Education, Math, and More with Mr. Allison

 Here are links to my attempts to solve the released FRQs from the 2024 AP Calculus AB Exam. I intentionally avoid reading the questions before I sit down to work them. This is so students who stumble on these videos can see that even experienced teachers have to sort through and really think about them, sometimes even making mistakes. The official scoring rubrics for these will not be released until after the reading is concluded sometime this summer. Once those come out, we can come back and score my attempts to see how I would have done if I'd sat for the exam. But for now, here they are. Enjoy, and feel free to comment, even if you think I did something wrong. PS -- Please forgive me in the video for #1. I started working it out before the morning moment of silence and the Pledge of Allegiance.  2024 AP Calculus AB Released FRQ #1 2024 AP Calculus AB Released FRQ #2 2024 AP Calculus AB Released FRQ #3 2024 AP Calculus AB Released FRQ #4 2024 AP Calculus AB Released FRQ #5...

 I've made no secret that I'm a firm believer in the value of the Advanced Placement (AP) program from the College Board. For years, I've advocated to expand the program in my school and others. One argument I hear against schools developing AP programs is that it is difficult to earn a passing score on an AP Exam. This argument suggests that student success is completely determined by scoring well enough on the AP Exam to earn college credit for the course. I posit that a student can find success in an AP course, even if their AP Exam score misses the mark to earn college credit. The AP curriculum is more rigorous than any other high school curriculum I've seen. AP exams are administered worldwide, with qualifying scores earning the student credit for comparable college courses at most universities and colleges. In this world where so many students leave high school with super high GPAs, but are required to take remedial (not-for-credit) courses in college, the mere ex...

Regarding who should and shouldn't be allowed to take AP courses, or even advanced courses in high school. Here's my take. I don't tell any kid they can't take an advanced course. I've had kids take AP Calculus concurrently with Pre-Cal, but let them know they're going to have to learn some things outside of class before their Pre-Cal class is going to get to them. I've taken kids who failed my College Algebra or Pre-Calculus courses. One year I had a kid who failed my College Algebra class as a junior take my Pre-Calculus, AP Statistics, and AP Calculus classes all at the same time. He passed Pre-Cal with a C or a D, failed both AP Stat and AP Cal, but scored 2s on both AP Exams. He had the ability to do so much better, but just would not do any work at all. Everything he learned, he learned in class. It would have been easy to keep that kid out of my AP classes, maybe even out of my Pre-Cal class too, based on his grade in College Algebra. But I chose t...

 When I started teaching Advanced Placement Statistics in 2013, I was excited, but pretty much clueless about how to grade. I think this struggle is common to most teachers who begin teaching AP classes. My approach to grading has evolved over the years and I think I have a pretty good approach, worth sharing for those who are new to AP. If you like it, feel free to use it. If you don't, I hope you find another great approach that works well for you and your students.  **IMPORTANT NOTE -- The system I use was not developed in collaboration with any other teacher or entity. Do not infer that it is endorsed or backed by College Board or other AP teachers. You can find many approaches. This one may or may not work for you and your students. In this post, I will describe how I structure my tests, how my test grades are calculated, and how my course grades are calculated (balance of assessments and other assignments.) I will link you to a sample Google Sheet with a fabricated class...

Today began the annual AP Reading for Statistics! Last week, when I was returning from a school safety meeting in Little Rock, someone said to me, "I thought y'all were off for the summer." I just laughed a little and replied, "Yeah. That's what most people think." Au contraire though. There are a lot of teachers hard at work, even as I write this post. As teachers, we're required to spend several days in the summer attending professional development opportunities. Too often, the only benefit we see from PD sessions is the few hours of credit we get from attending. I'd say not much of the PD we're required to do every year actually makes us better teachers, or helps us improve student outcomes.  But my AP-related work, including the annual AP reading, is different. Before this week is over, I'll have scored over 1000 responses to the same question. Today I made it through 80-something. Already I'm seeing common mistakes and misconceptions...