How is the AP ES Exam graded?
The multiple-choice sections are sent to ETS for automated scoring. The free-response booklets are sent to a Reading site (often a college campus) to be read and graded by a team of high school AP ES teachers and college and university professors of ES. It takes about a week to read and score all the student exams. The Readers are divided into four groups, one group for each question. The process begins with developing scoring guidelines to ensure that all essays are scored on the same standard. Many of the essays are read by more than one person in order to ensure that the scoring guidelines are being followed. After all the free-response questions are graded, the scores are combined with the scores from the multiple-choice questions. Then, after an extensive statistical review, a scale is set to determine the scores needed for a 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1.
