Many students across the Addison community prepared for their AP Tests which started Monday. Similar to last year, students are able to take their AP test from home digitally. As of this year, the implementation of new strict protocols, to comply with CDC guidelines, has enabled Addison Trail to return to school for hybrid learning and activities.
This has given many students the ability to choose their AP testing preference, those options being either digitally at home, or at Addison Trail, taking the traditional route of completing their exams with paper and pencil.
Students having another year of taking AP exams online, either at home or school, allowing them to make their decisions based on what they feel is best suitable and most comfortable with the ongoing pandemic. In addition to the online testing modification, this year students were able to register for their exams with no cancellation fees, and full reimbursement if the student does not come to the testing site and does not open the testing software at home.
Since the beginning of the school year, many AP classes were held online, which may have been a struggle for some students to grasp certain concepts. Teachers assigned students with assignments provided directly on the College Board website, which are designed to prepare students for their spring exams. MyAP classroom has many practice exams for students to take while learning remotely.
Although students choose the opportunity between in-person or at-home testing, testing policies for each exam have changed becoming more strict than in previous years. Students who plan to take their exams digitally will not be able to go back to review their multiple-choice questions. They will have to continue through till the end of the exam. A lockdown browser was also implemented into student Chromebooks to uphold academic integrity.
AP exams began this week for students who have opted to attempt to receive college credit for their rigorous coursework.
Senior Samantha Zaremba said, “I decided to take the test in person since I have more time to prepare myself since the test date is later and I feel more comfortable with taking it at school since I did not enjoy taking the test digitally last year.”
For most students, the year has been quite different, especially for incoming freshmen, who experienced most of their first year of high school remotely.
Freshman Humza Naseeruddin said, “I am currently taking AP Human Geography and have been preparing myself for the exam through completing assignments on My AP classroom which have helped me a lot by seeing practice exam questions. The practice exam can be tough but I am confident that through completing more reviews, I’ll be able to get the hang of it. Due to the pandemic, I plan to take the exam digitally at home.”
Between taking the test digitally, at home or in person at Addison Trail, or the traditional paper-pencil exam, the choice is solely dependent on what each individual student is most comfortable with under the circumstances.
Since the pandemic is an ongoing issue, many wonder if the future of AP testing will continue to be flexible, offering the exam in person or at home.
