with poor attendance or who are interested in doing the work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not a fan of monopolist College Board collecting $3 million of our tax dollars with no accountability.

It's a great gig. Hard for people to advocate against the county offering free AP exams. So, the College Board collects even more taxpayer money!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even putting $1000 on a credit card at 20%/yr s a better deal than any year of college. Financial aid for lower middle class isn't that generous.

The real risk is the wasted money from all the kids who will fail the AP tests. MoCo already has a 25% failure rate, sure to increase when tests are free.

This is what happens when you let anyone sign up for AP classes. Students should have a proven track record of academic success in previous honors courses prior to being allowed in AP classes.

Don't even need that. Just need to give legit quarterly exams to show progress and qualify for AP exam. Nothing wrong with exposing whoever wants to the material, so long as they aren't disruptive.

When the teacher has to slow down the class because there are students in it who don't belong, it affects everyone.

No one "has to" slow down. That's a bad teacher who needs to do their job properly.

This is my neighbor’s biggest issue with teaching AP classes. She has students in some of her classes who cannot do the work because they read below grade level and have frequent absences. Because of the public school district’s obsession with equity, those students are allowed to sign up for her classes. She’s required to accommodate them which slows down the students who are prepared for the class.

What happened when she tried to not accommodate them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a fan of monopolist College Board collecting $3 million of our tax dollars with no accountability.

It's a great gig. Hard for people to advocate against the county offering free AP exams. So, the College Board collects even more taxpayer money!

A little out of date, but sheds some light: https://www.therealcollegeboard.org/finance

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a fan of monopolist College Board collecting $3 million of our tax dollars with no accountability.

It's a great gig. Hard for people to advocate against the county offering free AP exams. So, the College Board collects even more taxpayer money!

A little out of date, but sheds some light: https://www.therealcollegeboard.org/finance

Could you come up with a more fake website "Between 2011 and 2019, the College Board has invested over 1.32 billion dollars in the Caribbean. Mostly likely, these investments were put into hedge funds in the Cayman Islands in order to take advantage of tax loopholes."

They are speculating that a non-profit is investing in the Caymen Islands to avoid taxes that it doesn't pay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even putting $1000 on a credit card at 20%/yr s a better deal than any year of college. Financial aid for lower middle class isn't that generous.

The real risk is the wasted money from all the kids who will fail the AP tests. MoCo already has a 25% failure rate, sure to increase when tests are free.

This is what happens when you let anyone sign up for AP classes. Students should have a proven track record of academic success in previous honors courses prior to being allowed in AP classes.

Don't even need that. Just need to give legit quarterly exams to show progress and qualify for AP exam. Nothing wrong with exposing whoever wants to the material, so long as they aren't disruptive.

When the teacher has to slow down the class because there are students in it who don't belong, it affects everyone.

No one "has to" slow down. That's a bad teacher who needs to do their job properly.

This is my neighbor’s biggest issue with teaching AP classes. She has students in some of her classes who cannot do the work because they read below grade level and have frequent absences. Because of the public school district’s obsession with equity, those students are allowed to sign up for her classes. She’s required to accommodate them which slows down the students who are prepared for the class.

What happened when she tried to not accommodate them?

She had to hence the slower pace of the class. This happens a lot when the class is open enrollment. The district can brag about how many kids are taking AP classes but look at the pass rates. They’ve gone down. Not exactly a surprise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even putting $1000 on a credit card at 20%/yr s a better deal than any year of college. Financial aid for lower middle class isn't that generous.

The real risk is the wasted money from all the kids who will fail the AP tests. MoCo already has a 25% failure rate, sure to increase when tests are free.

This is what happens when you let anyone sign up for AP classes. Students should have a proven track record of academic success in previous honors courses prior to being allowed in AP classes.

Don't even need that. Just need to give legit quarterly exams to show progress and qualify for AP exam. Nothing wrong with exposing whoever wants to the material, so long as they aren't disruptive.

When the teacher has to slow down the class because there are students in it who don't belong, it affects everyone.

No one "has to" slow down. That's a bad teacher who needs to do their job properly.

This is my neighbor’s biggest issue with teaching AP classes. She has students in some of her classes who cannot do the work because they read below grade level and have frequent absences. Because of the public school district’s obsession with equity, those students are allowed to sign up for her classes. She’s required to accommodate them which slows down the students who are prepared for the class.

What happened when she tried to not accommodate them?

She had to hence the slower pace of the class. This happens a lot when the class is open enrollment. The district can brag about how many kids are taking AP classes but look at the pass rates. They’ve gone down. Not exactly a surprise.

