Sneak preview: College Board exec tweets 2017 AP results

It turns out that Trevor Packer, the College Board’s Senior Vice President for Advanced Placement and Instruction, like our Commander-In-Chief, makes use of Twitter to communicate with his constituency—teachers, administrators, students and others engaged in one way or another with the AP program. But unlike more free-ranging “tweeters,” Packer pretty much sticks to his script and limits his comments to explanations of the program he promotes.

Over the past month, Packer has been extensively tweeting about the most recent AP exams, the results of which were officially released last week. In addition to commenting on specific questions and student response to those questions, he’s also providing interesting data on overall test results much of which could be useful for students evaluating how well they did on individual exams or how this year’s scoring patterns might suggest level of difficulty of classes they intend to take in the future.

For example, only one student out of 133,000, who took the BC Calculus test earned a perfect score. For AB Calculus, only three students out of 317,000 earned a perfect 108 out of 108, while three students out of 303,000 earned a perfect score for AP Psychology. And for the record, only one student out of 217,000 worldwide, earned all 100 out of 100 possible points on the AP Statistics exam!

Here’s a sample of what else Packer has to say about this year’s exams:

Trevor Packer ‏@AP_Trevor  June 13 [2016] As a reminder, AP Exams aren’t graded on a curve. So when more students demonstrate mastery, the percentage of 3s, 4s, 5s increases.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 10 When exam scores get better, credit’s due to teachers/students achieving more, rather than the exam (equated from yr to yr) getting easier.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 27 The (inaugural) 2017 AP Computer Science Principles scores: 5: 14%; 4: 21.6%; 3: 39%; 2: 18.5%; 1: 6.9%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 27 The 2017 AP Statistics scores: 5: 13.3%; 4: 15.5%; 3: 25%; 2: 20.4%; 1: 25.8%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 21 The 2017 AP Calculus BC scores: 5: 42.4%; 4: 18.3%; 3: 19.9%; 2: 14.3%; 1: 5.1%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 21 The 2017 AP Calculus AB scores: 5: 18.6%; 4: 18.1%; 3: 21%; 2: 21.9%; 1: 20.4%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 12 The 2017 AP Computer Scienc e A scores 5: 24.4%; 4: 20.9%; 3: 21.9%; 2: 11.5%; 1: 21.3%. These may shift slightly as late exams are scored.

Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 27 The 2017 AP Japanese Language and Culture total group scores: 5: 45.6%; 4: 10.8%; 3: 20.8%; 2: 8.5%; 1: 14.3%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 27 The 2017 AP Spanish Language total group scores: 5: 19.5%; 4: 35; 3: 34.1%; 2: 9.9%; 1: 1.5%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 26 The 2017 AP Chinese Language & Culture scores: 5: 68.4%; 4: 11.3%; 3: 12.5%; 2: 3.3%; 1: 4.5%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 26 The 2017 AP Latin scores: 5: 12.9%; 4: 19.5%; 3: 31.2%; 2: 22.7%; 1: 13.7%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 23 The 2017 AP German Language and Culture total group scores: 5: 22.6%; 4: 24.5%; 3: 28.8%; 2: 17.4%; 1: 6.7%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 22 The 2017 AP Italian Language and Culture total group scores: 5: 17.8%; 4: 19.1%; 3: 34.3%; 2: 22.8%; 1: 6%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 22 The 2017 AP English Language & Composition scores: 5: 9.1%; 4: 18.4%; 3: 27.8%; 2: 30.7%; 1: 14%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 22 The 2017 AP French Language & Culture total group scores: 5: 16.8%; 4: 25%; 3: 33.5%; 2: 19.7%; 1: 5%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 20 The 2017 AP English Literature scores: 5: 6.8%; 4: 16.1%; 3: 29.9%; 2: 33.9%; 1: 13.3%.

Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 17 The 2017 AP Spanish Literature scores 5: 9.4%; 4: 26%; 3: 37.9%; 2: 20.3%; 1: 6.4%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 26 The 2017 AP Psychology scores: 5: 18.8%; 4: 25.2%; 3: 20.1%; 2: 14.7%; 1: 21.2%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 19 The 2017 AP United States History scores: 5: 10.9; 4: 17.9%; 3: 22.6%; 2: 23.5%; 1: 25.1%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 19 The 2017 AP European History scores: 5: 9.5%; 4: 18.8%; 3: 28.5%; 2: 31.4%; 1: 11.8%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 19 The 2017 AP World History scores: 5: 8.5%; 4: 20.1%; 3: 27%; 2: 29.5%; 1: 14:9%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 15 The 2017 AP Comparative Government & Politics scores 5: 23.7%; 4: 24.7%; 3: 20.5%; 2: 17.8%; 1: 13.3%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 15 The 2017 AP US Government & Politics scores 5: 11.2%; 4: 12.5%; 3: 25.8%; 2: 24.7%; 1: 25.8%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 10 2017 AP Microeconomics scores 5: 21.5%; 4: 28.3%; 3: 18.5%; 2: 12.8%; 1: 18.9%. These may shift slightly as late exams are scored.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 10 2017 AP Macroeconomics scores 5: 16.4%; 4: 23.1%; 3: 17.2%; 2: 16.2%; 1: 27.1%. These=the highest AP Macro scores in many years. Congrats!
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 20 The 2017 AP Biology scores: 5: 6.2%; 4: 20.9%; 3: 36.7%; 2: 27.8%; 1: 8.4%.

Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 16 The 2017 AP Chemistry scores: 5: 9.2%; 4: 15.7%; 3: 26.1%; 2: 27%; 1: 22%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 14 The 2017 AP Human Geography scores 5: 10.6%; 4: 17.4%; 3: 21%; 2: 17.2%; 1: 33.8%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 13 The 2017 AP Physics C: Electricity & Magnetism scores 5: 28.1%; 4: 25.1%; 3: 15.6%; 2: 18.2%; 1: 13%.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 13 The 2017 AP Physics 2 scores 5: 11.1%; 4: 15.6%; 3: 34.1%; 2: 29.7%; 1: 9.5%. These may shift slightly as late exams are scored.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 13 The 2017 AP Physics 1 scores 5: 5%; 4: 15.8%; 3: 20.3%; 2: 29.5%; 1: 29.4%. These may shift slightly as late exams are scored.
Trevor Packer‏ @AP_Trevor Jun 10 2017 AP Macroeconomics scores 5: 16.4%; 4: 23.1%; 3: 17.2%; 2: 16.2%; 1: 27.1%. These=the highest AP Macro scores in many years. Congrats!

For more detailed information, by state, on performance on AP exams, check out the 2016 AP Report to the Nation. There you are likely to find more data than even the most dedicated of standardized test junkies could ever hope to digest!

This article originally appeared in Admissions Intel.