<p>I don't blame the Comp Sci teacher as much as I blame the school. The school really pushes AP classes. After Comp Sci I there is only AP Comp Sci. Son wanted to do more programming so he took AP Comp Sci because it was the only choice. Teacher is teaching like Comp Sci II, which is great until they have to take the AP exam.</p>
<p>Here, almost no one passes US History or US Government. The teacher for US is great, but I blame the caliber of the students. There are no prereqs to sign up for those two APs - you just have to pass sophomore World History. Many of my classmates just took the US to have a class with their one smart friend. It's the same with Gov, which here is taken after US. The same group of kids takes Gov, and they all fail the AP test, again.</p>
<p>As for Calc and Bio, the pass rates are much higher. Both classes have a million prereqs that make sure that only the best get to the AP. </p>
<p>So, no, I don't think my school evaluates teachers on student AP scores. Otherwise the US and Gov teachers would have been fired a long time ago.</p>
<p>Our high school all the students who take any AP classes are required to take the AP exam. The student and the parent have to sign an agreement prior to the student even enrolling in the class. I was told the reason behind it is that our school is very small and we offer many AP classes, and the school has to justify offering all the classes. An also the AP test scores are listed on the students final transcript. My daughter got a 1 in AP Bio, but a B+ in the class in her junior year. I always felt that, that 1 on her transcript was a red flag when whe was applying to colleges. </p>
<p>Also in senior year she took AP Econ. The teacher was absent alot (he was running for some kind of office). All the kids did bad in the class and on the AP exam. Evidently kids who had older siblings who had graduated knew not to take this class. So son who just graduated, we knew which teachers to take and which to avoid for the AP classes. I think the school should make available on their website the scores of past students in regards to each AP class as it is definitely a reflection on the teacher. Especially if you have no choice on whether to take the AP exam, and its listed on the transcript.</p>
<p>At our hs, the history AP test takers do well, the math and science ones don't do so well. One factor that I think makes a difference--the history teachers make it as one of their goals that kids pass the test. So they make sure that they cover all of the material in class, they spend class time doing DBQs and essays, and they run after school review sessions for WEEKS before the test.</p>
<p>The math and science teachers were--you can take the test if you want to...and they might do a few problems in class from past tests. But it isn't a high priority with them.</p>
<p>There are certainly good and bad aspects to the history approach...</p>
<p>I don't know if our public hs evaluates teachers based on AP test scores, but it SHOULD be at least a factor. A couple years ago they cancelled AP Chem, because for a few years all the kids were getting A's in the class but 1's and 2's on the exam. The principal told us they weren't sure if the problem was the curriculum or the kids who were allowed to take the class. Well, my S had honors chemistry (not AP) with the AP teacher and figured out in less than a month that the problem was the TEACHER. She was disorganized, and told the kids that she didn't believe in "teaching to the test." BTW, S said he learned almost nothing in honors Chem, but ended the year with a B.</p>
<p>Last year our hs severely limited the number of kids who could take AP English, and many kids were refused admittance to the class. Out of 400 seniors, there had to be more than 12 who were qualified! I'm don't know if the previous year's class had low exam scores and they were trying to prevent that from re-occurring, or if there was some other reason.</p>
<p>I think that for AP to work, the kids must be well-prepared and willing to work, and the teacher must be competent and well-trained. If either of those factors is missing, you'll end up with kids doing poorly on the exam, regardless of the grades they are given in the class.</p>
<p>Definately. I went to Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnnati and we offer about 25 AP classes. The teachers are under a lot of pressure for the students to do well since it is a college prep school and we have such a good reputation for putting out high scores on APs</p>
<p>Some schools do not have the pre-AP classes, and that is failure in the making. Our school is one of those schools. The kids do not have to have a certain grade in an earlier class, etc. to take AP. Nor do teachers have the right to reject a possible AP student based on what the teacher knows about him. So I've seen some kids in those classes who have no business being there, and other kids who should have been there ... you get the picture. </p>
<p>To borrow the phase my AP English teacher friend uses, "This is a college level class ..." Treat it as such.</p>