Why did she "had to"? Did parents complain? Admin mandates something? What? What were the accomodations? There is no definition of "accomodation" that includes "not teaching the material". When teachers try that, because it's the easiest solution for them, parents sue.
What were the accommodations?
Overall pass rates due to unqualified students are not relevant to the question of how the class is taught and the pass rates of qualified students.
I'm looking for facts, not speculation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even putting $1000 on a credit card at 20%/yr s a better deal than any year of college. Financial aid for lower middle class isn't that generous.

The real risk is the wasted money from all the kids who will fail the AP tests. MoCo already has a 25% failure rate, sure to increase when tests are free.

This is what happens when you let anyone sign up for AP classes. Students should have a proven track record of academic success in previous honors courses prior to being allowed in AP classes.

Don't even need that. Just need to give legit quarterly exams to show progress and qualify for AP exam. Nothing wrong with exposing whoever wants to the material, so long as they aren't disruptive.

When the teacher has to slow down the class because there are students in it who don't belong, it affects everyone.

No one "has to" slow down. That's a bad teacher who needs to do their job properly.

This is my neighbor’s biggest issue with teaching AP classes. She has students in some of her classes who cannot do the work because they read below grade level and have frequent absences. Because of the public school district’s obsession with equity, those students are allowed to sign up for her classes. She’s required to accommodate them which slows down the students who are prepared for the class.

What happened when she tried to not accommodate them?

She had to hence the slower pace of the class. This happens a lot when the class is open enrollment. The district can brag about how many kids are taking AP classes but look at the pass rates. They’ve gone down. Not exactly a surprise.

Why did she "had to"? Did parents complain? Admin mandates something? What? What were the accomodations? There is no definition of "accomodation" that includes "not teaching the material". When teachers try that, because it's the easiest solution for them, parents sue.
What were the accommodations?
Overall pass rates due to unqualified students are not relevant to the question of how the class is taught and the pass rates of qualified students.
I'm looking for facts, not speculation.

The fact is the pass rates for AP courses have gone down. Why? When you let unprepared students take the class, the teacher is required to meet their needs. How well do you think a kid who reads below grade level and misses class frequently will do? Teachers don’t get to write this students off. We are required to contact parents over failing grades which takes time away from grading and planning. Our admin pushes hard for passing grades so we have to have extra sessions before/after school for these failing students. My planning time is often taken up covering for classes with no sub so my prep time is after school. I shouldn’t be expected to use that time tutoring students who don’t belong in the class in the first place. These are no required courses. They are college level equivalent courses yet we are expected to make sure students who are below grade level pass them even if they don’t do the work. That’s what your tax dollars pay for. If I didn’t have a kid going to college next year, I would’ve quit years ago. This is not the MCPS it used to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even putting $1000 on a credit card at 20%/yr s a better deal than any year of college. Financial aid for lower middle class isn't that generous.

The real risk is the wasted money from all the kids who will fail the AP tests. MoCo already has a 25% failure rate, sure to increase when tests are free.

This is what happens when you let anyone sign up for AP classes. Students should have a proven track record of academic success in previous honors courses prior to being allowed in AP classes.

Don't even need that. Just need to give legit quarterly exams to show progress and qualify for AP exam. Nothing wrong with exposing whoever wants to the material, so long as they aren't disruptive.

When the teacher has to slow down the class because there are students in it who don't belong, it affects everyone.

No one "has to" slow down. That's a bad teacher who needs to do their job properly.

This is my neighbor’s biggest issue with teaching AP classes. She has students in some of her classes who cannot do the work because they read below grade level and have frequent absences. Because of the public school district’s obsession with equity, those students are allowed to sign up for her classes. She’s required to accommodate them which slows down the students who are prepared for the class.

What happened when she tried to not accommodate them?

She had to hence the slower pace of the class. This happens a lot when the class is open enrollment. The district can brag about how many kids are taking AP classes but look at the pass rates. They’ve gone down. Not exactly a surprise.

This. Our non-W lets kids take APUSH as freshmen and plenty of the kids in DD’s class did NOT belong there. They just were not ready for it.

Having more kids take the class (even if they are not ready for it) doesn’t serve anyone. The kids should be in a class that is appropriate for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a fan of monopolist College Board collecting $3 million of our tax dollars with no accountability.

It's a great gig. Hard for people to advocate against the county offering free AP exams. So, the College Board collects even more taxpayer money!

A little out of date, but sheds some light: https://www.therealcollegeboard.org/finance

Could you come up with a more fake website "Between 2011 and 2019, the College Board has invested over 1.32 billion dollars in the Caribbean. Mostly likely, these investments were put into hedge funds in the Cayman Islands in order to take advantage of tax loopholes."

They are speculating that a non-profit is investing in the Caymen Islands to avoid taxes that it doesn't pay?

It is student journalism, so the conclusions may not be 100%, but they found some interesting facts.