by Joseph
Hawkins
I’m
completely sucked in.
I want
to see more Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Advanced Placement
(AP). But given the countywide expansion
of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program into
nearly every county high school, I also want to see IB facts and figures.
Here is
some of what MCPS needs to make available for public consumption.
§
AP
student enrollment facts and figures: Currently, MCPS shares only facts and
figures about AP exam-takers. The problem is not every AP course participant
sits for an exam. So, how many students actually enroll in AP course offered by
MCPS? How many students never sit for an exam?
§
IB student enrollment facts and figures: The
last time MCPS shared information on IB enrollees and IB test performance was
January 2006 (MCPS report: An Examination
of the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Exam Results for 2004-2005). Clearly, current facts and figures are long overdue.
So, for example, how many IB exams are MCPS students taking now? How black male students earned an IB diploma?
How many MCPS students on FARMS and attending a red zone high school earned an
IB diploma?
§
Grades
earned by AP and IB students: It would
be outstanding for MCPS to reveal details about how AP and IB students perform.
Do students who take an exam have better end-of-course grades than students who
do not take an exam? What do the end-of-course grades, for example, look like
for black males receiving free and reduced meals (FARMS)?
§
IB
program participant cross-overs: I have heard from a few MCPS parents that
their IB children not only sat for their IB exams but they also crossed over
and sat for a fair number of AP exams. Given the popularity of the IB program
in our public county high schools, how common is this practice? When it happens
what does performance look like for the IB kids?
§
College
graduation rates for AP and IB students: In May of 2010, MCPS released a report
that looked at AP exam-takers and college competition (MCPS report: Advanced Placement Examination as a Key to
Postsecondary Success). The problem with the report is it combined
exam-takers into two groups, those with an AP exam score of 3 or higher and
those with an AP exam score below 3. The group with a score of 3 or higher had
better college completion rates. In 2008, the College Board performed a similar
study (College Outcomes Comparisons by AP
and Non-AP High School Experiences—see link below). The College Board study
is absolutely full of details while the MCPS study is absent details. In fact,
the College Board study underscores the value of showing college competition
rates by scores and not combining them into large groups. The graduation rates,
for example, are vastly different between high school graduates scoring a 1 and
graduates scoring a 2, as well as between graduates scoring a 3 and those
scoring a 4 or 5. So, how do MCPS students differ when the details are
revealed?
Here is
the link to the College Board study:
Finally,
I would highly recommend that readers go to the College Board website and read
the above mentioned study. I’m in awe over the level of detail provided by the
researchers. The College Board researchers literally throw the kitchen sink at
us (sometimes that is a good thing). In the end, assuming one is patient, one
understands that saying that an AP exam score of 3 or higher predicts college
success comes with a fair number of qualifiers and caveats. Those qualifiers
are possible, however, because the College Board researchers showed us the
details. And it is the details that many of us want to see when MCPS issues
public reports.
You could use absolutely any test- AP- SAT - Final exam- and it would be correlated with success in college. The focus on and argument for a 3 or higher as the threshold for college success is specious, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI don't disagree with your main point, 10:38, but advanced placement tests are written at a college level and are therefore more challenging than a county final exam, for example. So although a 3 translates into "qualified," which is still middle of the road, it's still academically more rigorous in terms of expectations. Having taught AP language, I can say confidently that it is one of the most difficult subjects offered at the high school level.
ReplyDeleteQualified? For what? It's nothing to many colleges.
ReplyDelete7:12 - That's quite the attitude you have, isn't it? Why challenge yourself when ultimately it "doesn't count" toward credit. Way to instill a love of learning in your children!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the MCPS PR comment! Great that you all earn your pay. It's time for you to stand behind your statements with your name. If you believe in what you are saying, then sign your name.
ReplyDeleteAP classes aren't about a love of learning. They are about mastering one test by practicing the same test over and over and over and over and over. That's not learning. That's test prep. The end result? The Jay Mathews Challenge Index, which has no bearing on where a child will go to college but everything to do with the MCPS "brand" that 850 Carver admins spend their day hawking for their resumes.