By Elise Tran & Karen Phan
April 24, 2020 Update:
AP exams will be administered during two testing windows. The primary AP exam dates are May 11 to 22 and the make up AP exams dates are June 1 to 5. Students can choose between these testing windows, but it is recommended that they take their exams during May to avoid last-minute technical difficulties.
College Board announced that there is no deadline to cancel AP exams, according to email correspondence on April 22 from Assistant Principal of Curriculum Josh Lamar.
If you choose not to take an AP exam that you signed up or paid for, then do not take the exam; “simply do nothing until after the exams are over,” Lamar wrote.
The cancellation process for 2020 AP exams does not allow students to actively cancel their exams or request the school to cancel them. You will receive a refund in late May or early June if you do not take your exam(s), Lamar wrote.
March 28, 2020 Update:
This year’s AP exams will be 45-minute long, free response and open-book that “focus on skills and thematic understandings” rather than “simple factual recall,” Trevor Packer, the vice president of AP and instruction for College Board, tweeted yesterday.
The Paly Voice, Palo Alto High School’s student journalism, reported that an email from their school AP coordinator stated students will receive a keycode to take their AP exams through AP Classroom or email.
March 20, 2020 Update:
The AP Program announced this morning that traditional face-to-face AP exam administrations would not take place, unveiling details of a new at-home testing plan along with more online learning resources for students.
Students will take a 45-minute online exam at home, the AP Program announced. The exams can be taken on computers, tablets or smartphones, and submitting photos of handwritten work may also be an option. The AP Program said it would work to provide low-income and rural students an equal opportunity to test, and that students could reach out to them directly if they need assistance.
To be fair to schools that have been closed for longer and lost more instructional time than others, the exams will only include topics that most AP teachers would have covered in class by early March. Exams for every subject will also be offered on two dates, giving students the option to take it earlier while the content is fresh for them.
“Through our members across the country, we understand the new time constraints on everyone in the education community,” the AP Program said. “These solutions are meant to be as simple and lightweight as possible for both students and teachers — without creating additional burdens for school leaders during this time.”
The AP Program also said that colleges would accept scores from the shortened exams for credit, and that it was working to design the tests to prevent cheating. More details about the tests, including exam dates and question types, would be available by April 3, the AP Program said.
In addition to its new testing plan, the AP Program revealed that it would be offering free, live review lessons from AP teachers around the country on its website. The classes can be accessed on-demand and on mobile devices, and will focus on reviewing material from the first 75% of courses.
The article below was originally published on March 16, 2020.
In response to COVID-19-related school closures, the Advanced Placement (AP) Program is developing plans to support student learning and potentially allow students to take AP exams at home in May, College Board announced this morning.
College Board predicted on March 13 that many districts and schools would be open in May and administer AP exams as scheduled. However, College Board said, “the [COVID-19] situation is evolving daily” and its AP Program is following recommendations from leading health organizations to help students and schools.
“If a school is already closed or needs to close in March or April, AP makeup testing dates will be available,” College Board said. “Which dates best serve a school will depend on how much instructional time is lost.”
Schools can request to move students’ exams to late testing during the third week of May. No fee is applied if schools select the reason, “school closing: election, national holiday or natural disaster.” If needed, schools can contact AP Services for Educators to request testing in the last week of May or in June.
College Board also stated it will announce portfolio submission deadline extensions for AP 2-D Art and Design, 3-D Art and Design, Computer Science Principles, Drawing, Research and Seminar by March 20.
FVHS typically has a large number of students enrolled in AP courses and registered to take AP exams. Last year, 893 students were registered to take 1,896 AP exams.
“[The] current suggestions to do AP testing at home by the College Board [are] ripe for too much abuse to be feasible, so AP testing is not likely and should be delayed,” said junior Ryan Nguyen, who is registered to take six AP exams.
Nguyen added that he, along with hundreds of other FVHS students taking AP exams, might be severely impacted if school closure extends beyond the current two weeks due to a greater loss of instructional time.
“It mostly depends on how much discipline I have to self-study outside a school environment,” Nguyen said.
For now, College Board encourages all AP students and teachers to use the free online practice available on AP Classroom. The AP Program will share additional resources, such as “free online AP lessons and review sessions from some of the top AP teachers in the country,” by March 20 on its AP Central website.
No such flexibility exists for the next two scheduled SAT events. The March 28 makeup and May 2 SAT exam administrations have been canceled. Registered students will receive refunds and College Board will provide future SAT administrations as soon as possible.
“[I have] more time to study but… I’m mad about the SAT being canceled because students have less chances to take the SAT before college applications are due,” said Nikki Nguyen, a junior at Westminster High School.
College Board has not yet canceled the June 6 SAT exam and is working with its local partners to determine weekday school-based administrations of the SAT, PSAT 10 and PSAT 8/9. Students can study for their SAT and PSAT exams with College Board’s full-length practice tests and personalized learning tools for free on Khan Academy.
“The SAT being canceled is a bit upsetting and unexpected,” said junior Vivian Tran, who was scheduled to take the SAT on March 14. “However, I understand that it is a necessary precaution for students to be safe and hopefully juniors will be able to take the SAT in June.”
This is a developing story. Baron Banner will update it when we have more information.
