Schools
Local AP Teacher to Grade AP Essays
Saddleback Valley Christian Schools teacher and AP reader Shirley Harbin reveals what she wants to see in the essays that can give a high school student college credit.
When local high school students finish writing the essays on their Advancement Placement exams, they turn them into test proctors who then send them off into the great unknown for grading.
Or not-so unknown.
Saddleback Valley Christian’s very own AP English teacher and academic dean, Shirley Harbin, will serve as a College Board AP reader.
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Advanced Placement classes are considered the equivalent of taking college-level courses. If students pass their AP exams, they can receive college credit.
As a reader, she believes the best plan for students is to nail the prompt right away and develop strong support from the passage during the body of the essay.
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“It is still necessary to come to a strong wrap-up, even hopefully taking the ideas from a microcosmic to a macrocosmic level,” Harbin said. In her grading, she looks to see if the student fully responded to the entire prompt because that is a key element.
About 1.9 million students worldwide will take 3.7 million AP exams in 23 subject areas, said Cathy Coppola, communications specialist of Saddleback Valley Christian Schools.
Then, during the following month, about 11,500 AP teachers and college faculty in the U.S. will meet to assess and score essays and problem-solving exercises, according to Coppola.
How the readers are to judge the essays is different every year, Harbin said.
“The rubric is not available to teachers, graders or students until after their arrival to grade essays,” Harbin said.
Altogether, the readers tackle 800-1000 essays in a seven-day period, Harbin said.
Harbin enjoys the exchange between faculty as to how they handle the different genres. It is a helpful teaching mechanism, to read responses from a wide variety of students, she said.
“The reading draws upon the talents of some of the finest teachers and professors that the world has to offer,” said Trevor Packer, senior vice president, AP and College Readiness at the College Board.
He added: “It fosters professionalism, allows for the exchange of ideas, and strengthens the commitment to students and to teaching. We are very grateful for the contributions of talented educators like Shirley Harbin.”
