| AP Research |
11.7% |
16.3% |
39.7% |
30.7% |
1.6% |
Jun 23 |
- This year, ~2,700 students were the first to take the brand new AP Capstone Research course, developed at the request of college admissions.
- The AP Research score is based on an academic paper, presentation, and oral defense. Here are the details: spr.ly/6013BQwzS
- Students did some amazing AP Research work this yr: creating a prosthetic hand for an Iraqi vet, internet access for Syrian refugees, etc.
- 38 students achieved perfect scores of 80/80 on their AP Research academic paper, presentation, and oral defense.
|
| AP Seminar |
6.6% |
12.8% |
53.7% |
21.6% |
5.3% |
Jun 23 |
- 1 student earned a perfect score of 246/246 pts across all the AP Seminar tasks: individual & team projects/presentations, essay, exam.
- Scores are both up and down from last year: increases in 4s, 5s, and 1s.
- Students are ninjas of argument, with 50% earning all 6/6 points on Q2, which required them to identify claims and connections.
- The most challenging task for AP Seminar students: Section II: synthesizing evidence to create an argument: spr.ly/6010BQw8A
|
| Art History |
11.1% |
22.6% |
27.7% |
27.6% |
11.0% |
Jun 24 |
- Scores of 3+ on the redesigned AP Art History Exam are ~4 percentage pts higher than on the legacy exam; great work by teachers/students.
- Multiple-choice: weakest scores on questions about art of indigenous Americas & Asia – more focus on those works needed.
- Multiple-choice: strongest scores on questions about art of Africa & Later European/American.
- Free-response: students scored very well on Q3 (Nimes attribution) & Q4 (Monet’s Saint-Lazare Station).
- Toughest AP Art History free-response question for students was on relics from Conques / Cameroon: spr.ly/6014BQlfa
- I visited Conques last summer; people said many AP Art History teachers had visited in prep to add the great church/reliquary to the course.
- Since this year’s AP Art History Exam is brand new, we’ve posted many details about the standards for teachers here: apcommunity.collegeboard.org/web/aparthisto…
|
| Biology |
6.3% |
20.6% |
33.6% |
29.2% |
10.3% |
Jun 23 |
- Good predictor of whether you scored high on this year’s AP Bio exam is how well you did on Q4 (gene expression): spr.ly/6011BQea5
- AP Biology multiple-choice: students scored very well on Big Idea 2 (cellular processes), and least well on Science Prac 2 (using math).
- AP Biology grid-ins that require mathematical calculation: students performed quite poorly: more than 50% earned 0 or 1 pt out of 5.
- AP Biology free-response: best performance was on Q1 (allele frequencies), followed by Q5 (obligate mutualism).
- Ppoor performance on Q7 (chromosomal inheritance; ~66% earned 0 pts) & Q8 (effect of exercise; ~50% earned 0 pts).
|
| Calculus AB |
24.4% |
17.4% |
17.6% |
9.7% |
30.9% |
Jun 13 |
- These don't yet include the scores from outside North America.
- The AP Calculus AB data are in: students demonstrated stronger skills this year than last, achieving a higher % of 3s, 4s, & especially 5s.
- Among the AP Calc AB free-response questions, the highest mean score was on Q4 (slope field): spr.ly/6017BshFx
- Many students struggled with Q2, 3, & esp 5 (modeling volume / related rates), w/31% earning 0 pts on it: spr.ly/6014Bsh2i
- 11 students, out of 310,000, earned perfect scores of 108/108 points on this year’s exam.
|
| Calculus BC |
48.4% |
15.5% |
17.6% |
5.9% |
12.6% |
Jun 13 |
- These don’t yet include the scores from outside North America.
- Congrats to AP Calculus BC teachers & students: the strongest performance in years, so a significant growth in the % of students earning 5s.
- Lowest mean score on AP Calc BC: Q6 (Taylor series); many also found Q2 (parametric particle motion) tough: spr.ly/6014Bt6zu
- 2 students, out of 125,000, earned perfect scores of 108/108 points possible on this year’s AP Calculus BC Exam.
|
| Chemistry |
9.7% |
15.1% |
27.5% |
25.3% |
22.4% |
Jun 15 |
- Students have shown slightly stronger mastery of AP Chemistry this year than last year’s group did, increasing the % of 5s in particular.
