A mock exam is provided to students for many reasons, but the primary reasons are to 1) demonstrate to students the format of the test; 2) simulate the timed constraints and pacing of the test; 3) allow students to experience the physical and mental stamina involved; and 4) diagnose areas of confusion and weaknesses as well as strengths. If the mock exam is taken in the spring semester, it also 5) provides a predictor for performance on the actual exam in May.
Louis Educational Concepts, LLC has created a model for professional development related to mock exams. LEC began mock exam readings as a professional development offering to AP teachers to prepare students for the AP exam. Because of its success with teachers, we now apply the methodology to state tests and college entrance exams.
After the administration of a mock exam at your school or in your district, teachers in feeder middle schools and/or high schools gather for a one- to three-day workshop with official exam readers/consultants. The consultants simulate the official scoring and, therefore, provide teachers with invaluable training in the scoring of the exams and holistic grading. The day is spent with the teachers reading and scoring their own current and former students’ performance. Consultants focus on scoring guides (rubrics) and range finders and train teachers to return to their classrooms with techniques not only to grade more accurately but to grade more expeditiously. Teachers return to their classrooms with scored exams.
Also, this professional development is a tremendous opportunity for teachers to see and discuss vertical strategies that could lead to more focused alignment and higher scores. In many districts, it replaces three vertical team meetings. Teachers claim that this training is one of the best they have received because it focuses on student products from their own schools.
With regard to AP, while the training may be repeated and therefore reinforced in the spring semester, some teachers prefer to send the spring mock exams to professional readers to score for the predictability factor and for the honing of skills in the final months prior to the exam. In this case, Louis Educational Concepts, LLC works with Laying the Foundation, Inc., of Dallas, Texas, a company that provides this service.
