readers, providing many opportunities for checks and double checks of essays to ensure a
fair and equitable reading of each essay.
The scoring guides are carefully developed by a chief faculty consultant, a question
leader, table leaders, and content experts. All faculty consultants are then trained to read and
score just oneessay question on the exam. They actually become experts in that one essay
question. No one knows the identity of any writer. The identification numbers and names
are covered, and the exam booklets are randomly distributed to the readers in packets of 25
randomly chosen essays. Table leaders and the question leader review samples of each
reader’s scores to ensure that quality standards are constant.
Each essay is scored on a scale from 1 to 10. Once your essay is graded on this scale,
the next set of calculations is completed.How Is My Composite Score Calculated?
This is where fuzzy math comes into play. The composite score for the AP Biology exam is- The free-response section represents 50 percent of this score, which equals 69 points.
The multiple-choice section makes up 50 percent of the composite score, which equals
another 69 points.
Take your multiple-choice results and plug them into the following formula (keep in
mind that this formula was designed for a previous AP Biology exam and could be subject to
some minor tweaking by the AP Board):
Number multiple-choice correct +number of grid-in correct =––––––––––Take your essay results and plug them into this formula:Total free-response points ×1.57=––––––––––Your total composite score for the exam is determined by adding the score from the
multiple-choice section to the score from the essay section and rounding that sum to the
nearest whole number.How Is My Composite Score Turned into the Grade That Is
Reported to My College?
Keep in mind that the total composite scores needed to earn a 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1 change each
year. These cutoffs are determined by a committee of AP, College Board, and Educational
Testing Service (ETS) directors, experts, and statisticians. The same exam that is given to
the AP Biology high school students is given to college students. The various college
professors report how the college students fared on the exam. This provides information
for the chief faculty consultant on where to draw the lines for a 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1 score. A
score of 5 on this AP exam is set to represent the average score received by the college stu-
dents who scored an A on the exam. A score of a 3 or a 4 is the equivalent of a college grade B,
and so on.
Over the years there has been an observable trend indicating the number of points
required to achieve a specific grade. Data released from a particular AP Biology exam show
that the approximate range for the five different scores are as follows (this changes from year
to year—just use this as an approximate guideline):- Mid 80s to 138 points = 5
- Mid 60s to lower 80s points = 4
- Upper 40s to lower 60s points = 3
6 ❯ STEP 1. Set Up Your Study Program
STRATEGY