By Jackie Pollack
Advanced Placement exams have been modified this year for students to take digitally at home. The new format challenges the integrity of the students as it is extremely tempting to cheat by searching the internet or collaborating with friends during the exam. In addition, some frustrated students have to retake their AP exams in June after experiencing technological issues during it.
After the first week of AP exams, many students had trouble submitting their exam or had technological issues and must retake the exam in June.
Junior Justin Kim had difficulty turning in his AP United States History exam and was extremely upset after spending numerous hours studying.
Kim said, “I finished my essay and I checked the time and I had one minute left. So then I copied and pasted into the submit area and then it just blocked me out. It said ‘your essay was not found’ and ‘you will be able to take a retake.’ I was devastated and I still am.”
As a result of the recurring issue of handing in the exam, the College Board declared that starting the week of May 18th, students who were unable to turn in their exams may email their responses to the College Board immediately following the exam.
The directions of how to email answers would only be displayed to students that receive a “We Did Not Receive Your Response” message at the end of the test. Though, unfortunately, the students that had problems during the week of May 11th still have to redo the exam in June.
In a letter to the community from Ms. Alison Zerbo, Irvington’s testing coordinator, and assistant principal Mr. Matthew Samuelson, the administration acknowledged the issues some were experiencing with the modified exams.
“We know that students–including some of our own–have encountered difficulties with these exams, and we know that for these students it has been an upsetting and frustrating experience. We also know that worries about potential problems have created increased stress for all test takers during what is already a stressful time. We commend you for continuing to face these challenges head on.”
Though all exams are open-note, the College Board has been trying to prevent students from planning to cheat. The Saturday before the first week of AP exams, the College Board’s Senior Vice President of Advanced Placement and Instruction Trevor Packer tweeted that they already canceled the AP exam registrations of a ring of students who were preparing to cheat. It isn’t clear how the College Board could detect and monitor cheating.
Packer’s tweet also calls to question the extent of how equitable the format of the test truly is, especially for those who have no intention of conferring with others.
In the tweet, Packer warns, “It’s not worth the risk of having your name reported to college admissions offices.”
For parents or students concerned about the test taking experience and hoping to avoid the pitfalls, the College Board has provided “Tips to Avoid Problems on Exam Day” on its web site. You can also check out the new “Submission Guidelines: Backup Email Submission” page for more details.
