Exam reflects student’s knowledge – The AP exam reflects everything you were supposed to learn in the course. It makes sense to base your final grade off the score you get on the AP exam. If you were to have a bad grade all year because you didn’t do your homework and then get a four or five on your AP exam, this means you retained most of the information meaning you should pass the class with a high grade on your report card. by Gage Van Kuilenburg, freshman
Students should be rewarded – I like this policy because, even though it will not affect seniors, if someone does well on an exam, he should be rewarded. Some people might not put in the work, but there would be a high chance they would not pass the exam. by David Merchant, senior
Policy eliminates stress of class work – This is a great idea. One wouldn’t have to do the busy work of an AP exam in order to get an A in the class. One wouldn’t have to anything at all in order to get an A except get a 5. by Burkhardt Helfrich, senior
Policy encourages student effort – I think schools should follow suit with this AP exam idea. This would be an appropriate fit because students would show up to exams. This exam would make or break their overall grade for the class. If a kid is failing the class but then gets a 4 or 5 or even a 3 automatically passes the class. Whereas if a person is just failing the class and has nothing left in the semester to bring up his average, then he just fails the class. I think students would be more open to this as well because it would give them the motivation to pass the exam. I think it would be a very effective method, and should be put into play as soon as possible. by Hailea Jeffreys, senior
Grade change fitting for those who pass exam – Schools should be able to change a student’s final grade based on their performance on the AP exam. If a student manages to get a 4 or a 5 on the exam, his grade should be changed to an A. Being able to pass and do well on an AP exam shows that the student understands the material. That is the goal of the class. If the student is able to meet beyond the expectations of the AP exam, a grade change to an A would be fitting. Clearly, the student knows the material in the class and should receive a grade based on his performance on the exam. by Brandon Rodriguez, senior
Policy discourages student effort – I believe schools should not follow this practice due to the consequences it may cause. If students realize that they can skip class, not turn in homework and completely bomb tests knowing all they have to do is take one test to pass the entire class. Although the students may pass the class, in reality nothing is learned. by Cian O’Donnell, senior
Exam policy detracts from the point of class – Schools should not do this. If I knew that my score on the AP exam determined my grade then I would be doing absolutely no work in my AP classes. Some people, myself included, are just good test takers, while others aren’t. And giving a single test such an influence over student’s final grade wouldn’t be fair. Placing such emphasis on an AP exam takes attention away from the importance of actually receiving a higher level of education, which should be the point of AP courses. by Clayton Williams, senior
Policy is not fair to students – I believe this proposal is absurd and should be denied. If a student were to work hard all year and maintain an A in his AP course, then he deserves an A. One test should not define you. If a student were to fail each quarter, but receive an A or B due to his final exam grade, it isn’t fair to the student who worked hard all year. There are just too many controversies about this issue; I believe OCPS should just leave it as it is. by Elizabeth Villeneuve, freshman
Students will not retain information – Schools should not make the AP exam grade affect the final grade for the course. I do not believe that the AP exam is a good representation of how well students know the material. A student could not show up to class the whole year and then a week before the exam, teach the course to himself and pass the exam. Then the day after the exam, they forget everything. Another thing is that to make a 3 on the AP Calculus AB exam, you have to score about 54 out of 108 possible points. That’s a 50 percent. A kid could learn that in a week easy. They more than likely wouldn’t retain the information and would forget it right away after the test. by Robert C. Strange, senior
Exam score represents work – I think schools should do this because a student’s AP exam score shows all the hard work that a student has done for the year. by Jamal Clark, senior