Graphic by Dina Kats
Aseel Rafat
Editor of News
Earlier this month, the College Board announced that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there would be changes made to the 2021 Advanced Placement exams. According to their AP Central website: “the new 2021 AP Exam schedule provides three testing dates for each subject between early May and mid-June.”
The first administration will take place on May 3–7, 10–12, 14, and 17, in person at school with the use of traditional, full-length ‘paper and pencil exams’. The second will be between May 18–21 and 24–28 with half the exams being on paper and in school while the other half digital with the option of in school or at home. The third will be from June 1–4 and 7–11, with most subjects being only full-length digital exams with possibly a few at-home administrations.
Schools and AP coordinators will be deciding between the various testing windows and modes. They are authorized to administer a mix of at-home and in-person exams as well as a mix of testing dates, as needed. As of now, there have been no official announcements of plans for Newton South students.
South’s AP coordinator, Mary Ann Price, shared that the school has been discussing the challenges which are “the large number of students who plan to test” as well as “the restrictions on using space in the building due to COVID-19.” However, it doesn’t seem that the school will release more information to the South community until “the beginning of March.”
While students await the school’s decisions, many have expressed an increase in anxiety and stress. Whether it be due to specific changes to the formatting, such as the inability to return to previous questions on the digital exams, or with the general sense of instability this school year, many are disappointed in the College Board’s lack of leniency.
Junior Kate Butts conveyed her disappointment by sharing “it’s not fair for kids who have to put in hours of extra work just to know enough to pass the test…this is just another example of how this year has heightened a lot of test-taking inequities.”
Senior Dina Kats agreed with this sentiment: “I wish they would actually modify the contents of the tests…it just doesn’t seem realistic for [the College Board] to expect students to learn as they would have in previous years.”
As the test dates approach, students hope that the College Board takes their opinions into consideration for the sake of an equitable future.