- Students generally scored best on Big Ideas 1&2, lowest on Big Idea 3 (transformation).
- In the Free-Response section, AP Chemistry students performed best on Q5 (kinetics/gas laws: butadiene).
- FRQ6 on equilibrium/stoichiometry (EDTA) stumped the majority of students; 73% earned 0 points on it: spr.ly/6016Btung
|
| Chinese Lang. and Culture |
62.1% |
16.6% |
14.7% |
2.7% |
3.9% |
Jun 20 |
- AP Chinese continues to grow, following AP Spanish and AP French as the most commonly-taken AP world language.
- This year, AP Chinese students scored well on the conversation task, and least well on the cultural presentation: spr.ly/6013Bt4QV
- AP Chinese illustrates the fact that AP exams are not normed/curved; 93% scored 3+, since all students who earn the points get 3+.
- In the multiple-choice section, AP Chinese students' highest scores were typically on the reading-based questions.
|
| Computer Science A |
20.7% |
20.4% |
23.2% |
12.5% |
23.2% |
Jun 22 |
- Once again, AP Computer Sci = the fastest growing of all AP courses this yr; great to see more schools providing this critical opportunity.
- Students did quite well across all topics in the multiple-choice questions, esp. logic/software eng/recursion.
- In order to get a 3+, students need to earn pts on the FRQs; students getting 1s/2s can’t do much w/these: secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalService…
- 5 students, out of ~50,000, earned perfect scores of 80/80 points possible, on this year’s AP Computer Science A Exam.
|
| English Language |
10.6% |
17.5% |
27.2% |
32.1% |
12.6% |
Jun 23 |
- AP English Lang is largest of all AP subjects; 23K more participated this yr, so it’s all the more impressive that there's a higher % of 5s
- As is typical, AP English Lang students scored higher on 20th-century prose than earlier prose passages.
- 1 student, out of ~550,000, achieved a perfect score of 150/150 points possible on this year’s AP English Language exam.
- Of the 3 AP Eng Lang essays, students found the Thatcher analysis (FRQ2) just a bit more difficult than the others: spr.ly/6019BQbrz
|
| English Literature |
7.4% |
17.7% |
29.5% |
33.4% |
12.0% |
Jun 20 |
- This year’s AP English Literature performance was the lowest in the past 5 years, resulting in a decrease in scores of 3+ by ~2 % pts.
- Students continue to find analyzing poetry more difficult than prose, in both the MC and FR sections of the exam.
- In the FR section of the AP English Lit exam, the highest mean score was on Q2, the Hardy analysis; some very good work on this passage.
- The most frequent score on all three of these AP English Lit essays was 4 out of 9 points possible: spr.ly/6014BthFA
|
| Environmental Science |
7.4% |
23.0% |
14.8% |
26.0% |
28.8% |
Jun 14 |
- AP Env Sci students generally scored very well across the MC section, esp on: population; energy resources & consumption; the living world.
- Low performance on these AP Env Science FRQs, particularly 2 (iron) & 4 (soil), kept many students from earning 3+: spr.ly/6018BtM9j
|
| European History |
7.9% |
16.2% |
29.5% |
34.2% |
12.2% |
Jun 23 |
- Since AP European History has a new exam this year, there's a detailed memo about results, posted for teachers here: spr.ly/6014BQ5y6 (needs an AP European History Teacher Community login)
- AP European History multiple-choice performance was solid, except on questions related to 1914-present.
- Students found Q3 on the development of railroads very easy, many earning all points possible on it.
- On the AP European History Bismarck DBQ, ~3% of students earned all 7/7 points possible; most frequent score: 1/7. spr.ly/6015BQ5yh
|
| French Language |
17.3% |
26.5% |
32.6% |
18.7% |
4.9% |
Jun 23 |
- Yet another subject with score improvements this year: AP French Language & Culture teachers/students have achieved an increase in %4s/5s.
- Students generally performed best on the presentational speaking (cultural comparison) section of the exam.
- The most challenging section of the AP French Exam for many students was the spoken conversation in Part B: spr.ly/6011BQws1
|
| German Language |
20.7% |
22.3% |
27.1% |
20.9% |
9.0% |
Jun 23 |
- Bigger score declines in AP German than any subject so far this year – a large drop of 7 percentage points in scores of 3+.
