“But if the College Board has answers to these concerns, I couldn’t get them”
In my outreach, the organization sidestepped key questions about the changes to its scoring methodology. And often when it provided information in response to one question, the answer introduced more inconsistencies and unresolved tensions.
Some background: In 2022, the College Board began changing its scoring methodology for nine subject exams. Prior to the change, the board typically reevaluated its scoring methodology every 5 to 10 years at the direction of a small panel of experts per subject. But the board said that this method sometimes led to volatility in passing rates from one year to another. So, it switched to a system called Evidence-Based Standard Setting (EBSS). Under EBSS, the College Board relies on feedback from hundreds of college professors and more granular student data.
Prior to the implementation of EBSS, all the affected exams had passing rates below 60 percent, according to the College Board. After implementing EBSS, all of these exams had passing rates between 60 to 80 percent, which the board calls a “success rate historically achieved in most other AP subjects.”
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