AP United States Government and Politics College Comparability Study 2008 A Presentation and Discussion at the 2008 AP Annual Conference Seattle, WA, July 19, 2008 Ed Wagner Educational Testing Service

2AP United States Government, July 19, 2008 Why do we do comparability studies? To create a better fit between college-level grading standards and AP standards To improve the validity of AP exams and courses

3AP United States Government, July 19, 2008 How is the study performed? College students are given a mini-version of the exam (20 multiple choice questions and one free response question) Their instructors grade the exams on the A-F scale AP readers grade the college essays using the same standards as regular AP essays Statisticians extrapolate an AP grade for each college student and compare it to that student’s college grade

4AP United States Government, July 19, 2008 AP US Government and Politics Comparability Study: Sample Size 23 colleges/universities 1,171 college participants

5AP United States Government, July 19, 2008 Who participated in the 2008 study for AP US Government and Politics? Roughly 1,200 students taking Intro to US Government at 23 colleges: Temple University University of Georgia University of Florida Old Dominion University City University of New York Valparaiso University Hofstra University University of Oklahoma Roger Williams University Gustavus Adolphus College Swarthmore College DePauw University University of Memphis University of New Orleans University of Maryland University of Louisville University of Pittsburgh Idaho State University Texas Southern University Wheaton College Macon State University University of Alabama at Birmingham University of New Mexico

6AP United States Government, July 19, 2008 Composite Scores Corresponding to Each Letter Grade (120-point scale) *Cases of college students to whom professors assigned an F for either the exam or the course were removed from the analysis CollegesAP Students Exam Grade Average ScoreAP Grade Minimum Composite Score Average Score A B C D FNA*1016

7AP United States Government, July 19, 2008 What were the results of the study? AP students at the 5-4 cut point scored higher than the average score earned by a college student at the A level AP students at the 4-3 cut point scored higher than the average score earned by a college student at the B level AP students at the 3-2 cut point scored higher than the average score earned by a college student at the C level AP students at the 2-1 cut point scored higher than the average score earned by a college student at the D level

8AP United States Government, July 19, 2008 Percentage of Students Earning Each AP Grade * Percentages based on most but not all of the 2008 data AP Grade2008 Grade Distribution Without the Comparability Study* 2008 Actual Grade Distribution 57.6%12.2% 417.7%13.1% 328.1%25.3% 230.5%25.8% 116.1%23.6%

9AP United States Government, July 19, 2008 What are the implications of the study for the future of AP US Government and Politics? The study indicated no serious discrepancy between AP US Government and Politics course content and grading standards and standards used by college courses in the survey

10AP United States Government, July 19, 2008 What can AP US Government and Politics teachers do? Keep doing what they’re doing! Pay close attention to the course description and supporting materials Work on developing students’ writing and analytic skills