AP Exam Scores For Students

Next week AP Exam Scores from 2016 tests will be available for students. I know you're excited to see how you did, so here are some things you can do to be ready:

1. Visit the AP Scores for Students site and check the access schedule. Remember, your ability to access your scores at a particular time depends upon your geographic location when you log in, NOT where you took the test. So, if you are planning on being in Wisconsin next week, then you will have access to your scores at 7 AM on July 7th.
2. Remember that you will need to log in using your College Board account. In my AP Psych classes, I prompted students to either create an account (or attempt to log in to an existing one) the day following our test. If you were gone that day, you might still have to complete that step.

Tips:

• You may have trouble accessing scores via your smartphone. This is because the website might be unable to determine your location (and access is determined by your location). You might have greater success if you try using your home computer instead.
• Score reports have already been sent to colleges by the time you see your results. As long as you requested that your scores be sent to your college/university during preregistration (by entering the school code), there is nothing more you need to do. However, visit the AP Score Reporting Services Website if you have other issues or questions about score reporting.

Results from the AP Psychology Exam Reading

Greetings, all!

This year's AP Psych Exam Reading wrapped up last week in Louisville, Kentucky. I had the honor of spending the week with "Danny" the main character in the application scenario for Free-Response Question 2 on this year's test. As always, though it was a lot of work, I gained some important perspective on what students are likely to misunderstand about the concepts in that question.

Since the FRQ scoring is now over, that means we're just now getting word about aggregate data from the nationwide test.

Trevor Packer, head of the Advanced Placement programs at the College Board, tweets results from each subject area as scores become available. He has some good news for AP Psych students, but keep in mind we won't know how CFHS students did until July when school reports come out (and when students can access their individual scores).

Check out what he had to say below:

Let's hope it was a Chippewa Falls student who earned the perfect score he's referencing in that last Tweet. :) 

Regardless, this means that now the wait continues for our own results in early July. Wisconsin students are scheduled to have access to scores beginning on July 7th, so it won't be long!

Creating Your College Board Account

Today in class you'll be prompted to create a College Board account so you can access your score reports in July. Here is the link you will need. :)

Tips for Success in AP Psychology

In class on Tuesday you will receive a sample of letters of advice from last year's AP Psychology students. Those students have much wisdom to share, given their outstanding performance on the AP Psychology Exam. Your task is to read through the information they are providing for you and generate a "Top Ten List" of tips for success in this class.

Of course, I only selected a small sample of student letters to print for you so I could avoid murdering entire forests. If you would like to review the entire pack of advice letters from 2014-15 AP Psych students, feel free to do so. They are sorted alphabetically by last name, so if you wish to find words of inspiration from a particular friend or acquaintance, just scroll to the appropriate point in the alphabet.

Congrats, AP Psych Class of 2015!

Chi-Hi Students who took this year's AP Psychology Exam have a lot to be proud of! Score reports for students and teachers (in Wisconsin) were released yesterday, and much celebrating is in order for this group of students!

Note to Students: If you haven't logged in to check your own AP Exam results, you can do so here, depending on your location. Wisconsin was scheduled for Day 2 of a five-day staggered release, so if you are trying to access scores from a computer in another state, you may have to wait until that state's scheduled release date.

Before I detail some of the highlights from this year's results, I want to emphasize (as always) that students are more than a score. It is a strange thing to see a year's worth of work reduced down to a few pages of numbers, as it is both satisfying and incomplete at the same time. While I'm pleased with the group's performance, keep in mind that I see much more than numbers when I look at score reports.

I see hours and hours of hard work put in, during study sessions and late night readings.

I see students who grew A LOT in their study habits over the course of the year, students who are now much more ready for college-level work than when they started.

I see students who were, literally, reduced to tears over some unit tests, but who doubled-down and committed to mastering the material even when it wasn't easy.

And, I see students who, for their studies this year, now have a much better understanding of the psychology of their everyday lives.

So, regardless of your individual score, there is something to be celebrated in what you've accomplished! Please take the time to do so!

Some highlights from this year's results:

• 93.2% of Chi-Hi students who took the exam passed it (earned a 3 or above). That is quite an achievement in and of itself, as (according to my records) it is the second-highest pass rate for AP Psych in Chi-Hi's history, surpassed only by 2013's group, which saw a 95% pass rate. 
• This is also substantially higher than the national pass rate, which was 66.2%.
• The average score on this year's AP Psychology Exam was 4.23, the highest ever for Chi-Hi AP Psych students.
• That high average is in part the result of the huge chunk of students who earned 5's (the highest possible score) on the exam! 52% of Chi-Hi AP Psych students earned a 5 on this year's test! Wowsa!

The release of last spring's scores always signals to me that planning for next year must soon begin, so as much as I'd like to join in the celebrating, it's time for me to return to work. I'll be updating the course resources, lesson plans, pacing guides, and syllabi over the next several weeks, so prepare for a lot of messiness on this site.