- That said, performance on AP German remains stronger than it is in most other AP subjects, as you can see from the score spread.
- Where AP German students scored lowest this year: reading passages in the multiple-choice section.
|
| Government and Politics, Comp. |
20.6% |
21.2% |
20.4% |
21.5% |
16.3% |
Jun 16 |
- The biggest score increases of any subject so far this year: AP Comparative Government, jumping from 15% 5s in 2015 to 20% 5s this year.
- AP Comp Govt students scored very well on FRQs 3 (correlation/causation) & 6 (authoritarian/democratic regimes): spr.ly/6010Btjqm
- Only exceptions to otherwise stellar work on AP Comparative Govt: nearly half bombed FRQ2 (Russian protests) & 4 (China’s 1-child policy).
- I can't single out a favorite among the 38 AP courses, but AP Comp Govt is definitely Top 10 for me. Great to see such results this year! Of the 6 countries in AP Comp Gov (Britain, China, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia), I’m curious which teachers/students most enjoy studying.
|
| Government and Politics, US |
11.9% |
20.0% |
19.8% |
19.2% |
29.1% |
Jun 16 |
- Last year, 3 students earned perfect scores of 120/120 points possible on the AP US Government & Politics exam; this year, 25 students have!
- Students scored very well on FRQ4 re: the Constitution and FRQ1 re: linkage institutions.
- By far the most difficult question on AP US Govt was FRQ2 (demographic changes); 27% of students scored 0 on it: spr.ly/6012Btjiw
|
| Human Geography |
11.9% |
20.0% |
19.8% |
19.2% |
29.1% |
Jun 14 |
- While AP Human Geo students generally scored lowest on MC questions on industrialization, they still scored well across the MC section.
- Students generally scored best on FRQ3 (agriculture types); 7,000 students got all 7 pts on FRQ3: spr.ly/6015BtMmc
|
| Italian Language and Culture |
21.8% |
18.9% |
31.0% |
20.2% |
8.1% |
Jun 23 |
- Great work in AP Italian classrooms this year, with scores of 3+ jumping by nearly 7 percentage points, & participation grew by >10%!
- Unsurprisingly, AP Italian students performed slightly better on reading-based questions than listening-based ones.
- Students scored very well on FRQ1 (email chat), but many struggled w/the cultural presentation (FRQ4): spr.ly/6019BQbBc
|
| Japanese Lang. and Culture |
52.9% |
7.1% |
19.8% |
6.2% |
14.0% |
Jun 20 |
- Students demonstrated stronger proficiency in AP Japanese this year, so the % of 5s is growing significantly.
- Once again, this “text chat” was the most difficult part of the AP Japanese Exam for many students: spr.ly/6017Bt7kf
- AP Japanese students generally earned highest scores in the free-response section on the cultural presentation: spr.ly/6014Bt7Zn
|
| Latin |
12.8% |
20.7% |
32.2% |
23.1% |
11.2% |
Jun 23 |
- Stronger performance in AP Latin this year – a 4 point bump in the % of scores earning 3+.
- AP Latin multiple-choice: students performed best on the syllabus reading from Caesar, and least well on the Caesar sight reading.
- AP Latin free-response: good performance on all questions, especially Q3, the analytical essay on Neptune/Iarbas: spr.ly/6015BQeNV
- 1 student, out of ~6,500, earned a perfect score of 100/100 points possible on the AP Latin Exam this year.
|
| Macroeconomics |
16.1% |
23.4% |
16.2% |
17.5% |
26.8% |
Jun 10 |
- AP Macroeconomics continues to see score increases: the % of 3,4,5s is higher than 5 years ago & 50% more students are participating.
- Students did extremely well on multiple-choice, esp on economic growth; most challenging were the financial sector questions.
- More than a third of the students aced this FRQ3 on specialization & trade, earning all 5 pts possible: secure-media.collegeboard.org//digitalServices/pdf/ap/ap16_frq_macroeconomics.pdf. More than 40% of the students found FRQ2 on loans/demand deposits extremely difficult, earning 0 pts: spr.ly/V
- 28 students worldwide (out of 135,000) earned all 90 points possible on this year’s AP Macroeconomics exam.
|
| Microeconomics |
15.3% |
27.3% |
23.0% |
14.4% |
20.0% |
Jun 10 |
- Scores are generally lower this year than last, but still higher than 5 yrs ago when 50% fewer participated.
