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Filling in the Blanks: The Thousands of Volunteers Who Grade Millions of AP Tests
The Biology Exam Content

The SAT was originally designed not to be aligned with high school curricula, [5] but several adjustments were made for the version of the SAT introduced in , and College Board president, David Coleman , has said that he also wanted to make the test reflect more closely what students learn in high school with the new Common Core standards. Although taking the SAT, or its competitor the ACT , is required for freshman entry to many colleges and universities in the United States, [8] many colleges and universities are experimenting with test-optional admission requirements [9] and alternatives to the SAT and ACT. The SAT is typically taken by high school juniors and seniors. They state that the SAT assesses how well the test-takers analyze and solve problems—skills they learned in school that they will need in college.

Filling in the Blanks: The Thousands of Volunteers Who Grade Millions of AP Tests

Seven years ago, Tom James was de-corned. Every first-year grader, or AP Reader, has a small acorn, the logo of the College Board, printed on the corner of his official nametag. Kannowski is a mathematics professor and the former department chair at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. After sharing the ritual, the two became friends who exchange emails about pedagogy and politics throughout the year. Kannowski, an experienced grader, has been reading AP Exams on and off since Every summer they meet in Kansas City, James and Kannowski have dinner and try to catch a Royals game.

The Advanced Placement pilot program launched shortly after World War II to help close the widening gap in academic achievement between high school and university. In the s, offering college-level curricula to high school students seemed groundbreaking. Home-schooled students, for instance, cannot take AP courses, but any student can take any AP exam. Much like other nationwide standardized testing—the SAT and ACT being perhaps the most recognizable—Advanced Placement testing occurs annually at high schools all over the United States.

Testing follows a year or more of enrollment in an AP course, such as English, chemistry, or calculus, for which students can earn college credit and test out of freshman-level university courses.

And like any test with a written component, real people—for AP Exams, thousands of teachers from all over the country—grade the essays. There are six questions per exam, and on average, he says, a Reader will grade 2, questions. More than 2. Not all of those required hand grading. The time and resources spent seems inconceivable when you look at the raw data. Computers grade the other half. More than 25 subjects are graded by hand each year, and organizers separate readers into several cities and convention centers according to their subject matter.

Twenty-two teachers sit around a table, reading packets that contain 25 answers to each of the six test questions. If the person is a new Reader, a Table Reader will look at his or her first completed folder. The next level up, the Question Leader Kannowski is currently one , is responsible for making an initial presentation to the Readers and Table Leaders, and overseeing specific problems and writing reports about issues that come up. Question and Table Leaders get invited to take leadership positions based on their experience as Readers—like a miniature tenure system of sorts.

The subjects tend to be as diverse as the instructors tasked with grading them all. Music theory, macro- and microeconomics, and languages including French, German, Italian, and half of the Spanish tests are all graded in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the Duke Energy Convention Center during the first week in June. The other 50 percent of the Spanish tests are graded during the third week of the month.

And while there is an application process to become a Reader, most who apply do get accepted. From his perspective at the university level, Kannowski says that grading helps him understand the aptitude of rising freshmen.

He also suggests that the AP program can fill the gap between secondary and higher education. As the American education system has rapidly changed over the past 20 years—and seems set for even more upheaval—James considers teaching students to flex their critical thinking skills to be, well, critical. Opinion: The widening circle of cheating scandals on standardized tests should fuel the movement to reduce the stakes these exams have on public education in the U.

The GED may not be worth as much as governments, the military and employers might suggest, but new research shows it may promote better health. One of the few rigorous studies of its kind shows that first-grade math teachers tend to use unproven alternative techniques when there are more math-challenged students in their class.

When we prioritize speed on the SAT, we discriminate against poor or disabled students—while we discount the importance of slower, deeper thinking. Opinion: Standardized, high-stakes testing isn't a panacea for all that ails schools, but it is a good start for finding a cure.

About half of 50 U. News in Brief. Social Justice. Home Education.

Below are free-response questions from past AP Biology Exams. Included with the questions are scoring guidelines, sample student responses, and commentary. Explore timing and format for the AP Biology Exam, and review sample Scoring guidelines for each of the sample free-response questions in the CED are also.

Note that any related adjustments to AP Exams, such as length or content covered, may not be reflected on all AP Central pages. Get Real-Time Feedback from Personal Progress Checks Personal progress checks in AP Classroom are a great way to ensure your students are continuing to build mastery of content and skills.