CLEP Exams - High School Student Results and CLEP Grade Chart Info

[barcotta]

My daughter just completed her junior year in high school and she has maintained a 4.0 average thus far. She is a dedicated student but by no means an academic (she HATES to read ANYTHING) but has always been willing to do whatever it takes to maintain her "A" average. Generally, this means developing close relationships with her teachers, doing extra credit work, studying hard for the tests, etc. In other words, it doesn't appear that her mastery of the material is the source of her success.

Nonetheless, she took a couple of classes this year for which there were comparable CLEP exams--namely Pre-Calculus and US History. Last week, she took all of her finals and ended the week with an SAT. There really wasn't any room in there for her to prepare for CLEPS and she really wasn't that interested anyway. I thought it would be interesting to see what would happen if she took those CLEPS cold while her high school learning was still fresh.

She started with Pre-Calculus, which, according to our site proctor, only about three people have ever taken at his site. The result? 38. She said that much of what was on the test she learned (and promptly forgot) in her first semester and in previous math classes. So, it appears that even a small amount of preparation--maybe a week or two, may have gotten her the extra 12 points she needed for a pass.

Next up--US History. She scored a 35 on that one. She said that it focused more on the stuff she recalled from 7th grade then from her junior year class. She said she selected "The Monroe Doctrine" for many of her answers. Sooo..., again, it wasn't completely unfamiliar and any prep at all may have gotten her a pass.

But the REALLY interesting thing I saw which I have never heard of on this forum or anywhere else was a CLEP grade chart for each exam. It basically had two columns and detailed the number of correct answers for each score. So, for example, to achieve a score of 60 you might need 70 correct answers for the US History test. Anyone else ever see that? It sure would be valuable to future test takers to know how many correct answers are needed for each exam. It would also be nice to know how many questions you answered correctly based on your score. I fear that it's something not publicly available, but honestly, what would the harm be?

Anyway, I just wanted to send along this info for anyone who is thinking of having their high school kids try to capitalize on their high school learning for CLEP credit. Based on my one sample, it appears that the best course would be at least SOME preparation!

[Publius]

First off, congrats to her for carrying the 4.0!

But the REALLY interesting thing I saw which I have never heard of on this forum or anywhere else was a CLEP grade chart for each exam. It basically had two columns and detailed the number of correct answers for each score. So, for example, to achieve a score of 60 you might need 70 correct answers for the US History test. Anyone else ever see that? It sure would be valuable to future test takers to know how many correct answers are needed for each exam. It would also be nice to know how many questions you answered correctly based on your score. I fear that it's something not publicly available, but honestly, what would the harm be?

As far as CLEPs are concerned this would be based on averages at best. We know for a fact that CLEP results are based on past test takers performance (Norm-Referenced Standard Setting), so having a CLEP score relate to the number of questions answered correct based on a chart is extremely unlikely. The REA guides have a similar chart in the beginning of their books, and while not perfect and flawed, my guess is it's still somewhat accurate. So all things considered, if a chart like this was that accurate, we'd be able to calculate a percentage based on our score, something we know we can't do. Though, I will say it probably gives a decent ball park average.

Anyway, I just wanted to send along this info for anyone who is thinking of having their high school kids try to capitalize on their high school learning for CLEP credit. Based on my one sample, it appears that the best course would be at least SOME preparation!

Taking a bit of time to brush up is definitely the best course action! Being a high-school student myself, that has definitely proven the case. Generally taking anywhere from a week to three months of review after finishing a course has been sufficient. I have no doubt that if she had a week or two to review, those scores would of been ALOT higher. Math (particularly higher math like PreCalc), and history to an extent, are both subjects where if you're not using or building on it, it can be forgotten pretty fast.

[rebel100]

My daughter found motivation once she sat through her first college level class. She discovered that with a little study and a passing CLEP score she got to skip all that work she would have been forced to do in a traditional class....it was a eureka moment for her.

[BGSU_Alum_86]

The chart that you are referring to is only available to test centers who have access to the resource page for CLEP (as far as I know). Did the test proctor show you this? That would explain why you have not seen it anywhere else or heard it mentioned.

[sanantone]

Maybe it makes a difference whether the course was college-level? I would think that those who took pre-AP or AP courses would do okay on CLEPs and DSSTs.

[Publius]

Maybe it makes a difference whether the course was college-level? I would think that those who took pre-AP or AP courses would do okay on CLEPs and DSSTs.

For most of the classes that overlap (your english, maths, histories, etc.) I don't think this is a big issue. The reason why someone who just took a pre-AP or an AP course might do better would most likely do so for three reasons:
1) The college board makes both the CLEP and AP so when you're studying the AP course for, say, Macroeconomics, the breakdown is similar. NOT exact, but similar. (I'm actually using an AP book in preparation for the Macro CLEP right now)
2) You're still setting aside some time and studying a particular subject and reviewing it before hand. Over the last 2-3 years, you're studying and will not remember everything you've studied. But when after those 2-3 years of studying a course in high-school, you spend 2 weeks of review for the CLEP you should do fine.
3) Almost everywhere you hear the first two years of college are just a review of high-school. While there are exceptions, this generally is the case and have personally experienced this with the tests I've taken.