Anthony Yom, 35, teaches AP Calculus at Lincoln High School in a rough, low-income neighborhood in Los Angeles. All 37 of his students passed the AP exam last year, an amazing 17 of them with a score of 5. It’s Yom’s third consecutive year of 100% passing rate. One of his students, 17-year old Cedric Argueta, got a perfect score last spring. Cedric is one of only 12 students worldwide to obtain a perfect score. Cedric is invited to meet President Obama at the next White House science fair to celebrate. Cedric is the son of a Salvadorean maintenance worker and a Filipina nurse and got a lot of great press last week. I’m glad his teacher is getting a bit of media coverage as well. I’m sharing the link here: http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-0103-lopez-yom-teacher-20160201-column.html
It always amazes me what can be achieved when you combine a dedicated teacher with high-potential kids even when the odds are stacked high against them. Three hours of daily tutoring and weekend classes! Yom take calls from his students on his home phone number. I’m pretty sure Yom is not getting paid for those extra hours. His influence is why these kids willingly go to after-school and weekend tutoring at a school where the 4-year graduation rate hovers around 70%. God bless America. What an inspiration!
Don’t see how this is impressive. The AP Calculus tests (both AB and BC) are very easy to pass. You’d have to completely blow off the entire school year to get a 1 or 2. At my ordinary public school, most students get fives an everyone passes.
Not sure if it’s that easy. My son visited a highly ranked liberal arts school this past summer and the dean told my son he was one of the few students he had ever met that had scored a 5 on the BC test.
What a ray of sunshine you are, gearsstudio. 100% passing rate in a neighborhood many people would expect mediocrity from? And one of only twelve perfect scores? There’s no need to try to feel superior by putting that down.
@Tigers1981 In 2015, there were nearly 54 thousand scores of 5 in AP Calc BC. In other words, it’s about as “rare” an achievement as a 2100+ SAT. If you also count the 66 thousand scores of AB 5, it’d be comparable to the frequency of a 2000+ SAT.
It is impressive because this very dedicated teacher presumably had to make up much of what was lacking in that low performing high school’s previous math instruction. Presumably, your high school does not have this problem of low expectations and low standards across most courses and teachers.
@gearsstudio Only 57 percent of test takers make a 3 or higher on the Calc AB exam. If everyone at your school makes a 5, it is not an ordinary school.
The article is about a local (Los Angeles) teacher, Anthony Yom and his class, and his 1 student who got a perfect score.
Why would the article name the other 11 worldwide who got a perfect score??? That would be bizarre. Those other 11 are total strangers who have nothing to to with Yom or his students or Los Angeles.
Whoever those other 11 are in the world, their local papers can write about them if they want.
“Cedrick’s story has made headlines around the world since his score was announced by the Los Angeles Unified School District last week.”
Most likely the other 11 don’t go to school districts who release the information to the press. Could be they don’t have good PR people, could be they care more about football.
Argueta is half Asian by the way. His mother is Filipina. Maybe it bothers you that his father is Hispanic?
The teacher is Asian! Yep, you’re right. This must be evidence of this country’s anti-Asian bias.
The other 11 are not from that school, and the article is about that class at that school, so that’s why the other 11, who might be from Japan or Germany or NYC are not named. 12 in the world, not 12 in that class. (the AP reporting system doesn’t say there were 12 perfect scores, only 5 or 6)
There was a story here last year about a school where everyone the AP Calc class got a 5. Every single one. It is an all girls Catholic school, and it does have a high tuition so most are from wealthy families and have had educational advantages, but all 5’s is pretty impressive. I think some took AB and some took BC, and there were, I think, 27 students total (it’s a very small school, only about 400 students).
The calc BC test has a much higher pass rate than AB, with 80% passing. Calculus BC: 5=44.6%, 4=16.9%, 3=18.5%, 2=5.4%, 1=14.6% .
AP Calculus is taken in USA, mainly. 12 perfect winners, but only one is named, and celebrated. Why not name other winners?
Cedrick is invited to the White House … other children, who achieved the same, are not even named. Why? What’s wrong with other winners? (my guess is that the last names are not politically correct; I can’t think of any other reason).
BTW, Congratulations, Cedrick! YOU did great! Shame on adults, who are playing PC games.
The articles on the subject keep emphasizing that the number of twelve perfect scores is “worldwide” and that it’s “an American 17 year old” who was one of them. Is it possible that the others weren’t invited to the American capitol because they’re…not American??
How would the report get the names? The scores are not just published without the students giving permission. How is a reporter in LA supposed to find out that there is another perfect score in Montana or in Miami? They just release that there were 12 (and according to the AP test results, there weren’t; “3 students worldwide earned every point possible, 108/108, on this year’s AP Calculus AB exam”, “1 student, out of 120,000 worldwide who took AP Calc BC this year, earned every point possible, 108/108.” This is from http://www.totalregistration.net/AP-Exam-Registration-Service/2015-AP-Exam-Score-Distributions.php)
Does the article say that ONLY Cedrick is invited to the white house? Maybe all perfect scorers are invited, either together or one at a time.
Over the last 6 years, every student in my school’s AP Calculus AB and BC programs has scored a 5 on the respective exams. Probably 30 or so kids a year.
In the last two years, we’ve had 6 kids with perfect scores on AP tests (including Macroeconomics, Calculus BC, Physics C, and Spanish Language).
No White House invites.
But I go to a highly ranked private school, which I’m sure is vastly different from Cedrick’s school.
It amazes me how people can take a great story and be so negative about it.
This is an amazing accomplishment and
Yom deserves the recognition as a teacher. We are constantly bombarded by the worst in the US educational system and this is a wonderful breath of fresh air.
Three or four years ago a student local to me got a perfect score on AB Calc and was written up in the local paper. I expect some of the other kids are getting local attention, it just doesn’t have the backstory to go national like Cedrick’s does. And some probably go to schools that don’t care or recognize them. But that really isn’t the point, accomplishing what he did from that school system is impressive, which is the point.
The White House invite was the President tweeting “Great job! How about you stop by the White House Science Fair?” There was no singling out of this student to snub others. Geez.
Sounds like the highly ranked private school should hire the media relations team from the Los Angeles school district. They got the kids parents to agree to release his name, notified the media, touted the teacher’s results, got teacher interviews in the press. Great publicity for LA schools. Private school misses media opportunity. Shame on them.