The Class of 2015 set a high standard for others to follow, but I'm excited for the challenges ahead. In looking at my rosters, there is more history to be made next year in AP Psych, as we're expecting our largest-yet class of AP Psych students: 118 at the time of this writing. That means another potential milestone lies ahead in 2016: we're likely to have our first-ever group of test takers that numbers in the triple digits for a single subject!

Summer in AP Psych Land

This summer I've been pretty busy getting ready and renewed for what I hope will be a banner year for AP Psych in 2014-15. Just thought I'd give you a brief summary of all that has been happening to prepare for your arrival in rm 136.

AP Exam Reading

In early June, I joined 400+ AP Psychology teachers and Psych Professors from across the country at the AP Exam Reading in Kansas City, MO. This is my third year of participating in the Reading, and it was great to connect with my colleagues from across the country, see old friends, make new ones, and (of course), score endless stacks of FRQs from the 2014 exam.

I was assigned to Question 1, which was a research methods question, and was happy to be scoring lots and lots of bar graphs much of the week. In all, over a quarter million exams were read by the crew that week. 

With the recently retired (from teaching) Charlie Blair-Broeker at the AP Reading. 

Steve Jones and I take a serious selfie during lunch at the Kansas City Convention Center.

Brad Wray, Mike Ray, and I can't figure out why there are no cars in downtown Kansas City on Sunday afternoon. Or at least cheering crowds to celebrate the end of the AP Psych Reading.

Then, after the end of the school year, I did attempt to become a hermit for about 2 weeks. I got caught up on sleep and was able to clean my house for once. How nice, right?

Chi-Hi AP Psych Exam Results

In early July, scores for our AP Psych students at Chi-Hi became available, and we had a lot to celebrate! The 2014 crop of AP Psych students was our largest group of test takers yet: 95 students took the AP Psych Exam! And, they did quite well. 

As a group, we can boast a 86% percent pass rate (which was substantially higher than the national pass rate of 65%), and 33 of our 95 test takers earned 5's (the highest possible score). This is impressive, given how much instructional time we lost due to snow days over the 2014-15 school year. 

AP Annual Conference

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the AP Annual Conference in Philadelphia, PA. It was an invigorating conference, as I picked up a lot of great ideas for use in my own classroom and for growing and supporting AP programs in general. 

As a side bonus, during non-conference hours I tried to squeeze in as many Philadelphia tourist activities as possible, including a run up "Rocky's" steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the early morning hours. 

I've got the Eye of the Tiger...

Now that mid-July is upon us, however, it's time to get focused again. I'll be at school more days than not over the next few weeks updating my plans for the year and getting things ready for textbook pick-up in mid-August. If you visit the blog during that time, you'll notice many pages and features are "under construction" as I make adjustments and updates for the 2014-15 school year.  

I'm looking forward to the planning and preparation, since it means I'll be seeing AP Psych students again soon.

2013 AP Psych Exam Results for Chi-Hi

Hats off to the AP Psych class of 2013, who took no prisoners on this year's AP Psychology Examination! Like all of my students, I had to patiently wait for this year's scores to be released in early July, and I am just now getting around to sharing what I can about our aggregate results.

I will admit that having to be gone during the 4th quarter for my internship had me nervously fretting about whether my students were continuing their studies with due diligence. As it turns out, they did not disappoint. In fact, this year's AP Psych pass rates are the highest of any Chi-Hi AP Psych classes for which I have data available (FYI: I began teaching AP Psych during the 2005-06 school year and have records from as far back as 2003).

This chart is based on the data that I have available from previously released score reports. Note also that this chart does not reflect the raw numbers of students who passed the test. 

Some highlights:

• 95% of this year's test takers (77 of 81) scored a 3 or higher. Scores of 3 and above are considered passing scores.
• The average score for the group was 4.086
• 34 students earned 5's, a top score on the test!
• 75% of test takers (60 students) earned 4's or 5's!
• Although, as a group, the class did better than the global average on the Multiple Choice section of the test (our group averaged 74 correct answers while the global mean was 66), where we really shined was the Free-Response Section. 58% of our students scored in the top quartile on the Free Response Section, with performance especially strong on Question 2, which concerned research methods.

While I know students sometimes claim luck in getting "good" questions--and this year's FRQs were "good" to us in the sense that they did not include terms and concepts not addressed in our text--these results reflect more than luck. They are evidence of a LOT of hard work from the AP Psych class of 2013, and that is to be commended.

These scores also set the bar high for next year's AP Psych classes, who will be picking up their textbooks in less than a month. I'm optimistic that they will rise to the challenge, and I'm anxious to join them once my internship ends in mid-September!

Congrats, AP Psych Class of 2013! Well done.

