Final Exams Parts 3 and 4

Last week, student took their free response portion of their test.  I expect to complete grading those tests by Thursday to redistribute along with solutions.  They will be able to keep these tests.

Parts 3 and 4 are multiple choice.  On Tuesday, students will take the Calculator portion (17 questions).  On Wednesday, student take their final part, the No-Calculator portion (24 questions). This past Friday, I gave students questions from the hardest section of an previous AP test to try.  Overall, they did quite well.  I think they're as ready as they'll ever be.

Why the difference in the number of questions:  Most of the multiple choice questions are pulled from various AP tests.  The AP test normally gives an average of 2 minutes per question in the no calculator section and 3 minutes each in the calculator section.  A reminder that all questions are ABCD, a format AP transitioned to a few years ago.  Like the AP test, students can guess without consequence for wrong answers.  The students will have already seen most of the questions in the study materials I have provided.  

We're almost at the end.  Students need to continue to press and study.  

Another chance?  Some students have approached me in a panic after taking the free response portion.  Some students did not finish while others simply left some parts blank.  I cannot give an alternate or supplementary assessment for that portion though as that is how the AP test is given.  The final exam in totality will be graded on an AP scale (some call it a "curve") , so it is important to reframe one's thinking on this.  One can still leaves lots blank and still come out of this okay.  It would be inappropriate to allow a second bite at something that is "final" while still enjoying the benefit of a curve.  That stated, students must understand getting at least half of the points on a free response exam is considered "pretty good".

Patience with timeline for posting grades:  Since final exam will be graded on an AP scale, incorporating those raw scores as-is into PowerSchools as part of the calculation would be inappropriate.  Figuring out at the actual scale will take time.  I ask for your patience on that.