College Board Changes Scoring for Biology (Possibly Others)

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
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<p>Direct from my AP Biology Teacher's Website:</p>

<p>There are going to be hundreds of AP biology teachers and students who will be surprised by the increase numbers of 3's and below and not understand what has happened.</p>

<p>At the AP Annual Conference the College Board came clean. A fellow AP Biology teacher was at a session at the AP conference during which the AP biology development committee spoke about the recent AP biology comparability study and how the scores were readjusted significantly and I am irate about it.</p>

<p>Last year, the scores broke down in the following way:
5s - 19.3%
4s - 20.3%
3s - 21.2%
2s - 23.2%
1s - 15.9%</p>

<p>Here's how the scores were readjusted this year:
5s - 18.3%
4s - 15.7%
3s - 16.1%
2s - 15.3%
1s - 34.6%</p>

<p>However, the raw scores were comparable with last year's scores. This study is based on giving college students AP test questions, however the students were NOT TESTED UNDER THE SAME CONDITIONS AS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. They received 25 multiple choice questions and 1 free response at the end of a semester course and the questions only covered the material from the course they had just completed. All of the teachers at the meeting were very upset with the methodology used in this study. It seems to reflect a complete lack of understanding of experimental design (one of the fundamentals of AP Science Coursework). What's worse is there was no preparation for the readjustments, nor any information distributed in any way, shape, or form until AFTER the scores were sent out.</p>

<p>I guarantee that any student in my class would score significantly better with only a semester's worth of material to remember and assimilate. I am livid at the College Board, this process, and the AP Program as a whole right now. I extend my condo lances to my students who feel let down, cheated, and discriminated against simply because they took the class and exam a year later with the bogus scoring.</p>

<p>Write to the College Board and let them know your displeasure with the way scoring was changed, the methodology of their study, and the manner in which it was implemented. I certainly am.</p>

<p>So College Board did this with the AP Biology exam and admitted it. However, there is no telling if this was done with other exams as well. I personally find this COMPLETELY unacceptable and feel that I have been treated unfairly. This is not a rant about how I did not get the score that I wanted; on the contrary, I was somewhat pleased with my score, but upon learning this information, I think my score is complete trash. I am not the only upset by this, right?</p>

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<p>I don't think it.. really.. matters?</p>

<p>While it's true that there was a huge increase in 1's, the decrease in 5's and 4's was not significant. I don't feel like doing such a thing is so completely ridiculous if it yields results that while not similar to the year before's, are not completely out of question. I'm not saying it's right and that they should keep doing this, but I don't really know if this merits throwing out scores or anything. They should probably just not do this again.</p>

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<p>just to point out - Hurt - the amount of 4's decreased by ~25%, that's significant</p>

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<p>From an objective point of view, I don't think we should be so quick to be outraged.</p>

<p>Of course, it is unfair that the college takers had a more lenient testing condition. However, from what you post, it seems as if the college takers had not covered all the material covered in the AP Bio exam. In this context, it does seem fair that they be tested only questions only on material that they learned. For instance, if they had taken the actual AP Bio exam with only the 'semester class' knowledge, they could have scored much worse, which is obviously not representative of an accurate curve. Now, if the 'semester course' is a full blown out Biology class, that is different.</p>

<p>Yet, at the same time, looking at the statistics, the major difference is in the rise of 1's. Obviously, the curve did, indeed, get harsher. However, looking at the results, the distribution of the rest of the scores is even. From a look at the results, I'm inclined to believe this new curve exemplifies how hard the APs really are.</p>

<p>This is what I think. I can't really judge anything here because there are not a lot of facts or clarifications here. It's hard to judge anything without knowing what exactly the college takers knew and were given.</p>

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<p>More like 15%.</p>

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<p>I believe the 4's decreased by 22.6% Hurt.</p>

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<p>I'm not going through actual percentage increase/decrease..</p>

<p>just subtracting here.</p>

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<p>jsa says "I guarantee that any student in my class would score significantly better with only a semester's worth of material . . . ."</p>

<p>AP Bio IS a single semester at college - not an entire year.</p>

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<p>the changes posted by the op are more in line with CB's policy of targeting50% > score of 3.
previously, by your numbers, more than 60% > score of 3.</p>

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<p>that makes no sense... AP is built around a curve. passing was getting too easy? LOL. my teacher only went up to xylem and phloem in plant life and did no reproduction or ecology or immune system or anything past the first bit of plants.</p>

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<p>yup, CB is looking for 50%. Go check it out.
if your teacher only got to . . . well he/she never really did much.
look at the material missed. what were you doing for a year?</p>

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<p>Ok, so now I'm really confused...</p>

<p>What does this mean for a AP Bio test taker this year who got a 3 and was expecting at least a 4?</p>

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<p>The new curve prevented your 4. </p>

<p>I'm taking Bio next year. I guess I just have to make sure I have my info down pat to get my 5.</p>

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<p>hifi, perhaps you should read the AP Biology Course Description. I recommend page 3, all the way down to the first sentence where it states, "The AP Biology course is designed to be the equivalent of a two-semester college introductory course usually taken by biology majors during their first year."</p>

<p>I'll even provide a link for easy looking: <a href="http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap07_bio_coursedesc.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap07_bio_coursedesc.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>So, care to retract that statement?</p>

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<p>


</p>

<p>Do you have any support for this information whatsoever?</p>

<p>I have never seen such a stated goal from the College Board.</p>

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<p>BobLoblaw42, few, very few, schools offer two semesters worth of credit for biology MAJORS - regardless of college board's designs.
AP Bio is a one semester course - sometimes 2 quarters - at most schools that accept the credit. AND for majors AP Bio at many schools counts toward general electives - not the MAJOR sequence.<br>
So, no, i don't care to retract.</p>

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<p>TheMathProf,
will locate info or eat it.</p>

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<p>hifi, So the College Board's own stated information is incorrect? </p>

<p>I guess you need to inform schools like Cornell[/url</a>], [url=<a href="http://www.utexas.edu/academic/mec/cbe/cutape.html%5DUT">http://www.utexas.edu/academic/mec/cbe/cutape.html]UT</a> Austin, UC</a> Davis and hundreds more (those were the first 3 I looked at) then since they give you 8 hours of credit (that's 2 semester's worth, you know) if you make a 5. </p>

<p>Many schools consider a 5 to be representative of mastering a full year's worth of information in introductory classes for majors.</p>

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<p>^^ sorry to hear those schools are slipping to accomodate you.
looks like california university of pennsylvania, slippery rock, seton hall, u of washington, northwestern, laroc, . . . , still have their heads screwed on.</p>

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<p>Slipping for me? Hardly. I earned my degree in Biology back in 1995.</p>

<p>And really? California University of Pennsylvania? Nothing like a tier 4 school according to US News and World Reports to bolster your credibility. Really? California University of Pennsylvania? Really? Slippery Rock and Seton Hall are 3rd tier, so you're movin' on up! </p>

<p>University of Washington gives credit for 2 classes (yes, they're quarters, but still two separate classes), which is important since the college board tested after each class, be it semester or quarter, for their flawed study.</p>

<p>At least you picked a decent school with Northwestern. Yay!</p>