Post on 30-Dec-2015
Mr Rappleye
Welcome
The Exam
Perspectives on Advanced Placement
Literature and Composition
Looking at the Exam: a frame of reference
• 3 hour exam in early May
• 1 hour: 50-60 Multiple Choice Questions:
• 2 hours: 3 essays– Poem
– Prose
– “Open” Question (analytical-expository essay)
Multiple Choice• 4 passages:
period/diversity/canon• 10-15 questions on
each passage• Close Reading• Poetry/prose/plays• Late 16th century to
present• 60 minutes• weighted :45 %
– reliability
• available
Essays
• 3 Essays
• Approximately 40 minutes each
• “Sight Reading”
• Poem
• Prose
• “Open question”– device or theme
– choose a work of merit
Scoring • Each Essay read and scored separately, by
different readers• Readers are trained for ONE question• One room reading Each Essay• Chief Faculty Consultant (1)• Question Leader (3)• “Table”: 6 readers and a Table Leader• 600+ readers from around the country• Experienced High School AP teachers• College teachers (rhetoric and confidence)
Reading• Holistic Scoring• Scoring Guide• 9 point scale• “Range Finders”• First half of first day• Regular checks after
that: after every break• Table leaders’ first
days checking scores
9 point Scale• First Draft• Top half or Bottom
half?• Scoring Guide: key
terms• Samples--range
finders• Internalizing Standard• Watch the “5” (Nine
Point Scale)• Use full range
Touchpoints
• You don’t know what the score means in terms of final grade
• AP:• 1:No Recommendation• 2:Possibly Qualified• 3: Qualified• 4:Well Qualified• 5:Extremely Well qualified
Cross referencing• Standards established by
the students’ performance; NOT before the essays are read
• Similarities in phrasing but…
• Reader’s results correlated to the MC
• Emphasis on accuracy
• Grading “Blind”
Getting to the Final Score
• Raw Score Multiple Choice: 45 % (67 pts)
• Raw Score of Essays: 55% (83 pts)
• FORMULA: 150 Point total
• The “lines” separating 1,2,3,4,and 5 are then determined by Chief Reader, looking at results, comparing to past in consultation with statisticians from ETS.
• What does the score mean?
FYI...
• 1999 AP Lit and Comp Exam
• 176,221 candidates• FIVE: 11.3%• FOUR: 21.5%• THREE: 35.5%• TWO: 26.4%• ONE: 5.4%
•25 Questions on Prose•Global mean: 13.8•30 Questions on Poetry
•Global mean: 18.5•Poetry Analysis: 4.6 •Prose Analysis: 4.6•Analytical-Expository Essay: 5.0
• of Tone• of Characterization • of Theme• Also, Cultural Literacy• Style (composition)•Timed Testing (practice and preparation)
Implications: Habitual focus on COMPLEXITY
To Whom? Various Perspectives on the Exam
• Colleges• Administration/Marketing• Students…do you know
why they are there? – Marketing?– College Credit?– Interest!
• Parents• ETS…• You!
My perspective...
• English teacher at MICDS 14 yrs– Evolution of an AP program
• Coach Cross Country and Track
• Reader for the AP Lit and Comp exam– try to get involved
• Have taught AP Lit and Comp as– year long junior level course– year long senior course– semester long course
The Test and YOUR Course
• No required Coverage• BUT!• Variety
– Genre
– Period
• Skills Test: Close Reading
• Freedom and Limitations
Limits and/as Opportunities
• What’s Your Unique Situation?
• Who’s Paying?• Texts...• Teaching to the Test:• It’s a good test, but...• Teaching Your
Passion
• What can you Control and what lies beyond your control?
• Enrollment• How many take tests?• How will You
Evaluate your success?
• How will OTHERS?
Sharing some perspectives
• This Course and how it got that way
• Items for Emphasis: Some Things that work
• Items to Mention: helpful hints
• Scoring the Exam: practice
• Questions