<p>mathmom - I know the teachers submit preliminary grades, I guess they go by that. Thankfully 
my S is not close to flunking any class so I never bothered to look into it.</p>
<p>My sonās high school does not require students to take the AP tests, but if they donāt take it, the teacher has the option to require a final for class. Anyone taking the AP test is released from the class as soon as the test is over. AP tests are the two first weeks of May, the third week of May is the last week of classes and the fourth week of May is finals week with May 27th being the end of the year. My son loved his post-AP schedule; he didnāt have to be at school until 10:30 and had two lunch periods. </p>
<p>I understand the concern of the OP. With a month or more of class time after AP testing, only some teachers would make good use of it. For many, it would be junk time.</p>
<p>I guess they need to schedule the APs early enough to take into account schools that are out by Memorial Day. Not here, however!! Our HS has finals until June 20! Since APs, the Seniors are calling school āarcade timeā. They play games such as Bananagrams and Catch Phrase during their AP class times! I think the teachers let them blow off some steam for 1-2 weeks, then assign a year end project/paper.</p>
<p>For my poor daughter, however, sheās taking back-to-back APs today, as she had to defer them due to a bad concussion on April 30. Her headaches were gone after 10 days, but she admitted with the cramming in the past week, sheās beat.</p>
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Iāve never heard that one. Even though my sonās school makes the AP test mandatory their grades are based on all the homework and practice tests leading up to the AP test.</p>
<p>I just looked it up in the handbook, AP exam is the final but I was incorrect on the grade conversion. 5=A, 4=A-, 3=B, 2=C and 1=D.</p>
<p>Itās a totally different ball game when school ends a week or two after AP tests. However, most of us that have students in public schools on the east coast, and (I think) the west coast have WEEKS of school left. I personally feel that a project would be the way to go, but it would have to be something that could be done in school otherwise the problem of what to do with the class-time wouldnāt be solved. I like the idea of the AP score being the final exam score, but donāt think that would work for our school that does val and sal based on class rank.</p>
<p>^Our val and sal are determined at the end of the first quarter senior year. As long as you donāt flunk out you can slack off the rest of the year. :eek:</p>
<p>I hate the almost 6 weeks that follow AP tests, no one is really interested in doing much work.</p>
<p>When do the students get out out of school? In our state the results are not posted until sometime in July. Our seniors graduate in June and the other students finish school the same month. Itās kind of hard to use it as a final.</p>
<p>At my Sās school seniors finish all non AP classes the 2nd week of April. Then once AP classes are done they are finished. S graduates this weekend. All other kids that are not graduating also finish AP classes once the exam is taken. Regular classes finish the beginning of June. Grades for the AP classes are not released til the results of the exam are in. Have no idea how this works for reporting final grades to colleges, but this is how Sās school has done it for years so it must be OK with them.</p>
<p>My guess is it effects very few students. You would have to screw up pretty badly for a college to rescind itās admissions offer by July. I actually like this idea - a grade is a good motivator for students that may be taking the AP to satisfy their parents or just because itās required, but value grades more highly.</p>
<p>However, my question is really not about grades, itās about class activities for schools that have three or four weeks of class time after the AP tests. So far it sounds like schools that have that length of time do what we do and thatās projects or finals. I like the fun project idea and someone said something about digging deeper into a subject that was perhaps skimmed during the regular year. The goal that our school has is to somehow encourage more students to take the tests (not including seniors that have good reasons NOT to take certain ones) and also to keep the students engaged after the AP test.</p>
<p>Our school does not monitor whether the kids take AP exams. They are not formally required by the AP classes. Also, it is not uncommon for kids to take APs for which they have self-studied rather than taken formal classes.</p>
<p>Our school runs until the 3rd week of June, so there is >1month after APs. During that time, the classes study topics beyond what is in the AP curriculum. </p>
<p>e.g.:
AP Calculus is learning delta-epsilon proofs and convergence.
AP Chem is doing a survey of organic chemistry.
AP US History is making video projects, and holding formal debates of current events.</p>
<p>The classes all held āmock APsā prior to the actual tests, and count those grades in lieu of end-of-year comprehensive finals. However, they use the final exams period to test on the post-AP topics, and weight that in to the overall semester grades.</p>
<p>Our kids also go well into June. AP tests are required if you take the class. The exam is not tied to the final, although there are other ways to be exempt (As all four quarters for upper classmen, or high score on state exam on years given in that subject). Our kids generally do fun projects during this time. AP Physics is having a bottle rocket competition right now. The kids really get into it. AP lit works in small groups taking a book theyāve read and adapts a screenplay and film. Again, they do a good job because they have more time for filming, editing, costumes, writing, etc. Iām sure some kids skimp but my sons group seems to be having a really good time with the change of pace and putting in nice effort.</p>