Informational Slideshow

This is the slideshow from the Tutorial Info Sessions on 1/16/25 and 1/24/25. Below this slideshow, you will find a narrative version of the same information.

General Information

AP English Language and Composition is a course for juniors and seniors. It is the most-taken AP exam worldwide and one of the most popular AP courses at Leigh. There are currently five sections at Leigh, and about 568,000 students took the exam in 2023.

Currently, Ms. Ullrey and Ms. Moseley teach the course. They teach the same curriculum, including daily lessons, activities, and assignments, and they use the same grading criteria and rubrics.

Philosophies

The teachers of AP Language share these philosophies:

• You are not punished for the mistakes you make during the learning process. This means that you will have the opportunity to try new things--and even fail at them--without them affecting your grade.

• Good writing is a skill that must be practiced constantly. You will write in this class a LOT.

• Learning takes place during interaction and reflection. You will work in small collaborative groups almost every day to discuss topics and deepen your understanding, and you'll often be asked to reflect on your own work.

• You are given the opportunity to turn in your best work to be graded. You will receive teacher and peer feedback on your writing and be able to revise it before it is graded.

Course Goals

There are two overarching goals for the course:

1. Prepare students for the AP exam 

2. Prepare students for AP English Literature and Composition (or any other lower-level college English course)

Preparing for the AP Exam

To prepare for the AP exam, students will do LOTS of AP essay writing. Students practice writing timed essays in class, which are called "drafts" because they are scored by the teacher but not graded; that is, students receive a score on the AP rubric, but this score does not affect their grade. After 2-3 drafts, students will chose a draft to revise. These revisions should be polished final essays, and they are graded as such.

Additionally, students will complete multiple choice practice exams. These are practice only and are discussed but not graded.

The skills students work on to prepare for the exam are critical reading, rhetorical analysis, synthesis, argumentation, and reading and writing under time pressure. A vast majority of students report that they felt very prepared on exam day. 

A "passing" score on the AP exam is 3, 4, or 5. The global pass rate for all test-takers is about 56%. The Leigh pass rate has historically been 85-90%.

Preparing for AP English Literature or College English

Students will study American literature in addition to preparing for the AP exam. For more information about this aspect of the course, please visit AP Language reading assignments.

Grading

Course grades are based almost entirely on mastery of skills. Only five percent (5%) of the grade is based on "academic habits" such as turning in work on time. The main grading category is Assessments (95%). This category consists of anything that assesses your mastery of academic skills, such as AP and literature essays, Socratic Seminars, projects and presentations, reading notes, and reading checks.

Look at how you are currently doing in only the academic categories of your current English course (e.g. Writing, Tests, etc.). Some students who historically earn A’s and B’s in English are surprised to earn C’s (or lower) in AP Lang because there is only a 5% non-academic buffer.

The most common grade in the course is a B; each semester about 50% of students earn a B in the course. 

Typical semester grades in AP Lang are:

• A - 10-40%

• B - 30-70%

• C - 10-20%

• D/F - <5%

Work Load and Homework

Students will have some kind of homework every day, even if it is "just" reading the assigned literature. At certain times in the semester, students will be working on essay revisions, which is much more than just checking the original draft for typos; AP revisions involve one-on-one writing conferences with the teacher or a peer reviewer, close reading and analysis of the text that the response is based off of, and sometimes an extensive overhaul of the ideas or structure of the response.

Some students describe this class as "easy" because it is different than most other courses. There are no small daily assignments turned in for a grade. There are no reading quizzes. There are very few points for things that aren't required skills. Because of this, the majority of students describe the class as challenging because there is no way to "play the game" to get a good grade; the only way to get a good grade is to master the skills, and the skills are pretty complex.

While it is true that the teachers don't typically grade homework assignments, students are expected to complete them. This is college-level curriculum, and in order to master the skills, your teachers will assign tasks that will all lead up to a larger skill or understanding. This is not busy work; every assignment is given for a reason. Students who fail to do assigned work often fail the course or score low on the AP exam.

Conclusion and Next Steps

AP English Language and Composition is a challenging course because it requires maturity, time management, and effort. The most successful students are not the "smartest" students, but rather the students who work hard on improving their writing and deepening their thinking. It is not a course for the lazy.

If you have questions, please contact Ms. Ullrey in room 57 (aullrey@cuhsd.org) or Ms. Moseley in room 34 (mmoseley@cuhsd.org).