M-A is a campus that hosts thousands of students, and because of this, many teachers teach the same classes. This begs the question, how do they ensure that these classes will be of the same difficulty? From standardized rubrics to analyzing grades among classes, teachers employ a variety of methods to help ensure fair grading.
Marcus Kevorkyan
AP World History teacher Marcus Kevorkyan collaborates with fellow AP World History teachers Candace Bolles and Amira Sani, all using a more in-depth version of the AP rubric. “We took the AP rubric and broke it down to three parts and then added an extension to build even stronger skills,” Kevorkyan said. Kevorkyan and Bolles grade based on this standardized rubric. Although Sani uses a different grading rubric, all three teachers have similar grade distributions.
Even though Kevorkyan and Bolles use similar rubrics, their standards are very different. “The threshold for getting an A in [Bolles’] class is lower—80% in her classes,” Kevorkyan said. “My students have to get a higher grade, 85%, but they also get revisions.”
Kevorkyan also has a more lecture-heavy class because he wants to provide the most equity for students who can’t study much outside of school. “Some kids have jobs and sports and siblings they have to take care of. So, if I’m not providing all of the information you need to be successful in the class and on the AP exam in the class, then I’m not setting all students up for success,” he said.
Rachel Andres
Rachel Andres teaches Geometry Enriched. When she first came to M-A, she and other math teachers created a standardized rubric for the class. “We have a specific rubric that says how much each part of the work is worth,” Andres said. “If there was a relevant intent, that starts at half credit, and then from there, every other small piece that’s correct earns a little bit more credit.”
Andres and other math teachers have adapted the grading scale over time to best reflect students’ effort. Through her efforts in editing and maintaining the rubric, as well as tracking grades among the classes, she works hard to ensure all students are treated fairly.
David Rosenberg
With a background of teachers in his family, English teacher David Rosenberg holds love and passion for his work. Being good friends with the AP Language teacher, John McBlair*, they both have collaboration time where they sit down to create prompts and content together. Rosenberg emphasizes content and teaching over grades. “Kids come out of AP Lang class, and they have a different perspective on the world,” Rosenberg said. “And I will say that with a lie detector test and pass it.”
Although McBlair’s class centers more around philosophy than Rosenberg’s class, Rosenberg believes in their shared goals. Due to the versatility of English, where every student and teacher may have different interpretations of the same material, Rosenberg’s and McBlair’s curricula are by no means the same. Despite that, they share a similar goal to teach deep analysis and critical thinking. “Read, and stop looking for shortcuts,” Rosenberg said.
*John McBlair is the advisor of this publication.
