Another Year of Altered AP Testing
With different test scheduling, Pioneer is adapting to another year of AP exams during distance learning.
By Joelle Gendzel
With different test scheduling, Pioneer is adapting to another year of AP exams during distance learning.
By Joelle Gendzel
Despite the disruption COVID-19 and distance learning has had on high school education, Pioneer students enrolled in Advanced Placement classes will be taking AP exams this May. The exams will be administered May 3 through May 28, with makeup tests offered starting June 1. Exams offered during the first administration window of May 3-17 will be administered on paper at Pioneer’s campus, while exams within the second window of May 18-28 will be offered at home digitally only.
San Jose Unified School District made this decision to streamline the AP testing process during this unusual school year. The College Board announced the testing dates and exam windows, with paper testing only in the first window, and paper and digital testing offered in the second and third windows, so SJUSD had to decide what tests would be taken during certain windows.
“It’s not going to make everyone happy, but the district made the best decision to meet the needs of all our students. They also made this decision based on logistics, space, available classrooms,” said Assistant Principle of Guidance and AP coordinator Amy Hanna.
After a year of distance learning, AP teachers have been forced to adjust their teaching methods and preparations for the spring exams. AP European History teacher Mike Burrell felt challenged in preparing students for the exams with a new schedule and remote teaching.
“Being on block schedule this year has made it a challenge to cover the appropriate amount of material. We have 30 minutes less each week but the bigger impact is losing 36 class days over the course of the year. You can only cover so much material in one class, it doesn't matter if it is one hour or three hours long. The absence of FLEX periods has also hurt with supporting students,” said Burrell.
Both digital and paper exams will be full length this year instead of the abridged 45-minute exams College Board administered last year. Seeun Ahn, 11, feels these full length exams will better represent her knowledge of class material.
“Reverting the format back to how the AP tests were before COVID will probably measure how much we learned throughout the year with more accuracy” said Ahn.
To hopefully ease some of the discomfort caused this school year during the pandemic, the district will cover every student's AP exams. Students districtwide will not have to pay for any exams.
“I am very glad the district is covering our exams for us this school year” said Soriah Aniff, 12. “I know this will help out a lot of students, so I am very grateful.”
Even with free exams and a clear plan for testing, preparing for AP exams this year will pose a unique challenge to students. Anh worries about keeping up with rigorous AP curriculum adequately enough to perform well on challenging exams in May.
“It’s hard to listen to every word your teacher is saying and stare at a screen for six hours a day,” said Ahn. “It becomes hard to keep up with when we all have been having to do this for about eight months now.”
San Jose Unified School District made this decision to streamline the AP testing process during this unusual school year. The College Board announced the testing dates and exam windows, with paper testing only in the first window, and paper and digital testing offered in the second and third windows, so SJUSD had to decide what tests would be taken during certain windows.
“It’s not going to make everyone happy, but the district made the best decision to meet the needs of all our students. They also made this decision based on logistics, space, available classrooms,” said Assistant Principle of Guidance and AP coordinator Amy Hanna.
After a year of distance learning, AP teachers have been forced to adjust their teaching methods and preparations for the spring exams. AP European History teacher Mike Burrell felt challenged in preparing students for the exams with a new schedule and remote teaching.
“Being on block schedule this year has made it a challenge to cover the appropriate amount of material. We have 30 minutes less each week but the bigger impact is losing 36 class days over the course of the year. You can only cover so much material in one class, it doesn't matter if it is one hour or three hours long. The absence of FLEX periods has also hurt with supporting students,” said Burrell.
Both digital and paper exams will be full length this year instead of the abridged 45-minute exams College Board administered last year. Seeun Ahn, 11, feels these full length exams will better represent her knowledge of class material.
“Reverting the format back to how the AP tests were before COVID will probably measure how much we learned throughout the year with more accuracy” said Ahn.
To hopefully ease some of the discomfort caused this school year during the pandemic, the district will cover every student's AP exams. Students districtwide will not have to pay for any exams.
“I am very glad the district is covering our exams for us this school year” said Soriah Aniff, 12. “I know this will help out a lot of students, so I am very grateful.”
Even with free exams and a clear plan for testing, preparing for AP exams this year will pose a unique challenge to students. Anh worries about keeping up with rigorous AP curriculum adequately enough to perform well on challenging exams in May.
“It’s hard to listen to every word your teacher is saying and stare at a screen for six hours a day,” said Ahn. “It becomes hard to keep up with when we all have been having to do this for about eight months now.”