AP Board Will Carry out Full-length Tests Whether in Person or Virtual

SAM LUO (Web Editor)

The College Board has confirmed that all AP exams in May will be full length, regardless of students taking the test in person or at home. According to their website, there will be two contingency test dates for each subject, which will cover the full extent of that course’s material. In support of students, AP will be waiving the $40 cancellation or unused exam fee and are still providing the standard $33 fee reduction per AP exam for students who qualify for financial aid. As per usual, students who test late will take alternate forms reserved for late testing to guarantee the security of AP exams. Students with registered disabilities are also able to request accommodations in accordance with the College Board Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) office. 

Last year, the College Board had for the first time offered remote testing in response to the pandemic. They faced immense backlash, however, after students claimed that they were unable to submit their answers, resulting in a class-action lawsuit filed in federal court last May. According to The Washington Post, the lawsuit was filed by the parents of students whose scores had been lost with backing from the National Center of Fair and Open Testing, a nonprofit organization known as FairTest. FairTest interim director Bob Schaeffer stated that his organization had been collecting complaints concerning the flawed exams. 

“The board rushed ‘untested’ AP computerized exams into the marketplace in order to preserve its largest revenue-generating program when they could no longer administer in-school tests,” Schaeffer said. 

The College Board has since discovered that failure to submit tests was linked to outdated browsers and students missing the prompt warning the end of an exam. 

“As of now, [College Board] says that we’ll be doing the full test. We won’t know how they plan to give the testing until we get closer to the actual test date,” AP World History teacher Kristi LaPointe said. “I think a lot of it will depend on COVID-19 cases in each region.”

Superintendent Denise R. Jaramillo has since released a letter announcing that Distance Learning will continue through Feb. 26 and that Distance Learning will be available even when students eventually return to campus as COVID-19 cases die down.