PRINT ARTICLE

Print    Close This Window
AP literature, composition students shine on College Board exam
Chris Jones classMembers of Senior High's Advanced Placement English language class – all seniors – surround teacher Chris Jones.

      Chris Jones is still beaming. And why not? As juniors, seven of her Mansfield Senior High Advanced Placement literature and composition students scored 3 or higher on The College Board exam in May.

      What does that mean?

      Exams are scored on a scale of 1 to 5. Many colleges and universities grant credit or allow students to skip the equivalent college course for scores of 3 and above.

      A score of 5 on The College Board exam is defined as “extremely well qualified,” a 4 is “very well qualified” and 3 is “qualified.” A 2 merits “possibly qualified,” while there is no recommendation for a 1 score.

      “This is the greatest group of students I’ve had in 29 years of teaching,” said Jones, chairperson of Senior High’s English Department.

      The seven who scored 3 or above include Dakota Chick, Bailey Compton, Aiden Crider, Sabrina Eckert, Brianna English, Destinee Harris and Addy VanHouten.

      Exam scores were released in July. Jones students’ beat the global average in two categories.

      All 14 who passed the course at Senior High took the AP College Board test. That gave Jones’ class seven out of 14 – or 50 percent – who scored 3 or above. Of the 382,296 students who took the AP exam, 49.6 percent (globally) had scores of 3 or higher.

      Also, none of the Senior High students scored a 1. Globally, 16.2 percent had 1s.

      The exam – which included 55 multiple-choice questions and three essays – was entirely “cold reads,” meaning students had not seen the material in advance.

      “Our students also scored above the state and global averages in four out of five categories: prose, poetry, pre-20th century literature and summary,” Jones said.

      The fifth category was 20th and 21st century literature.

      Senior High’s passage rate was notable for another reason.

      “Our scores were even more remarkable when you consider that many schools choose only certain AP kids to take the exams so they can guarantee high scores. All of our AP students take the exams, regardless of how we think they may do,” Jones said.

      Mansfield City Schools paid for the AP exams, which cost roughly $100 each. Good scores earn the district points on the state report card.

      “I’ll say it again: This is the greatest group of students I’ve had in 29 years of teaching,” Jones said. “You can quote me.”