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My daughter is a senior in high school. She told me that she is being required to take an Advanced Placement Exam, which costs $105.00, in order to score a B in the class. The exam counts as a large percentage of the grade this quarter.
It is actually pointless for her to take this exam, because she will not be able to score high enough for it to count (it is for AP Art, and she does not have the required number of pieces for her portfolio). But if she doesn't take the exam, she will wind up with a D in the course.
Can a public school force us to pay for this in order for her to achieve a B grade? If so, this belies the notion of a "free" public education.
Her teacher insists that he will not offer any alternative assignment.
Questions.
Was this clearly stated in the course syllabus?
Is the HS responsible for paying the test fee, if the student does not take the exam?
Was the course list, stating that this was an AP course, already sent to Universities?
Is there some type of extenuating reason why she did not complete the work (being hospitalized, a death in the immediate family, or something similar)?
Will the money for the exam cause financial difficulty, due to a recent job loss, or something similar?
Frankly, I would be more concerned about why your daughter signed up for an AP class and then did not complete the required work (a certain amount of completed projects).
Thanks for the good questions. Here are the answers:
Was this clearly stated in the course syllabus? I don't know.
Is the HS responsible for paying the test fee, if the student does not take the exam? No.
Was the course list, stating that this was an AP course, already sent to Universities?
I don't know. She has already been accepted into college. This would just have given her college credit if she had passed it.
Is there some type of extenuating reason why she did not complete the work (being hospitalized, a death in the immediate family, or something similar)? No.
Will the money for the exam cause financial difficulty, due to a recent job loss, or something similar? No. However, I see no reason to shell out $105 just to get her a B grade in the class.
Frankly, I would be more concerned about why your daughter signed up for an AP class and then did not complete the required work (a certain amount of completed projects).
She actually has straight A's in her senior year except for this class. She's taken all honors and AP classes and has passed three AP tests with flying colors. So I understand why she was unable to complete it all. She also received a great scholarship to college that covers 3 out of the 4 years.
But that is all beside the point. The point really is, can a public school make this a requirement? Thank you for your input.
It sounds to me like the instructor is being lazy, and wants to use the AP exam in lieu of drawing up his own exam.
I think you should speak to the school principal about this. If this presents a financial hardship, you shouldn't be required to pay that.Personally, I don't think she should be required to take an exam that incurs a fee, anyway. You know--that's what public schools are for; they're supposed to be taxpayer-funded...
I've never heard of a school forcing students to take the AP exam, even private schools. It's usually voluntary.
Not knowing whether the syllabus and class info indicated whether taking the AP exam was required is needed to answer further. If she signed up, agreeing up front to take the test, then she takes the test or accepts the consequences of not taking the test. If this was something that the teacher decided part way through the year, after your daughter could have dropped the course without consequences, then I would push back. If you get no where with the teacher, go to the administration. If you get no where with the administration, go to the school board.
Just asked my son, who is graduating in a week. Policy was if you didn't take the exam, the class then would not count in your grade and GPA as an AP class, but would be scored as a regular class. The AP exam grade isn't part of the school grade, but completion of the AP test is required for AP credit. Biggest loss is the GPA boost that AP classes get at his school. Yours may have a different policy.
Talk to the principal. I teach (in college), and even if my syllabus said a paid for exam was part of the course requirements (which would have to be clearly stated in the course description in the college catalog), there is no way I would force a student to pay for an exam if they told me they told me they were unable to financially do so. I would give them an alternative exam or project work.
Correction/ETA: A mistake in what I stated above. Instead of you talking to the principal, first have your daughter do so, and do so immediately. I say this because she needs to learn to resolve these kinds of issues on her own, without mommy or daddy. If she isn't able to get a resolution on her own, then get involved.
Last edited by TooManyChoices; 05-18-2018 at 05:52 PM..
Reason: Have your daughter do so first.
Just asked my son, who is graduating in a week. Policy was if you didn't take the exam, the class then would not count in your grade and GPA as an AP class, but would be scored as a regular class. The AP exam grade isn't part of the school grade, but completion of the AP test is required for AP credit. Biggest loss is the GPA boost that AP classes get at his school. Yours may have a different policy.
I don't see how this is fair or makes sense. (I'm not doubting your son's statement, however.). The AP classes require a LOT more work than the regular classes, and may have a different syllabus altogether. If the student has done the work, which can be pretty demanding, fairly grueling, they should get credit for that. To have it count only as the equivalent non-AP class, just because the student doesn't take the AP test, isn't reasonable.
Not knowing whether the syllabus and class info indicated whether taking the AP exam was required is needed to answer further. If she signed up, agreeing up front to take the test, then she takes the test or accepts the consequences of not taking the test. If this was something that the teacher decided part way through the year, after your daughter could have dropped the course without consequences, then I would push back. If you get no where with the teacher, go to the administration. If you get no where with the administration, go to the school board.
Easy, peasy. Daughter just pulls out the course syllabus and checks what was listed.
Unless, she is going into college as an art major, or it greatly effects her GPA, then it really would not matter very much whether she took AP Art or regular Art.
Not knowing whether the syllabus and class info indicated whether taking the AP exam was required is needed to answer further. If she signed up, agreeing up front to take the test, then she takes the test or accepts the consequences of not taking the test. If this was something that the teacher decided part way through the year, after your daughter could have dropped the course without consequences, then I would push back. If you get no where with the teacher, go to the administration. If you get no where with the administration, go to the school board.
I don't know if she signed up for anything, but if she did, it wouldn't matter because she is a minor and cannot enter an agreement or contract that is legally binding.
The teacher emailed me that he explained this requirement to the students at the beginning of the year and that the students knew that taking the test would be a large part of the grade.
However, my daughter as a minor would not be paying for this test. I would. So while the teacher may have informed his students about this requirement, I certainly was not told. I did not agree to fund this.
I believe he does not have authority to require this. I'm hoping someone here can confirm that.
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