I agree with your post and can also state that Son did all the assignments. He also received favorable comments on his report card about how he actively participated, etc. The ONLY reason his first semester grade was a C was his testing in the course and usually his essays were scored lower as opposed to the multiple choice. Moreover, Son barely eeked out a B second semester because of test performance again primarily.
One other poster to this topic made the important comment about the power of many teachers in many districts: no one dares question their autonomy or authority. Son's teacher is highly regarded, but predictably egomaniacal. Nobody challenges anything he does BECAUSE he is largely successful in preparing his students for the AP Exam AND his students learn the material. Now, if we consider the format of the Exam, most of us would agree that the rubric for a 5----even on the newly-redesigned test---has to require both outstanding performance on the multiple choice and the essays. The other 3 schools in our conference that boost grades after the exam (see my earlier post) appear to be recognizing this good dilemma by rewarding the successful students who garner a 5 with an A for the final semester, while not getting in the way of the classroom teacher.
While I have not yet spoken to the school principal, I will let everyone know if he agrees to study the issue for future students. Again THANKS for all your salient and interesting remarks, folks!
Wow, it would help my son’s GPA if the bumped up his English grade based on his AP score. He had D’s in English and a 4 on the AP exam. Yeah, a “bright slacker”. His other AP scores pretty much lined up with his grades, though.
My son had Cs for his 5s. Didn’t feel like doing homework because the teachers would only occasionally collect it, and he always guessed wrong it seemed.
The good news is that college is fewer classes for more hours per week, for a shorter time total, so he should do better in that setup.
I also had a 5 in a class I got a C in (it was in 10th grade, and got into two Ivies FWIW).
What kind of bump are we talking about exactly? If a kid gets, say, a B in the class but a 4 on the exam, what would be an equivalent grade to the 4? How about a 5? Would love to know this info because I don’t have a good sense of what kind of grade “equals” an AP score.
I know a fair amount of home schoolers, by the way, and their kids do well in this situation because the colleges want the AP scores for admission as a better way to tell how well the kid did than grades given by the parent. And the parent only has to teach the kids what they need to know for the exams, which is way less than what my kids had to learn in a school setting.
In general, people are thinking something along the lines of: A=5, B=4 C=3 D=2 F=1. However, if you look at the score distributions, they vary a lot from subject to subject. Also, if you notice that the most common score is often a 3, and that AP classes are filled with honor students, you know all of those students aren’t getting/don’t necessarily deserve a C in their classes. Most of them are getting A’s and B’s in class–even those who get 1’s and 2’s on the exams.
I cannot imagine why it would change the classroom grade. That would be grossly unfair to the students who took the AP course, but could not afford the cost of the AP exam. So should only the kids who could afford to take the exam and do well on it have their grades changed? My son’s HS offered scholarships to students wanting to take the exam, but the results never affected their classroom grades.
I received a C in calc but a 5 on the test. I deserved the C. I had a rough year (medical and mental issues) and I couldn’t get it together during the year even though I knew the material. I would never have expected a bump in my grade because I earned my C. I firmly believe the test and grade should have no relation to each other.
My post #24: bump policy varied. If 3,4,5 typical bump would be one grade level for each semester, say from B to A.One teacher’s policy was if 3, bump would be one grade level for only first semester, no change second semester; if 4 bump would be one grade level for one semester of student’s choice; if 5 bump would be one grade level for each semester. Don’t shoot me, I’m only messenger.
Another thing to keep in mind is that many students in marginal high schools are also taking AP tests. APUSH is, I would imagine, one of the more common APs - even schools that only offer a few AP courses probably include that one. That means your child is being scored against students who may be woefully underprepared, and who never would have come near an AP class in a better high school.
I do think that barring lack of effort, which doesn’t seem to be the case, the disparity between a “C” and a 5 is enough to raise an eyebrow, even in a good school. But if your son got the C first semester and was getting Bs by the time he took the test, that doesn’t strike me as all that unusual.
My school is ranked in the top 10 public schools in my state- and I have kids who aren’t necessarily cut out for AP in my classes. Some are there due to parental pressure. Some just underestimated their skills vs the work involved. Some are there b/c their friends are there. Most of those kids score poorly. But there are also kids who don’t get good grades in class (generally b/c they aren’t fans of hw) but can knock a test one or them college board’s) out of the park. They are rewarded there (including the delightful prize of college credit) but them class is not one test
Where essays are involved, sometimes the lower letter grades are because the student only just improved enough to hit the 5 by the end of the year. The lower grades may be accurate as summaries of where the student was for most of the semester and how s/he improved as a writer over time.
Also consider that schools don’t usually grade students by just one big test at the end of a course. Should AP courses be different? Schools do have finals, but they usually only count for about 20% of the semester grade. Schools could count the AP exam as a final, but at 20% an A+ on the final isn’t enough to swing a B semester grade to an A-. (86 * 80% plus 100 * 20% = 88.8) And of course if you have the AP exam count as a final for some students, it should probably count that way for all, which means a student’s grade could go down.
Now you could make an argument for proficiency based grading in lieu of letter grades and for using the AP test as proof of proficiency, but that is a different, larger conversation.
My state (which is moving to state wide end of course exams) offers kids the opportunity to “opt out” and use their ap scores to show proficiency in U.S. History and U.S. Government. I tell my kids to take the state test because I feel very confident they will pass the state test (meant for all levels of students, last year all of my kids got highest of 5 rankings). Plus, if something he did so well on the ap test, I would hate for them to have to make up the state test the next year
Preach. I cannot TELL you how many times I have had that argument. Most annoying was the PARENT who wanted an 85% rounded to an A because the kid was “so close”. @-)
