Mr. John Meinzen

Structure of the AP CSA Exam (redesign in 2020): 4May, 2022 : noon-3pm local

1. Multiple Choice : 40 questions :90 minutes : 50% of AP Score : Practices 1,2,4 and 5

   1. rarely released as MC questions used to correlate year-by-year scores for validation...see AP Classroom

2. Free Response : 4 questions (each 12.5% weight, 0-9 pts) : 90 minutes : 50% of AP Score : Practice 3

   1. Q1 : Methods and Control Structures—Students will be asked to write program code to create objects of a class and call methods, and satisfy method specifications using expressions, conditional statements, and iterative statements.

   2. Q2 : Classes—Students will be asked to write program code to define a new type by creating a class and satisfy method specifications using expressions, conditional statements, and iterative statements.
      

   3. Q3 : Array/ArrayList—Students will be asked to write program code to satisfy method specifications using expressions, conditional statements, and iterative statements and create, traverse, and manipulate elements in 1D array or ArrayList objects.
      

   4. Q4 : 2D Array—Students will be asked to write program code to satisfy method specifications using expressions, conditional statements, and iterative statements and create, traverse, and manipulate elements in 2D array objects.

Hierarchy of the AP CSA Reading [variation exists during pandemic]:

1. CR: Chief Reader (university professor) : employed by CB to manage the full AP Exam, Scoring, Reports : 3 years

2. CRD: Chief Reader Designate (university professor) : employed by CB to help CR : maintain continuity & consistency in leadership

3. EL: Exam Leader : manages each year's Exam (US, International, etc.)

4. QL: Question Leader(s) : responsibile for one of 4 FR questions during Reading : selects training packets & training Readers along with statistics :

5. TL: Table Leaders : employed by ETS to train Readers (usually 8) and support QL

6. Readers : experienced CS teachers (high school & university) : score 74,676 student AP CSA Exams usually on a Single Question : experienced Readers will be "paired" with a less-experienced Reader

2021 Exam and Rubrics : found at APCentral

• Download or Print : 2021 Free-Response Questions (Q1-Q4) as seen by students on the Exam:

• 2021 Scoring : Exam Questions and Scoring Information from APCentral

  • Scoring Guidelines (i.e. Rubrics)

    • General Penalty/noPenelty Points sheet

    • Question-specific :

      • Canonical Solution and point assignments

      • Scoring Criteria & Decision Rules (3-way match : question purpose, point score, and student response that may or may not earn point)

        • may include Question-specific penalty(s)

  • Chief Reader Report

    • Overall Exam Statistics (2022 had 413 Readers for 74,676 students with a global mean of 3.12 out of 5 AP CSA score)

    • Question-specific

      • Statistics : mean score out of 9 (see below)

      • Purpose of Question : Skills demonstrated by students

      • Common understandings & mistakes (misconceptions/knowledge gaps) noted on each part of the question

      • Suggested APClassroom resources for teachers to scaffold students' understanding

  • Scoring Statistics per 9-point Question (2021)

    • Q1 : mean=4.57, stdDev=3.09

    • Q2 : mean=4.94, stdDev=3.50

    • Q3 : mean=4.20, stdDev=3.41

    • Q4 : mean=4.08, stdDev=3.43

• 2021 Samples & Commentary (actual student responses selected by CR : per Question

  2021 Samples & Commentary by Chief Reader

  • Printout : Question 1 : Method & Control Structures

    • Scoring Criteria (same as Scoring Quidelines) : parts (a=5pts) and (b=4pts)

    • Sample 1A (8pts) :

      • higher-score (not necessarily perfect)

      • near-Canonical

      • overview to test student's ability to fulfill question's purpose

      • rational for points awarded/not earned on each part a) & b) of question

    • Sample 1B (6pts) :

      • mid-score

      • often used to highlight challenging aspects of scoring guideline

      • rational for points awarded/not earned on each part of question

    • Sample 1C (4pts) :

      • lower-score

      • often used to highlight critical aspects of scoring guideline

      • rational for points awarded/not earned on each part of question

  • Printout : Question 2 : class design

    • structure similar to Question1 but only 1 part

    • Sample 2A (9 pts)

    • Sample 2B (6 pts)

    • Sample 2C (1pt)

  • Printout : Question 3 : array / ArrayList

    • structure similar to Question1 with parts (a=3pts) and (b=6pts)

