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.

My son was in 9th grade in 2020, and the school shut-down significantly impacted some teachers' instruction. Because of this, he received a 3 in AP Computer Science, with no support from the teacher whatsoever. He had a 4 on AP Gov.

All subsequent AP scores have been 5s.

I don’t think freshman should take more than 1 AP and ideally take one of the easier APs

Freshmen at SAAS take AP World. DS got a 5. Of the four friends he's discussed scores with, three got 5s and one got a 4. Their teacher was excellent (and is moving to Sidwell...sigh).

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

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine scored a 3 on AP CS and Seminar- ouch!

I moved my kids out of MCPS because I thought it was ridiculous to have Freshman taking AP classes. AP CS Principles and "Seminar"--whatever that is--are college board moneymakers. No university cares about these classes.

It's a real dilemma for educators regarding whether to offer AP classes to 9th graders. On the one hand, many of them are ready to handle it and do very well on the exams. At my kids' school half the students take AP Bio and AP World History, and over half score 4s and 5s.

On the other hand, there are many who are not ready for APs that young, but who have friends who are taking it so they think they need to take it, too. That often doesn't end well.

It doesn't seem like there's any obvious right answer, unless you want to say something like only 8th graders with straight A's will be allowed to take an AP class. Even then.....

DS earned a 5 on the US Gov and Politics exam. In part because he crammed using a review book the month before once he realized there was quite a bit of material that hadn't been covered in class. Agree with PPs that a lot of score variance is tied to teacher effectiveness in teaching the material. I told him just because he had a 99/100 GPA in the course all year didn't mean he'd get a 5 on the exam. It's possible it would have translated but I'm guessing not, based on how hard he had to work self-teaching a chunk of the material.

Anonymous wrote:My DD got a 3 in Gov and Politics.

She is disappointed because she absolutely loved that class and did extremely well all year...

Same. Highest scoring kid in class. Was she at a school that took on makeup day?

It’s going to vary a lot depending on how the class is taught. In 9th grade, DC’s entire Human Geo class got 1s and 2s.

Anonymous wrote:I agree that AP coll board is a moneymaker. my freshman got a 3 in APUSh and a.4 in comp. principles. why apush was offered in 9th grade is a mystery to me. although she will continue to take AP classes, she won't be taking the exams anymore.

Yes! My freshman won't be taking it.

My just-graduated kid got a 5 on AP World as a freshman. This was in Arlington Public Schools.

My DD got a 3 in Gov and Politics.

She is disappointed because she absolutely loved that class and did extremely well all year...

I agree that AP coll board is a moneymaker. my freshman got a 3 in APUSh and a.4 in comp. principles. why apush was offered in 9th grade is a mystery to me. although she will continue to take AP classes, she won't be taking the exams anymore.

Anonymous wrote:Mine scored a 3 on AP CS and Seminar- ouch!

I moved my kids out of MCPS because I thought it was ridiculous to have Freshman taking AP classes. AP CS Principles and "Seminar"--whatever that is--are college board moneymakers. No university cares about these classes.

Mine scored a 3 on AP CS and Seminar- ouch!