FYI: AP 10th Report to Nation released 11 Feb 2014

[Arcadia]

Link to full report as well as individual state reports and individual subjects reports.  My kids are still young, I just like data crunching.

http://apreport.collegeboard.org/

 

The most common score for Calc AB is 1 (31.1%) while the most common score for Calc BC is 5 (45.6%).  There was an old thread here that mentioned 1 being the most common score for AP Calculus.

 

Language score (list alphabetically):

Chinese -          70.1% score 5, 94.6% score 3 or higher

French -            14.2% score 5, 73.3 score 3 or higher

German -          18.9% score 5, 74.1% score 3 or higher

Italian -              13.6% score 5, 68% score 3 or higher

Japanese -        38.2% score 5, 71.9% score 3 or higher

Latin -               12.9% score 5, 58.5% score 3 or higher

Spanish -           24.5% score 5, 71.8% score 3 or higher

 

[swimmermom3]

Thank you! There were some interesting trend for my state.

[MtnTeaching]

That was very, very interesting.  

 

Ds takes French and was thinking about taking AP French next year.  I wonder if the French scores were so low due to the changes last year. Food for thought.

[8filltheheart]

Wow, there is a huge discrepancy between the number of students taking the Mechanics exam and the Electricity/Magnetism exam.   Hugely discrepant.   I don't know why I though they were taught together the same yr.   That must not be the most common practice.

[Kathy in Richmond]

Wow, there is a huge discrepancy between the number of students taking the Mechanics exam and the Electricity/Magnetism exam. Hugely discrepant. I don't know why I though they were taught together the same yr. That must not be the most common practice.

Many schools, including my county's math-sci public magnet, only offer C Mechanics, teaching it over the whole year. Made it very difficult to arrange AP testing in C Elec & Mag for N & L, who took most of their exams at that magnet.

Thank you!  I wonder how many of the foreign language test takers were native speakers of that language?

 

Also, the report really shows the disparity in difficulty for the various AP subject exams.  If almost half of the kids who take Human Geography are high school freshman,  do we really think that this is equivalent to a real college course?  Less than 1 percent of kids who took the AP Latin exams were freshmen.  I'm very familiar with the AP Latin test, and I can clearly say that not only is the syllabus equivalent in difficulty to a college class, it is equivalent in difficulty to a fifth or sixth semester college class.

[Arcadia]

 I wonder how many of the foreign language test takers were native speakers of that language?

 

Looking at the scoring statistics of the free response section for AP Chinese, the test takers from non Chinese speaking families did not do as well.  I would safely assume that those taking AP Chinese are native speakers or people who don't mind being "tortured" memorizing Chinese characters.  Looking around my county, I would say the native speakers are all aiming for their kids to take AP Chinese (me included).

 

The scoring statistics of the free response section for AP German shows a much narrower gap between test takers from German speaking families and those that are not.  The gap for AP French is very narrow too.

 

ETA:

California's AP Chinese results are higher than national.  97.8% score 3 or more. 74.6% score 5.  2,403 students took the exam, so 53 students fail the exam.

 

[creekland]

In just 10 years there's been a huge increase in both tests taken and number of students taking tests.

 

So much for those who say "testing" is phasing out, BUT, I wonder how the last 5 year stats would be.

 

I'd have been one who said DE was becoming more popular than AP, but my thoughts are probably skewed due to it being more popular in my area.  PA, as a whole, has increased AP, but certainly not my area.  Then again, it was rare that we'd have a score of 3 or higher even when we offered AP.

 

I enjoyed looking at the data - thanks for posting!

[ElaineJ]

Looking at the scoring statistics of the free response section for AP Chinese, the test takers from non Chinese speaking families did not do as well.  I would safely assume that those taking AP Chinese are native speakers or people who don't mind being "tortured" memorizing Chinese characters.  Looking around my county, I would say the native speakers are all aiming for their kids to take AP Chinese (me included).

 

The scoring statistics of the free response section for AP German shows a much narrower gap between test takers from German speaking families and those that are not.  The gap for AP French is very narrow too.