    • Sample 3A (8 pts)

    • Sample 3B (5 pts)

    • Sample 3C (4 pts)

  • Printout :Question 4 : 2d array

    • structure similar to Question1 parts (a=3pts) and (b=6pts)

    • Sample 4A (9 pts)

    • Sample 4B (6 pts)

    • Sample 4C (2 pts) with penalty point

• 2021 Scoring Distribution : global results

  • global distribution out of 5 : mean=3.12 : stdDev=1.48 : N=74676 : 3-higher (college credit)=65.1%

  • 5: 23.9%

  • 4: 21.9%

  • 3: 19.3%

  • 2: 12.1%

  • 1: 22.8%

Question 2 : class design

1. Printout : General Scoring Penalty/noPenalty sheet (lowest priority)

2. Printout : Question 2 : class design

   1. Printout : Understanding Canonical Solution vs your/teacher solution (i..e as you taught it?)

   2. Printout : Scoring Criteria as applied to Canonical Solution (vs your/teacher solution?)

   3. Project : Sample 2A

      1. Score Sample 2A

      2. Google Form - feedback on your scoring 2A

      3. Discussion/clarification on Sample 2A versus CR explanation

   4. Project : Sample 2B

      1. Score Sample 2B

      2. Google Form - feedback on your scoring 2B

      3. Discussion/clarification on Sample 2B versus CR explanation

   5. Project : Sample 2C

      1. Score Sample 2C

      2. Google Form - feedback on your scoring 2C

      3. Discussion/clarification on Sample 2C versus CR explanation

1. In pairs, score the first 10 student exams. Google Form for Scoring Students

2. Swap the first 10 student exams and score independently

3. Compare and discuss each individual student exam and individual point

4. Discussion regarding confusing points/issues

1. Swap pairs and repeat for next 10 student exams

2. Swap pairs & continue until all Question 2 scores are given for all students

Question 3 : array/ArrayList

1. Printout : General Scoring Penalty/noPenalty sheet (lowest priority)

2. Printout : Question 3 : array / ArrayList

   1. Printout : Understanding Canonical Solution vs your/teacher solution (i..e as you taught it?)

   2. Printout : Scoring Criteria as applied to Canonical Solution (vs your/teacher solution?)

   3. Project : Sample 3A

      1. Score Sample 3A

      2. Google Form - feedback on your scoring 3A

      3. Discussion/clarification on Sample 3A versus CR explanation

   4. Project : Sample 3B

      1. Score Sample 3B

      2. Google Form - feedback on your scoring 3B

      3. Discussion/clarification on Sample 3B versus CR explanation

   5. Project : Sample 3C

      1. Score Sample 3C

      2. Google Form - feedback on your scoring 3C

      3. Discussion/clarification on Sample 3C versus CR explanation

1. In pairs, score the first 10 student exams. Google Form for Scoring Students

2. Swap the first 10 student exams and score independently

3. Compare and discuss each individual student exam and individual point

4. Discussion regarding confusing points/issues

1. Swap pairs and repeat for next 10 student exams

2. Swap pairs & continue until all Question 3 scores are given for all students

Question 4 : 2D array

1. Printout : General Scoring Penalty/noPenalty sheet (lowest priority)

2. Printout :Question 4 : 2d array

   1. Printout : Understanding Canonical Solution vs your/teacher solution (i..e as you taught it?)

   2. Printout : Scoring Criteria as applied to Canonical Solution (vs your/teacher solution?)

   3. Project : Sample 4A

      1. Score Sample 4A

      2. Google Form - feedback on your scoring 4A

      3. Discussion/clarification on Sample 4A versus CR explanation

   4. Project : Sample 4B

      1. Score Sample 4B

      2. Google Form - feedback on your scoring 4B

      3. Discussion/clarification on Sample 4B versus CR explanation

   5. Project : Sample 4C

      1. Score Sample 4C

      2. Google Form - feedback on your scoring 4C

      3. Discussion/clarification on Sample 4C versus CR explanation

1. In pairs, score the first 10 student exams. Google Form for Scoring Students

2. Swap the first 10 student exams and score independently

3. Compare and discuss each individual student exam and individual point

4. Discussion regarding confusing points/issues

1. Swap pairs and repeat for next 10 student exams

2. Swap pairs & continue until all Question 4 scores are given for all students