<p>I wish they did. Kids in our school do terribly in the sciences unless they study using a guide on their own. My DS, who was #6 in his class of 475 scored a ONE on AP Chem. A ONE@ Honestly, isnt that what you get when you sign your name to the test and leave the rest of it blank? My older son (#5 in his class of 450) got a three on AP Bio - only because he saw the writing on the wall and starting self-study guides in the fall. I would be surprised if any kids at our HS do well on those tests. The teachers should definitely be evaluated - especially since taking the test is mandatory. </p>
<p>In both cases, the teachers were supposedly teaching to the test, but were months behind where they needed to be by May. The teachers were teaching by rote - not making sure the kids really "got" the material. Therefore there was quite a bit of material that had not been seen and additional material that had never really been processed. In addition, in both cases, my guys got high scores in the class - and WERE motivated. </p>
<p>(FWIW - both guys did great on their other tests - so it isn't a schoolwide problem, luckily!)</p>
<p>
[quote]
Do you think teachers are ever evaluated based on their students' AP scores? With tenure and a fixed pay scale, it doesn't seem like it.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I know that my school tracked teachers' performance in this regard. It seemed like it was more of a positive if they did well than a negative if they did poorly, though.</p>
<p>I think the whole AP thing has gotten out of hand. I know a kid who was taking 5 AP classes soph thru senior year. My son was in a similar AP class at his own school. I asked the kid what he got on the AP spanish test since he got an A+ in spanish. He got a 2!! There were similar answers for some of his other AP classes. So the kid got a's in all his AP classes but mostly 2 and 3 on tests. He had highest GPA in school and got in to Stanford.<br>
My son got many B's in his AP classes but mostly 3 and 4.
We heard that at his high school the AP Calculus class was a joke. The previous 3 years only 20% passed. We got him a private calculus tutor for the test. He got a 5 on the test and a B in the class which was a joke.<br>
Also, after all the hard work USC won't even count the ap's he got a 3 on.</p>
<p>"My DS, who was #6 in his class of 475 scored a ONE on AP Chem. A ONE@ Honestly, isnt that what you get when you sign your name to the test and leave the rest of it blank?"</p>
<p>Hi kitkat; long time no see.....</p>
<p>We definitely have matching kids.....My D's AP econ teacher throws powerpoints up he finds on the internet; that's his way of teaching.....the kids who do well have natural aptitude for this sort of thing....no review for the material in Micro that was completed 1st semester....long story short, My D also earned a "1" on the AP test...I didn't even think you could get a score that low if you finished the test...haha.....all other AP's were 3's, 4's and 5's
And yes, she also earned a "B" in the class...... </p>
<p>I truly hope that they "evaluate teachers based on the AP results"........</p>
<p>Sigh. Computer Science is not programming, and programming isn't computer science. I know several very fine computer scientists who are lousy programmers, and many more fabulous programmers who aren't computer scientists. Similarly, you can be really fabulous at arithmetic without being a mathematician.</p>
<p>Does the teacher have a degree in Computer Science? If not, there's a good chance that the teacher never learned the topics in question, and thus isn't in position to teach them to students.</p>
<p>Has the course been through the AP course audit? Did it pass?</p>
<p>If it were me I'd definitely raise issues with the school and the district.</p>
<p>Senioritis may have had something to do with this but my AP Scores were always at least as high as the corresponding grade, usually higher.
Micro/Macro Economics Grade: A A Exams: 5 5
Chemistry Grade: B- Exam: 5
English Grade: B Exam: 5
Calc AB Grade: C- Exam: 4</p>
<p>I'm not sure what this says about me/ my school.</p>
<p>Honestly, if the entire class gets 1s or 2s the fault is not entirely the teacher's. My AP econ class was the first class my teacher taught, and it was worthless. I had to teach myself the material half the time, and out of the 7 people who took the two tests only one got lower than 3, and everybody else had at least a 4 or higher in one of the tests. If people read the book they should at least pass.</p>
<p>Who knows if schools evaluate teachers based on scores, but I know at my high school STUDENTS definitely evaluate teachers based on scores. I went to a small school and each year the teacher reported the score breakdown from the previous year. Students are much more confident taking a class from a teacher with a good score breakdown than one that doesn't! However, with an academically tough school, the scores are pretty high anyway so it doesn't do a whole lot. It basically boils down to "I want to take calculus from this teacher rather than this teacher" because she ahs a better reputation.</p>