- Students did quite well across multiple-choice questions; the most challenging were on firm behavior and market structure.
- Scores were generally highest on FRQ2 (consumer choice) & lowest on FRQ3 (monopolistic competition): spr.ly/6018BstTM
- 47 students worldwide (out of 83,000) earned all 90 points possible on this year’s exam.
|
| Music Theory |
18.1% |
17.2% |
24.2% |
26.0% |
14.5% |
Jun 24 |
- Lower levels of mastery demonstrated in AP Music Theory this year, reducing the percentage earning 3+ by about 2 % points.
- Multiple-choice: students generally scored better on questions without aural stimulus than those with aural stimulus.
- students generally scored best on FRQ5: partwriting from a figured bass: spr.ly/6010BQmEY
- By far the most difficult question for AP Music Theory students was FRQ2 (melodic dictation), ~60% earned 0-2 out of 9 points on it.
|
| Physics 1 - Algebra Based |
4.3% |
13.6% |
21.3% |
30.7% |
30.1% |
Jun 15 |
- While the exam was challenging for many, AP Physics 1 scores improved over last year: an increase of 2.3% in scores of 3+ in North America.
- The AP Physics data don't yet include international students, which typically boost AP Physics scores of 3+ by another % point or two.
- Multiple-choice questions on Science Practice 5 (Data Analysis & Evaluation) posed the greatest challenge to students.
- FRQ1 (rotation/forces) & Q5 (waves) scored lowest; half of students earned no more than 1 of 7 pts: spr.ly/6019Btp5B
- 1 student, out of ~150,000 scored so far, earned a perfect score of 80/80 pts on this year’s exam. No student had yet done so.
|
| Physics 2 - Algebra Based |
8.5% |
16.7% |
34.3% |
32.3% |
8.2% |
Jun 15 |
- Despite a 25% growth in participation, AP Physics 2 scores increased significantly: scores of 3+ increased by 4.2 percentage pts over 2015.
- Students scored very well on the MC questions, particularly on BI5 (conservation laws); least well on BI6 (wave models/apps).
- Fairly low scores on the four AP Physics 2 FRQs: 25%, 42%, 29%, and 33% were the average pts earned, in that order: spr.ly/6014BtnDO
|
| Physics C E&M |
32.0% |
22.6% |
13.5% |
19.3% |
12.6% |
Jun 16 |
- Usually, we don’t see so much score improvement from year to year; trend continues w/Physics C:E&M: a significant boost in %5s over 2015.
- Scores were highest on this FRQ2 (circuits): spr.ly/6016Btb8j
- Students struggled with FRQ3 (magnetostatics), with 60% earning 3 or fewer pts (out of 15) on it.
- 1 student, out of 27,000, earned all 90/90 points possible on this year’s AP Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism exam.
|
| Physics C Mech. |
30.2% |
27.4% |
18.5% |
13.9% |
10.0% |
Jun 15 |
- Interesting pattern in AP Physics C: Mechanics this year: a shift in student performance to many more 5s, a few more 2s, & fewer 3s, 4s, 1s.
- Students generally did very well on FRQ1 (Newton’s laws; kinematics), > than a fourth of them earning most of the pts.
- Many AP Physics C Mech students struggled w/FRQ3 (rotation; energy; Newton’s laws), a third of them earning no more than 1 point.
- 1 student, out of 53,000, earned a perfect score of 90/90 pts on this year’s AP Physics C: Mechanics exam.
|
| Psychology |
19.0% |
26.1% |
19.1% |
14.2% |
21.6% |
Jun 20 |
- AP Psychology scores remained quite similar, even as 20,000 more students gained access worldwide, a testament to good teaching & learning
- In the multiple-choice section, AP Psychology students earned highest means on social/developmental psych, lowest on abnormal behavior.
- Students fared much better on Q2 (learning/cognition) than Q1 (sensation/perception): spr.ly/6015BQ6GT
- 1 student, out of ~300,000 so far, has earned all 150/150 points on this year’s AP Psychology Exam. Can’t wait to find out who / where…
|
| Spanish Language |
28.0% |
34.8% |
26.9% |
9.1% |
1.2% |
Jun 23 |
- Large expansion of AP Spanish Lang students this yr: scores remained stable in comparison to last yr when 20K fewer students participated.
