AP Assessment & Evaluation Methods 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A teacher uses a rubric that lists specific criteria and performance levels with descriptive language for each level. This type of rubric is best described as:
- Holistic rubric
- Analytic rubric (Correct answer)
- Single-point rubric
- Checklist rubric
Correct answer: Analytic rubric
An analytic rubric breaks performance into distinct criteria, each scored separately with descriptors for each level.
Question 2: Which statistical measure is most useful for determining whether an AP exam reliably measures the same construct each time it is administered?
- Content validity
- Construct validity
- Reliability coefficient (Correct answer)
- Predictive validity
Correct answer: Reliability coefficient
A reliability coefficient (such as Cronbach's alpha) quantifies the consistency of a test across administrations or items.
Question 3: When scoring AP free-response questions, readers are trained to apply a scoring guideline uniformly across all student responses. This process is primarily designed to ensure:
- Content validity
- Inter-rater reliability (Correct answer)
- Predictive validity
- Norm-referenced scoring
Correct answer: Inter-rater reliability
Training scorers to apply guidelines consistently increases inter-rater reliability, meaning different readers assign similar scores.
Question 4: A student performs significantly better on multiple-choice questions than on constructed-response questions covering the same content. This discrepancy most likely reflects a difference in:
- Test bias
- Item difficulty index
- Response format demands (Correct answer)
- Norm-referenced scoring
Correct answer: Response format demands
Different response formats (recognition vs. production) place different cognitive demands on students, which can produce performance gaps.
Question 5: Which practice best supports the alignment between daily classroom instruction and AP exam preparation?
- Giving only timed multiple-choice tests weekly
- Mapping unit assessments to the AP course and exam description (Correct answer)
- Focusing instruction on test-taking strategies rather than content
- Administering standardized district tests as the primary measure
Correct answer: Mapping unit assessments to the AP course and exam description
Using the AP course and exam description as an alignment guide ensures instruction and assessment both target the same skills and content.
Question 6: A teacher notices that nearly every student answered item 14 incorrectly on a unit test. The most appropriate first response is to:
- Remove the item from the grade calculation and move on
- Reteach the concept assessed by item 14 (Correct answer)
- Lower the passing threshold for the test
- Assign extra credit to compensate
Correct answer: Reteach the concept assessed by item 14
When nearly all students miss an item, it signals a gap in instruction that should be addressed through reteaching before the next assessment.
Question 7: Portfolios are considered a form of authentic assessment primarily because they:
- Are easier to score than multiple-choice tests
- Require students to demonstrate skills in standardized conditions
- Collect evidence of student performance on real-world tasks over time (Correct answer)
- Eliminate subjectivity in evaluation
Correct answer: Collect evidence of student performance on real-world tasks over time
Authentic assessments, including portfolios, capture student performance on meaningful, real-world tasks rather than isolated test items.
AP Assessment & Evaluation Methods 2
A teacher uses a rubric that lists specific criteria and performance levels with descriptive language for each level.
This type of rubric is best described as: