AP Chemistry College Comparability Study

2 Introduction AP college comparability studies are conducted periodically. An AP Chemistry college comparability study was conducted in During a college comparability study, a portion of an AP exam is administered to college students. The results of a college comparability study are considered when setting AP grades. The study ensures that AP standards are comparable to or higher than the grading standards that are applied by college instructors when evaluating the performance of their own students in corresponding college courses.

3 AP Chemistry College Comparability Study Exam Format Two exams: first-semester topics and second-semester topics Each exam consists of:  25 multiple-choice questions  1 free-response question Each exam is a subset of an exam administered to AP students

4 AP Chemistry College Comparability Study Sample Size 20 colleges/universities 940 exam booklets

5 AP Chemistry College Comparability Study Participating Institutions Amherst College Arkansas State University Baylor University Bucknell University Christopher Newport University Clemson University Colgate University Davidson College Fordham University North Carolina State University Oberlin College Oregon State University University of Arizona University of Chicago University of Houston University of Maryland University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University of North Carolina at Charlotte University of North Texas Vassar College

6 AP College Comparability Study Administration Procedures Instructors at each participating institution perform the following tasks:  Administer the exam  Grade the exam using their own standards  Assign exam grades  Report exam and course grades  Complete instructor’s questionnaire (e.g., course title, student background, motivation of students, weight given to exam, appropriateness of exam content)

7 AP College Comparability Study Scoring Procedures Free-response questions in college student exams are scored by AP Readers. AP Readers use the same scoring guidelines (rubrics) for college student exams that had been used for grading the AP students’ exams.

8 AP College Comparability Study Grade-Setting Process Equate college scores to same scale as full AP exam Calculate average college scores by exam grade for each college (ignore all F’s) Generate recommended cut score for each AP grade using average exam score obtained by college students earning corresponding letter grade

9 AP Chemistry College Comparability Study Results (160-point scale) CollegesAP Students Exam Grade Average Composite Score AP Grade Minimum Composite Score Average Composite Score A B C D FN/A*1023 * Cases of college students to whom professors assigned an F for either the exam or the course were removed from the analysis.

10 AP College Comparability Study Factors that Affect the Location of Grade Boundaries Equating Comparability study data Judgment of Chief Reader

11 AP Chemistry Percentage of Students Earning Each AP Grade AP Grade %17.8% % 323.0%20.0% 218.7%14.4% 125.7%30.3%