Determining RCHS Superiority in AP Test Scores

Katherine HobbsElle Law

RCHS students often do better than students in the state/nation…

Ranked 20th in the nation among top high schools Champions of Wake County Psychology Bowl 2009 Science Olympiad Nationals 10th Place Undefeated Quiz Bowl State Champions in the

history of Quiz Bowl 2009 Ocean Science Bowl Nationals 7th PlaceEtc.

…does this apply to AP exam scores as well?

Did RCHS students score higher on the AP Calculus AB exam than other students in the nation in 2009?

Is the distribution of scores on the AP Calculus AB exam achieved by RCHS students in 2009 the same or different from the distribution for all students who took it in 2009?

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Data

Did RCHS students score higher on the AP Calculus AB exam than other students in the nation in 2009?

01

02

73

74

335

# of Students at Raleigh

Charter

Score on AP Calculus AB

1.50Standard Deviation

2.99Mean Grade

59.5137,2653 or Higher / %

230,588# of Students Total

24.957,4801

15.535,8432

17.941,2043

18.743,1404

23.052,9215

% at# of students nationwide

Score on AP Calculus AB

Total: 47 students

H0: The score distribution for RCHS students and for students nationwide on the 2009 AP Calculus AB exam is the same.

HA: The score distribution for RCHS students and for students nationwide on the 2009 AP Calculus AB exam is not the same.

Did RCHS students score higher on the AP Calculus AB exam than other students in the nation in 2009?

Hypothesis

1. Counted Data Condition: We have counts of the number of RHCS students in categories.

2. Randomization Condition: We are not inferring beyond RCHS AP Calculus AB students taking the AP Calculus AB test in 2009, so randomization isn’t necessary to draw conclusions about the RCHS AP Calculus AB

test- takers. 3. Expected Cell Frequency Condition: All of the expected cell

frequencies are greater than 5. 4. Independence Assumption: We assume that students’ scores

are independent.

Did RCHS students score higher on the AP Calculus AB exam than other students in the nation in 2009?

Assumptions/Conditions

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Conditions are met!!!!!!

Under these conditions, the sampling test statistic is χ2 with 5 – 1 = 4 degrees of freedom.

We will do a chi-squared goodness-of-fit test!

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Did RCHS students score higher on the AP Calculus AB exam than other students in the nation in 2009?

Chi-squared goodness-of-fit test

Score # of RCHS students receiving that score

% of all test takers receiving that score

Expected frequency of RCHS students

1 0 24.9 11.7 2 0 15.5 7.3 3 7 17.9 8.4 4 7 18.7 8.8 5 33 23.0 10.8

= 65.140 for all 5 scores

P = P (χ2 > 65.140) = 2.405 * 10-13

Conclusion:

With the low P-value of 2.405x10-13 we reject our null hypothesis and conclude the score distribution for RCHS on the 2009 AP Calculus AB exam is different from the distribution for all of the students nationwide who took the 2009 AP Calculus AB test.

In a parallel universe where correlation = causation, this would mean Mr. Wajima/Felder are superior teachers.

Did RCHS students score higher on the AP English and Language exam than other students in the nation in 2009?

Is the distribution of scores on the AP English and Language exam achieved by RCHS students in 2009 is the same or different from the distribution for all students who took it in 2009?

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Data

Did RCHS students score higher on the AP English Language exam than other students in the nation in 2009?

01

12

113

224

355

# of Students at Raleigh

Charter

Score on AP English

Language

1.16Standard Deviation

2.88Mean Grade

59.7201,4463 or Higher / %

337,441# of students

11.940,2561

28.495,7392

30.2101,9953

19.064,1384

10.535,3135

% at# of students

nationwide

Score on AP English

Language

Total: 69 students

Ho: The score distribution for RCHS students and that of students nationwide on the 2009 AP English Language exam is the same.

HA: The score distribution for RCHS students and that of students nationwide on the 2009 AP English Language exam is not the same.

Did RCHS students score higher on the AP English and Language exam than other students in the nation in 2009?

Hypothesis

Did RCHS students score higher on the AP English and Language exam than other students in the nation in 2009?

Did RCHS students score higher on the AP English and Language exam than other students in the nation in 2009?

Question 2: Did RCHS students score better in the AP English Language or AP Calculus AB exam in 2009?

You may have noticed earlier that the RCHS accomplishments listed earlier were mostly science/math related. How do RCHS students score on AP Calculus AB compared to AP English and Language?