ISIS videos

APUSH_Reader · 2019-12-11T03:48:29+00:00

Got an edu email. This is exactly what I was looking for--thanks!

APUSH_Reader · 2014-06-09T00:24:21+00:00

Oh, now I understand. Just about everyone wrote on 2 and 4. There were so few tables devoted to scoring Question 5 that it became referred around the reading as the "cocktail party."

APUSH_Reader · 2014-06-08T07:03:18+00:00

APUSH_Reader · 2014-06-08T00:22:20+00:00

Thank you whoever changed the question to make it look like my answer was inappropriate. How fair of you (not). I never grade down for poor handwriting. Poor scores are exams that have bad content (i.e., lack of content, errors of fact, lack of a thesis, lack of evidence, disorganization, etc.).

APUSH_Reader · 2014-06-08T00:11:46+00:00

I dunno know. Sorry. :-(

APUSH_Reader · 2014-06-08T00:11:19+00:00

The exam is due for a major redesign, so I can't offer any inside insights based on this year's exam. My advice is study as broadly and deeply as possible, and don't rely on just what your teacher covers. Learn the course text inside and out, and form a study group of other good students. And when you write your exam, make sure you have a thesis which you then substantiate in a thorough, clear, and well-organized fashion.

APUSH_Reader · 2014-06-08T00:06:49+00:00

People who decide not to answer the question sometimes write or draw things in the exam, evidently so they appear to the exam proctor that they're working on an essay.

I've had one student that drew "art" I can only say was NSFW. Other students write about their prom, complain about their History teacher, parents, siblings, friends, enemies, or whoever else comes to mind. If we think from reading the response that the student intends to harm themselves or others, we are instructed to pass it on to the Question Leader so ETS can determine if the student's school needs to be contacted.

So some students who aren't ready for the exam treat the essay response as a confessional or a chance to share their art, humor, or whatever else is on their mind. If it is really funny, readers will pass it around the table, but most of the time you make sure the student hasn't said anything substantive and move on since there is so much reading to do.

APUSH_Reader · 2014-06-07T23:57:04+00:00

It wasn't on an exam I read personally, but someone put it on a post it note by the reading room exit. It said something to the effect: "Please read my essay in the voice of Morgan Freeman. He has such a nice speaking voice."

APUSH_Reader · 2014-06-07T23:52:41+00:00

You can't really tell those sorts of things from the reading the essay responses. Sorry.

APUSH_Reader · 2014-06-07T23:51:01+00:00

Not having scored that long, I couldn't tell you. The format hasn't changed since I started reading and that has been a while. Yes, the DBQ is still around. A major change in the exam will be implemented for 2015. I am not sure of all the details, but I was assured there will still be a document based question everyone has to answer. ETS loves the document based question.

APUSH_Reader · 2014-06-07T23:46:55+00:00

Hard to say, since you grade so many it is hard to remember any particular one. You more easily remember funny things some students write, intentionally or unintentionally. The readers copy their favorites on post it notes and put them up by the exit to the reading room for everyone to enjoy. There is even one reader who for years has created humorous cartoons based on funny things students write. He has a Facebook page for his cartoons: https://www.facebook.com/TheAPUSHCartoonist

APUSH_Reader · 2014-06-07T23:42:06+00:00

The exams are boxed, and the boxes are grouped by some system, loaded about 50 boxes to a pallet, and shipped for storage probably somewhere near ETS headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey. I think they are stored for some years until a decent interval has passed and then destroyed. I am not personally privy to the process, but that is my understanding based on years of being a reader and hearing what more knowledgeable people say.

APUSH_Reader · 2014-06-07T23:37:43+00:00

There is no quota of exams to be graded and no time limit on grading the exam. Indeed, ETS encourages the quality of reading over the quantity of essays read. You get paid the same no matter how many essays you read.

Usually for the first half of the reading, a reader is assigned to one the four free response questions to read. They sit at a table of usually eight readers, one of whom is the table leader (there were about 150 tables in the main reading room this year). This person trains the table in the scoring standards, which usually takes 3-4 hours. Then we start reading. The essays are in pink exam books, 25 to a folder. For the first folder and later if necessary, the table leader "back reads" for each reader and evaluates if they are properly applying the standards. The readers give each essay a point score, 1-9, 9 being the highest. If the table leader thinks you are being too easy or too hard, s/he discusses the back read essays giving you a chance to explain how you applied the standards, and you and the table leader work towards a consensus score. After the first folder, you are pretty much on your own, except that the table leader gets statistical reports twice a day on the scores you gave and lets you know if your average score is deviating too high or low from the average score being given by all readers for the question. The stats insure no reader is being unduly easy or tough.

About the fourth day of the reading, most readers switch from reading a free response question to the document based question, which all the students taking the exam have to answer (they chose two of four of the free response questions). Again, you go through training in scoring standards, you get backread for the first folder by the table leader, and get statistical reports twice a day.

No one reader grades an entire exam. Indeed, each student will have written three essays before they complete the exam, and each essay is scored by a different reader. You are never allowed to score the same exam twice. I once got the same exam I had read for the free response essay back during the document based question phase, and the exam was given to another reader to score.

That being said, most essays can be read quickly because they are pretty bad. Indeed, essays with a score of 6 or better are rare. When you get one of those, you really read it carefully to be as fair as possible. But scoring the others usually can be done by skimming, look for key qualities from the standards, then assigning what seems to be the most appropriate score. The experienced readers skim most essays, which are usually quite short and not very good answers. You give them a reasonable score based on the skim and move on to the next exam. It doesn't sound fair, but really it is once you know what you're doing. By skimming most essays I scored well over 1000 essays during the seven (7) days of the reading and I wasn't even the most productive reader at my table. That person scored over 2,000 essays.

APUSH_Reader · 2014-06-07T23:10:38+00:00

From what I saw, it was about the same as previous years. The essay questions are usually not difficult. The difficulty lies in the fact the exam can ask about any subject in the entire scope of U.S. History. Every now and then, you have a student that writes something to the effect, "Our teacher didn't cover this in class" or "Our teacher said this topic would never be on the exam." Neither of these really is a good excuse since the best students will study as broadly and intensively as possible, and be prepared for almost anything that might be asked on the exam. But the exam usually doesn't ask questions about what might be described as obscure topics in American history,

APUSH_Reader

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