Summer in AP Psych Land

Summer has gotten off to a great start for this AP Psych teacher, and today (while many of my students would probably gag at the thought of the upcoming school year, given our pleasant summer weather) I begin the long process of making plans for a great 2013-14 AP Psych experience!

Admittedly, it's early for me to be thinking about this. However, as many Chi-Hi folks know, my summers "off" have always involved a lot of planning and training for the upcoming school year, and this year my summer preparation time will have to be scheduled even more carefully. Since April 8th I have been on educational leave to complete an internship for my Masters degree in Counseling Psychology, and this will continue until September 13th. Most of my hours during the work week will be occupied as I meet with clients and complete other required training experiences. So, my normal practice of camping out in my classroom for much of August has to be revised. Instead, I'll be gradually working on updating the calendar and lesson plans to reflect next year's syllabus over the next couple of months.

"Lucky" Table 13 celebrating the end of this year's Reading.

Also, I'll be keeping tabs on results from last year's AP Psych exam as they become available. This year I was again involved in the scoring of the Free-Response sections of the test, which involved an early June trip to Kansas City, MO, to join 380 other AP Psych teachers and professors of psychology in evaluating over 250,000 student exams. (For more info about this year's Reading, see this post from the THSP blog, which includes more pics of fabulous psych instructors, including yours truly.) My table (pictured at left) was one of three that ended up participating in the scoring of BOTH Q1 and Q2 (usually you are assigned to one for the whole week). So, even though it took more training, I can now boast expertise in both rubrics, which will be an asset as I help future students prepare for the test.

Individual scores for my (Wisconsin) students will be released July 6th (to students) via the online score report service. Reports for teachers will follow soon after (July 10th & 11th). Aggregate data about all test takers' performances was released just yesterday, in Trevor Packer's Twitter feed:

I like those odds, Chi-Hi. :) Especially as Mr. Packer (head of the AP for the College Board) noted that there were percentage increases in 3s, 4s, and 5s (passing scores) as compared to last year's test.

So, be prepared for some changes to the blog and some constant "construction" mess in the lesson plans and calendar features over the next couple of months. I'll also include updates about AP Exam scores as they become available. Even when class is not in session, there's never a dull moment in AP Psych.

Psychology Related Updates from the College Board

As an AP Psychology teacher, I regularly receive updates from the College Board with pertinent information about AP testing, credit policies, commissioned reports, and the like. This past week I got a couple of messages with information that may be useful to current AP Psych students, so I'd like to pass it along.

The first significant update concerns an issue that students should be very excited about: accessing AP score reports online! Previously, in order to find out their scores, students had to wait for printed score reports to arrive via snail mail in July OR fork over $8 to use a clunky, automated phone system to hear their scores earlier. Scores still are likely to be unavailable until July 1 or later, since the Free-Response Questions are scored by readers throughout most of the month of June and student reports probably cannot be compiled any faster than they already are. However, students will be able to view their scores online for free starting this summer. Though more information is likely to be forthcoming, the College Board has launched this website to help students set up their accounts and get ready to use the online system.

The second item concerns the physical layout of the Free-Response sections of the AP exams. As last year's students discovered, the College Board changed the layout of this section of most exams, for reasons having to do with test security and ease of test administration. However, some students reported being confused by the new format, since all the Free-Response questions now appear in one booklet with multiple pages (and with each question being repeated "for convenience" multiple times). In order to reduce confusion, the College Board has made available Free-Response booklet maps so that students can preview the layout of that section of the test. In general, I'll be telling my students in AP Psych that, despite the look at first glance there really are still two FRQs, so when you are done answering the first, you may have to go a couple of pages to find the next one. Pay attention to numbers (they should be prominently labled "Question 1" and "Question 2") and you should be fine. However, this map should be helpful, especially for students more used to the old format of that section of AP tests.

AP Courses Are Pathway to Success for UW-Madison Students

A recent article from the College Board Connection highlighted the role AP course credits play in admission and future college success for students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Among other findings reported in the article, which featured reports on the 2011 class of AP test takers as well as a 2009 study regarding AP students at the UW, were the following:

• 75% of all incoming UW-Madison freshman earned credit via AP courses and exams, a record high.

Students who received AP credit were able to graduate sooner than other students. They were also able to start advanced classes sooner, freeing up space in a crowded system.

Students who earned a 3, 4, or 5 on an AP Exam were doing just as well or better than those who took courses at the UW, lending confidence to departments that grant AP credit that students taking and passing AP exams are adequately prepared.

Turns out, your AP teacher might be in the best position to teach you how to Bucky...

Credit for AP Exam Results

If you are curious as to how your college/university of choice awards credit based on AP Exam scores, check out this AP Credit Policy Info page from the College Board.

Although the general rule is that a score of 3 or better on the AP Psych Exam is "passing," some schools require a 4. Others award credit differently based on your score. It might be worth knowing as you submit applications this fall and make your preparations for college.