Administering AP Tests
Students take tests both in-person and at home, concluding the turbulent school year.
By Joelle Gendzel
Students take tests both in-person and at home, concluding the turbulent school year.
By Joelle Gendzel
Following over a year of disruption in learning, Pioneer students pushed through another AP exam season before a complete return to campus.
AP exams were given in three testing windows called “administrations,” with exams in the first administration given on paper at school and exams in the second and third given virtually at home. Students taking at home exams were instructed to do so on SJUSD Chromebooks using a College Board app.
As many students must continue distance learning to finish off the semester due to COVID regulations, in person AP tests came with more challenges than exams in previous years. AP coordinator Amy Hanna focused on regulating the number of students taking each exam at once and maintaining social distancing.
“We were nervous about space on campus because of COVID protocols and limiting numbers in our spaces but we decided as a district to give the students in administration one a choice whether they wanted to do it on campus paper pencil or in administration three digitally at home, excluding foreign language exams, which helped reduce our numbers for the in person (test),” said Hanna. “We were able to space students out eight feet apart just to be safe. This alleviated a lot of stress about the number of students taking the test.”
AP Chemistry teacher Laura Bald wishes for more options for her students, as the exams were administered in either window one or three.
“I think it was important that there was an option to take the test at home digitally,” said Bald. “I just wish my students had the opportunity to take the test during window two. I could really have used another two weeks of instruction. I felt in some ways we were penalized because we needed to take the test in person.”
Exams taken online required students to manage their testing independently rather than with a proctor at school. Claire Guazelli,12, had some concerns about the at home testing environment.
“There is more room for error when you test online. Your internet could go out or something could happen with the software. Just making sure everything was working was the biggest challenge for me,” said Guazelli.
From a student's perspective, both testing situations had pros and cons. Crystal Le, 12, enjoyed the testing environment at home but missed the opportunity to move between questions. Online testing did not allow students to go back to questions previously answered, even within the same section, a change from paper pencil exams in previous years.
“I liked that we could go back to questions for the paper pencil test, but with online testing it was quieter,” said Le.
Overall, Hanna said 2021 AP exams at Pioneer ran smoothly, at least compared to last year’s digital exams. Both the College Board and students had more time to adjust and prepare for new testing formats.
“Last year my phone rang off the hook with students and parents at home not quite knowing what to do. This year the College Board was really on top of things” said Hanna. “I definitely lost sleep wanting it to be perfect and I think we got pretty close.”
AP exams were given in three testing windows called “administrations,” with exams in the first administration given on paper at school and exams in the second and third given virtually at home. Students taking at home exams were instructed to do so on SJUSD Chromebooks using a College Board app.
As many students must continue distance learning to finish off the semester due to COVID regulations, in person AP tests came with more challenges than exams in previous years. AP coordinator Amy Hanna focused on regulating the number of students taking each exam at once and maintaining social distancing.
“We were nervous about space on campus because of COVID protocols and limiting numbers in our spaces but we decided as a district to give the students in administration one a choice whether they wanted to do it on campus paper pencil or in administration three digitally at home, excluding foreign language exams, which helped reduce our numbers for the in person (test),” said Hanna. “We were able to space students out eight feet apart just to be safe. This alleviated a lot of stress about the number of students taking the test.”
AP Chemistry teacher Laura Bald wishes for more options for her students, as the exams were administered in either window one or three.
“I think it was important that there was an option to take the test at home digitally,” said Bald. “I just wish my students had the opportunity to take the test during window two. I could really have used another two weeks of instruction. I felt in some ways we were penalized because we needed to take the test in person.”
Exams taken online required students to manage their testing independently rather than with a proctor at school. Claire Guazelli,12, had some concerns about the at home testing environment.
“There is more room for error when you test online. Your internet could go out or something could happen with the software. Just making sure everything was working was the biggest challenge for me,” said Guazelli.
From a student's perspective, both testing situations had pros and cons. Crystal Le, 12, enjoyed the testing environment at home but missed the opportunity to move between questions. Online testing did not allow students to go back to questions previously answered, even within the same section, a change from paper pencil exams in previous years.
“I liked that we could go back to questions for the paper pencil test, but with online testing it was quieter,” said Le.
Overall, Hanna said 2021 AP exams at Pioneer ran smoothly, at least compared to last year’s digital exams. Both the College Board and students had more time to adjust and prepare for new testing formats.
“Last year my phone rang off the hook with students and parents at home not quite knowing what to do. This year the College Board was really on top of things” said Hanna. “I definitely lost sleep wanting it to be perfect and I think we got pretty close.”