MCPS not paying for APs this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher of a high school CTE program it is very frustrating that MCPS will pay test fees for kids who have 15 APs but I can’t get them to help with payment of any of the CTE exams.

Equity my ass…

Per the Blueprint legislation and the AIB’s initial implementation plan, “each
high school offers post-College and Career Readiness (CCR) pathways to all CCR
students in grades 11 and 12 to earn early college credits and career and technical
education (CTE) credentials at no cost to the student or the student’s parents,
including the cost of any fees, starting in FY 24” (see Pillar 3, Objective 3, Task 2
i.e. 3.3.2). Local education agencies (LEAs) should therefore cover the cost of a
student taking a test/exam to earn an industry-recognized credential. Covering
the cost of more than one examination is at the discretion of the LEA.

This reads as if parents should be paying for AP tests in grades 9 and 10

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep seeing mcps publish the number of students who TAKE ap exams, as if taking the exam is a metric of success. I would like to see how students are doing on those exams.
A recent social media post showed Maryland scoring very poorly on ap exam scores, overall.
Why should we pay to cover students taking ap exams if we cant see how they are performing? It sounds like kids are being pushed into APs for mcps to look good on paper but its just adding stress to students who aren't ready for them yet.

They do publish the scores by exam by school:

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/reports/2025/240206_2024_APIB_Exam%20Enroll%20Part%20and%20Perf.pdf

Thank you for sharing this. What colleges care about a 3 on an AP test? The MCPS draw should be just for scores of 4 and 5

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep seeing mcps publish the number of students who TAKE ap exams, as if taking the exam is a metric of success. I would like to see how students are doing on those exams.
A recent social media post showed Maryland scoring very poorly on ap exam scores, overall.
Why should we pay to cover students taking ap exams if we cant see how they are performing? It sounds like kids are being pushed into APs for mcps to look good on paper but its just adding stress to students who aren't ready for them yet.

They do publish the scores by exam by school:

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/reports/2025/240206_2024_APIB_Exam%20Enroll%20Part%20and%20Perf.pdf

Thank you for sharing this. What colleges care about a 3 on an AP test? The MCPS draw should be just for scores of 4 and 5

Lots. I believe 37 states require their public universities to give credit for scores of 3. Maryland’s law has some wiggle room on how credit is awarded. UMD generally credits 3s, just might be an elective credit instead of a specific course like you would for a 4 or 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Currently they are still paying for them but they are advocating to have it be a needs based system. Personally I think it should be more of a criteria based system dependent on how students are doing at a certain point in the class and teacher sign off.

In other words, parents, they will not longer pay for your child but they will have you pay for those who cant . This all while they are still pushing for every student to take AP exams, even though it used to be only the top performers who could ( AND SHOULD).

Sucks to be you! Bet you wish you were poor now!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So if parents can't pay for a test or two, how can they afford college tuition?

Some kids don’t go to college, community college, aid.

Kids who have full need have always received a fee waiver from the CB anyway, and actually, if kids are planning to pay for themselves to go to community college, they can pony up the $97 dollars, which is a lot less than the cost of course there.

If you don’t have the money now, you can’t pony it up no matter how much it will save you in the future. There are kids on scholarships to MC and there are those who have to take out a loan for 2-4 semesters.

Baby-sitting for one night = enough to pay for the AP fee

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are two separable issues here. One is whether MCPS should pay (either for all or for those with needs). The other is whether they should automatically enroll kids the way they have the last couple of years.

At BTSN, one of the teachers pointed out that the average score had declined because there are kids who were automatically enrolled and then told they would face a fee if they didn't follow through and take the test. So there were kids showing up who had no interest in taking the test. (I think you could decline in the fall, but as the test approached students faced a penalty for not taking it?)

I don't care about the average test scores (though I suppose principals might) but it's a waste of money to pay for kids who have no interest in taking the test and won't take it seriously.

Then they shouldn't be in the class. They are taking it for a GPA bump, and trust me, the level of effort for kids who don't plan to take the exam weighs down the rest of the class.
- longtime AP teacher

Why did you decide to stop upholding the AP standard for the course, and start indulging and enabling the students who don't belong there, at the expense of the ones who do? That's malpractice.

