Many Advanced Placement (AP) math classes offered at Godwin have a controversial assessment weighting for students.
During the 2023-24 school year, AP Calculus AB— both classes in the Center for Medical Sciences (CMS) and in the core curriculum— and AP Statistics CMS began using the 95/5 weighting model. For the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years, CMS and core AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, and AP Statistics courses followed this policy.
For the policy, the Godwin math department provided the following weighting breakdown:
95% of the course grade consists of assessments, while 5% of the grade consists of classwork and homework. Additionally, the assessments have been renamed Quick Checks (QCs) and Knowledge Checks (KCs), which now weigh equally in the assessments category.
QCs are used to ensure students are doing their homework and classwork, which are typically on a small section of a unit. The questions are phrased similarly to those practiced on homework and classwork, so if students do their work, they will be successful on QCs.
However, KCs cover more material than QCs, and they are meant to show how well prepared students are for the AP Exam at the end of the year.
In a new addition, Notebook Checks (NCs), which are 5% of the total grade, are done to ensure students are well organized and successful in the class. NCs look at notes, classwork assignments, and homework assigned for the upcoming QC or KC and are graded on completion.
Besides these new components, corrections are also available for students. QC and KC grades can be improved by doing corrections for the assessment, by simply completing the missed questions and explaining their correct answer. With this method, it’s possible to earn up to 25% of the points missed back.
Lastly, at the end of both semesters, there is a cumulative assessment that is worth two assessments. If you scored better on a topic’s section of questions on the cumulative test, then the KC grade will be replaced with the higher grade.
For example, if a student scores an 80% on the Limits KC, completes corrections to get an 85% and scores a 100% on the Limits portion of the cumulative test, then their grade for the KC will be adjusted to a 100%. Even so, QCs are not included in this.
Along with the breakdown of the weighting, Mrs. Watson, Mr. Earle, and Mrs. Malak have included the effects of this new policy.
Godwin’s AP Calculus AB exam scores in the 2022-23 school year (before the policy) were an average of 3.10. In 2023-24, after the policy was created, it increased to 3.91, rising last year to 4.12. Additionally, AP Calculus BC exam scores went from an average of 3.65 to 4.37.
Many students have reported that they enjoy this policy as it allows them to earn back points, and it also encourages them to continually study and improve to ensure their grade would be of satisfactory to them.
Now, many students were able to improve their grade at the end of the semester due to improvement on the cumulative tests, reporting that the system is honest in a way that their grade reflects the work that they put into the course, and is a better reflection of their understanding.
On the other hand, some students say the weighting is much too much for assessments, and with the addition of other rigorous courses taken, it is likely to overwhelm students. They believe the 90/10 policy is a better and more tolerable balance.
Based on the results of the weighting on AP exam scores, Honors Algebra II now has a 90/10 weighting and gets back 33% of missed points on corrections, instead of 25%. With this, there is a possibility of this system expanding to more math courses in the upcoming years.