 

Yeah, I was thinking of having my ds take the AP Chinese when we get to that point,  but this discourages me. We aren't native speakers and I feel like he might be unfairly compared with those who are? My husband took Chinese at university and found it very hard to keep up in his class with the majority native speakers who were taking it for an easy A.

Elaine

[MBM]

My son's high school's AP stats for exams given in 2013:

 

829 students took 1,806 AP exams

Average score was 4.27.

50% scored 5

32% scored 4

13% scored 3

5% scored < 3

 

Only juniors and seniors are allowed to take AP exams and at that, the AP classes are restricted to students with a proven academic record and who are recommended by their current teacher in that subject. Sophomores are sometimes allowed to take an AP class but it's very rare.

 

 

Wow, there is a huge discrepancy between the number of students taking the Mechanics exam and the Electricity/Magnetism exam.   Hugely discrepant.   I don't know why I though they were taught together the same yr.   That must not be the most common practice.

 

 

Many schools, including my county's math-sci public magnet, only offer C Mechanics, teaching it over the whole year. Made it very difficult to arrange AP testing in C Elec & Mag for N & L, who took most of their exams at that magnet.

 

I'm surprised that a math-science high school would only offer Mechanics. Do you know why they don't offer both? At my son's high school, AP Physics C covers Mechanics the first semester and then Electromagnetism the second semester. I think most students then sit for both exams -- Mechanics and then Electricity/Magnetism.

[Miss Mousie]

My son's high school's AP stats for exams given in 2013:

 

 

 

Where can I find 2013 stats for a particular high school?

[Arcadia]

Where can I find 2013 stats for a particular high school?

 

For California, the Department. of Education has the stats on their database.  They haven't update for the 2013 results though.  Maybe your state has the results posted too.

US News has the AP stats for the country's public high school but its not updated yet so its still 2012 stats.

The high schools here also post their stats on the school profile page.  Or you can call your district office and ask for the person doing the data crunching about the stats, they usually don't mind telling since the data is out there somewhere.    

[snowbeltmom]

Where can I find 2013 stats for a particular high school?

 

Ask the school's guidance counselor for a copy of the 2013 College Board Summary Report. 

 

[Miss Mousie]

Thanks, Arcadia! 

 

ETA:  And thank you, too, SnowbeltMom.

 

 

[Arcadia]

Yeah, I was thinking of having my ds take the AP Chinese when we get to that point,  but this discourages me. We aren't native speakers and I feel like he might be unfairly compared with those who are?

 

My "did not do as well" is relatively speaking. If you look at the detailed stat for AP Chinese for 2013, almost everyone pass the exam and a strong  majority got a score of 5.   What the "non-natives" did less well was in the interpersonal section of the free response exam which I colored red below.  My guess is because the "natives" get a lot of practice arguing with their parents in more than one language so that section is easier for them.

 

Score of 5 - 3,985 students 70.1%

Score of 4  -792 students 13.9%

Score of 3 -600 students 10.6%

Score of 2 -125 students  2.2%

Score of 1 - 182 students  3.2%

 

 

I was referring to this table "AP® Chinese Language and Culture Scoring Statistics 2013 Free-Response Question"

 

For writing,

Presentational (Story Narration)   4.03/6 vs. 3.18/6*

Interpersonal (Email Response)  4.24/6 vs. 2.96/6* 

 

For speaking,

Interpersonal (Conversation) 23.93/36 vs. 16.29/36*

Presentational (Cultural Presentation) 3.76/6 vs. 3.22/6*

 

 

* The Standard Group does not include students who hear or speak Chinese at home or who have lived for more than one month in a country where Chinese is the native language.

 

[Kathy in Richmond]

I'm surprised that a math-science high school would only offer Mechanics. Do you know why they don't offer both? At my son's high school, AP Physics C covers Mechanics the first semester and then Electromagnetism the second semester. I think most students then sit for both exams -- Mechanics and then Electricity/Magnetism.[/color]

I agree that both parts of Physics C can be covered in one year by strong students. That's how I do it at home. But, this magnet school is not particularly strong in math & science teaching (history, on the other hand, is very well done...) I doubt that they have anyone on staff who can teach the E&M portion. Sometimes one or two of their students will self-study E&M on their own.

 

My son's high school's AP stats for exams given in 2013:

 

829 students took 1,806 AP exams

Average score was 4.27.

50% scored 5

32% scored 4

13% scored 3

5% scored < 3

 Your son's school is exceptional!!  One of my dd's good friends earned an A+/104% in AP Calc at the math sci magnet, yet received a score of "1" on the AP exam.  I tutored her the following year when she was failing calc 1 at William and Mary, despite repeating the class. She hadn't learned a thing in high school AP calc as far as I could tell.

[MBM]

Kathy, that is terrible about your daughter's friend's experience! If that were my child, I'd be a little more than just annoyed especially for a math-science school. Surely they can do better.

 

I always love hearing about the kids who teach themselves. My son is friends with a boy who is preparing for the Calc BC exam. He's doing it all by himself and doing well so far. Very inspirational.

[creekland]

One of my dd's good friends earned an A+/104% in AP Calc at the math sci magnet, yet received a score of "1" on the AP exam.  I tutored her the following year when she was failing calc 1 at William and Mary, despite repeating the class. She hadn't learned a thing in high school AP calc as far as I could tell.

 

This was not uncommon at our school and even now when we've switched from AP to DE, many students still place into remedial math or Calc AFTER having gotten an A or B in the class.  Few actually know what they are doing.   At least we don't consider ourselves a math-sci magnet though!

[creekland]

 

US News has the AP stats for the country's public high school but its not updated yet so its still 2012 stats.

   

 

I looked up the data for the school where I work:

 

"At __________ Senior High School, students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement® course work and exams. The AP® participation rate at _________ Senior High School is 0 percent. The student body makeup is 48 percent male and 52 percent female, and the total minority enrollment is 12 percent."

 

I wonder why they put that first sentence in?

 

Economic disadvantaged is listed at 24% which sounds about right.

 

Proficient in reading is 61%.

 

Proficient in math is 58%.

 

1300+/- students.

 

If anyone else cares to share info for comparison (cutting out names for privacy), I'm curious.  By most stats I've seen our school is slightly below average, but not much.

[Arcadia]

I looked up the data for the school where I work:

 

"At __________ Senior High School, students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement® course work and exams. The AP® participation rate at _________ Senior High School is 0 percent. The student body makeup is 48 percent male and 52 percent female, and the total minority enrollment is 12 percent."

 

I wonder why they put that first sentence in?

 

 

The two "normal" high schools in my school district has that first sentence.  The other two high schools which is a continuation high and a alternative does not have the first sentence.

 

This is what it says

"At __________  Continuation High, the student body makeup is 60 percent male and 40 percent female, and the total minority enrollment is 81 percent.

At _________ Alternative, the student body makeup is 50 percent male and 50 percent female, and the total minority enrollment is 67 percent"

 

For the two "normal" high school

"Students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement® course work and exams. The AP® participation rate at ______ High School is 32 percent. The student body makeup is 49 percent male and 51 percent female, and the total minority enrollment is 71 percent.

Students have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement® course work and exams. The AP® participation rate at __________High School is 42 percent. The student body makeup is 52 percent male and 48 percent female, and the total minority enrollment is 73 percent."

 

 

In just 10 years there's been a huge increase in both tests taken and number of students taking tests.

 

So much for those who say "testing" is phasing out, BUT, I wonder how the last 5 year stats would be.

 

From the 7th,8th, 9th and 10th report to nations,

 

2013 -  1,003,430 took an AP exam,            607,505 score 3 or higher

2012 -     954,070 took an AP exam,            573,472 score 3 or higher

2011 -     904,794 took an AP exam,            541,000 score 3 or higher

2010 -     853,314 took an AP exam,            508,818 score 3 or higher

2009 -     797,629 took an AP exam,            478,973 score 3 or higher

2007 -      694,705 took an AP exam,           424,004 score 3 or higher

2006 -     645,277 took an AP exam,            402,610 score 3 or higher

2003 -     514,163 took an AP exam,            331,734 score 3 or higher

2002 -     471,404 took an AP exam,            305,098 score 3 or higher

2001 -     432,343 took an AP exam,            277,865 score 3 or higher

Edited February 13, 2014 by Arcadia