School holds hybrid versions of the 2021 AP Exam

Students began taking AP Exams in the week of May 3 and will continue taking them until June 11. The tests fall in three different administration periods this year, and it is the first hybrid version of the AP tests that the College Board has organized.

Administration 1, including Physics I and Chinese exams, held in-person paper tests. Administration 2, which contains the bulk of the AP tests, will start the week of May 18 and continue until May 27. Administration 2 will offer digital tests that students can take at home through the College Board app and paper exams being taken at school. Due to space restrictions at school, the main online tests taken on campus will be language tests: AP Spanish, AP French and AP Chinese. Administration 2 will also hold all the math AP exams on paper to prevent cheating.

The final administration will take place the week of June 1 and will be in digital form at home. Each of the 20 AP courses the school offers will conduct tests in at least two administrations to accommodate students with conflicts.

In order to prepare for students coming on campus to take the tests, guidance secretary Kathy Sheridan, who is coordinating the tests, has to take into account both COVID-19 guidelines and the College Board’s rules.

With the intent of discouraging cheating, the College Board has allowed students to test only at specific times. Because of rigidity with the testing schedule, it was difficult to find an adequate number of testing spaces for each test, causing most of the tests to occur in the same rooms at different times.

“[Finding testing rooms] was probably our biggest obstacle,” Sheridan said. “On some of the days, we have a morning exam that gets over at noon and then an afternoon exam which starts at 12:30 p.m. We’ll just have to be wiping down the rooms in between tests.”

In addition to sanitizing testing centers between AP exams, students must complete the Screener19 ID checklist and proctors must go through a similar health scanner that SHS has put in place for guests. All of the proctors who are volunteering must also get finger-printed and also passed a tuberculosis test.

While this is the first time the district is administering hybrid AP tests, Sheridan is optimistic that things will run smoother than they did last year, when tests were purely online.

“We’ve had more time and CollegeBoard has more time [to figure everything out],” said Sheridan. “So, we’re probably calmer than we were last year.”

Issue version:

Students began taking AP Exams in the week of May 3 and will continue taking them until June 11. The tests fall in three different administration periods this year, and it is the first hybrid version of the AP tests.

Administration 1, including Physics I and Chinese exams, held in-person paper tests. Administration 2, which contains the bulk of the AP tests, will start the week of May 18 and continue until May 27. Administration 2 will offer digital tests that students can take at home through the College Board app and paper exams being taken at school. 

Due to space restrictions at school, the main online tests taken on campus will be language tests: AP Spanish, AP French and AP Chinese. Administration 2 will also hold all the math AP exams on paper to prevent cheating.

The final administration will take place the week of June 1 and will be in digital form at home. Each of the 20 AP courses the school offers will conduct tests in at least two administrations to accommodate students with conflicts.

In order to prepare for students coming on campus to take the tests, guidance secretary Kathy Sheridan, who is coordinating the tests, has to take into account both COVID-19 guidelines and the College Board’s rules. With the intent of discouraging cheating, the College Board has allowed students to test only at specific times. Because of rigidity with the testing schedule, it was difficult to find an adequate number of testing spaces for each test, causing most of the tests to occur in the same rooms at different times.

“[Finding testing rooms] was probably our biggest obstacle,” Sheridan said. “On some of the days, we have a morning exam that gets over at noon and then an afternoon exam which starts at 12:30 p.m.”

In addition to sanitizing testing centers between AP exams, students must complete the Screener19 ID checklist and proctors must go through a similar health scanner. All of the proctors who are volunteering must also get finger-printed and also passed a tuberculosis test.

While this is the first time the district is administering hybrid AP tests, Sheridan is optimistic that things will run smoother than they did last year, when tests were purely online.