Ha ha ha!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep seeing mcps publish the number of students who TAKE ap exams, as if taking the exam is a metric of success. I would like to see how students are doing on those exams.
A recent social media post showed Maryland scoring very poorly on ap exam scores, overall.
Why should we pay to cover students taking ap exams if we cant see how they are performing? It sounds like kids are being pushed into APs for mcps to look good on paper but its just adding stress to students who aren't ready for them yet.

They do publish the scores by exam by school:

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/reports/2025/240206_2024_APIB_Exam%20Enroll%20Part%20and%20Perf.pdf

Thank you for sharing this. What colleges care about a 3 on an AP test? The MCPS draw should be just for scores of 4 and 5

Lots. I believe 37 states require their public universities to give credit for scores of 3. Maryland’s law has some wiggle room on how credit is awarded. UMD generally credits 3s, just might be an elective credit instead of a specific course like you would for a 4 or 5.

+1

VT also gives credit for 3s. My kid got a mix of 3s and 4s and got 21 college credits.

[Anonymous]

This is the most privileged thread I've ever read on this forum. Rich YTs complaining that the poors may get their AP tests covered. Get over yourselves. Pay for your kids' AP exams; you already saved money by not sending them to private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep seeing mcps publish the number of students who TAKE ap exams, as if taking the exam is a metric of success. I would like to see how students are doing on those exams.
A recent social media post showed Maryland scoring very poorly on ap exam scores, overall.
Why should we pay to cover students taking ap exams if we cant see how they are performing? It sounds like kids are being pushed into APs for mcps to look good on paper but its just adding stress to students who aren't ready for them yet.

They do publish the scores by exam by school:

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/reports/2025/240206_2024_APIB_Exam%20Enroll%20Part%20and%20Perf.pdf

Thank you for sharing this. What colleges care about a 3 on an AP test? The MCPS draw should be just for scores of 4 and 5

All the colleges my child is applying to give credit for 3s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Their advocacy position is to no longer pay for them but I don’t think it has been formally changed yet. Might be in this next budget but they need permission from the state because of Blueprint.

So-called AP courses/ exams should not be encouraged in MCPS.

They should not even be allowed. These only lead to inequitable outcomes.

[Anonymous]

Did mcpa already announce they are not paying the fees for exams this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Their advocacy position is to no longer pay for them but I don’t think it has been formally changed yet. Might be in this next budget but they need permission from the state because of Blueprint.

So-called AP courses/ exams should not be encouraged in MCPS.

They should not even be allowed. These only lead to inequitable outcomes.

Great, let's pull everyone to the bottom.

I want to remind you that the most inequitable criteria by which college applicants are judged is the nebulous category of extra-curriculars. Over time, lessons and practices add up to multiples of tens of thousands of dollars. And it takes years for anyone to be competitive in a discipline, sports or music or otherwise.

The inequity of grades and exams in terms of cost of tutoring and test prep is NEGLIGIBLE compared to what it costs to differentiate yourself in an extra curricular.

That's math for you. And most people are really bad at basic math.

[Anonymous]

Umd does not credit 3s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep seeing mcps publish the number of students who TAKE ap exams, as if taking the exam is a metric of success. I would like to see how students are doing on those exams.
A recent social media post showed Maryland scoring very poorly on ap exam scores, overall.
Why should we pay to cover students taking ap exams if we cant see how they are performing? It sounds like kids are being pushed into APs for mcps to look good on paper but its just adding stress to students who aren't ready for them yet.

They do publish the scores by exam by school:

https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/reports/2025/240206_2024_APIB_Exam%20Enroll%20Part%20and%20Perf.pdf

Thank you for sharing this. What colleges care about a 3 on an AP test? The MCPS draw should be just for scores of 4 and 5

All the colleges my child is applying to give credit for 3s

I'm enjoying this PP trying to start a fight (why don't they publish scores?! why do they count 3s?!) and being calmly told they are wrong again and again and again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did mcpa already announce they are not paying the fees for exams this year?

Our school newsletter said they are paying for them again this year.