- AP Spanish Lang students earned very high scores on the email reply task, FRQ1: spr.ly/6019BQbH9
- The most challenging task for AP Spanish Lang students on this year’s exam was FRQ3, the spoken conversation.
|
| Spanish Literature |
8.7% |
24.3% |
36.7% |
22.6% |
7.7% |
Jun 21 |
- Weaker performance on the AP Spanish Literature Exam this year: a decline of ~4 percentage points in scores of 3+.
- AP Spanish Literature multiple-choice: the most challenging for students were generally the critical commentary questions.
- Students scored well on FRQ2, the text & art comparison: secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalService…
- Students generally found FRQs 3 & 4 slightly more difficult than the rest of the exam.
|
| Statistics |
13.9% |
21.7% |
24.7% |
15.7% |
24.0% |
Jun 21 |
- Nice work: students taking AP Statistics this year demonstrated stronger mastery overall, so there’s a solid increase in the % earning 3+.
- The questions on probability/simulation were the most challenging for many students. Most students got <5 of 10 right.
- Similarly, the AP Statistics FRQ4 (probability/simulation) was most difficult, w/ ~half of students earning 0/4 pts: spr.ly/6019BQEx5
- The AP Statistics free-response questions’ mean/max scores: Q1: 43%, Q2: 31%; Q3: 39%; Q4: 25%; Q5: 32%; Q6: 40%.
- 1 student, out of ~200,000, has earned a perfect score of 100/100 points possible on this year’s AP Statistics exam.
|
| Studio Art 2D (portfolios due) |
14.3% |
33.0% |
35.1% |
15.4% |
2.2% |
Jun 17 |
- Across the various AP Studio Art portfolio types, students achieved solid increases in the % of portfolios earning scores of 3+ this year.
- Perfect scores of 72/72 points for 5 students in 2D Design
- We’ll be posting sample AP Studio Art portfolios here – you can check out recent years’ samples now: http://studioartportfolios.collegeboard.org/
|
| Studio Art 3D (portfolios due) |
13.2% |
25.8% |
35.7% |
22.3% |
3.0% |
Jun 17 |
- Across the various AP Studio Art portfolio types, students achieved solid increases in the % of portfolios earning scores of 3+ this year.
- Perfect scores of 72/72 points for 2 students in 3D Design
- We’ll be posting sample AP Studio Art portfolios here – you can check out recent years’ samples now: http://studioartportfolios.collegeboard.org/
|
| Studio Art Drawing (portfolios due) |
16.8% |
27.2% |
38.9% |
14.7% |
2.4% |
Jun 17 |
- Across the various AP Studio Art portfolio types, students achieved solid increases in the % of portfolios earning scores of 3+ this year.
- Perfect scores of 72/72 points for 21 students in Drawing.
- We’ll be posting sample AP Studio Art portfolios here – you can check out recent years’ samples now: http://studioartportfolios.collegeboard.org/
|
| United States History |
11.7% |
17.9% |
22.5% |
23.4% |
24.5% |
Jun 21 |
- AP US History students/teachers have perhaps achieved biggest score increases of any subject so far this yr, also w/25K more students. Wow.
- On this year’s APUSH DBQ question, ~6,000 students (out of 500,000) earned all 7 points possible; ~100,00 students earned 1/7 pts on it.
- APUSH short answers: highest mean was Q3 (business leaders), and lowest mean was Q1 (immigration) – but similar results across all of them.
- 1 AP US History student, out of ~500,000, earned a perfect score of 130/130 pts; first time we have seen that achievement in many years.
|
| World History |
6.5% |
15.5% |
29.2% |
28.9% |
19.9% |
Jun 17 |
- Another subject w/score gains this yr: AP World History. Increased % of 3s,4s, decreased % of 1s,2s. % of 5s virtually the same as last yr.
- Students did well across the multiple-choice questions, finding period 5 (1750-1900) slightly more difficult than the rest.
- On the AP World History Document-Based Question (DBQ), the average score was 2.96 out of 9 points possible.
- Why not more 5s on AP World History? Students struggled with both the CCOT & Comparison essays, w/30% of students earning 0 points on them.
|