AP Exams & Scheduling
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Anonymous
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I have a question about how different high schools support students taking AP Exams -- I'm trying to gather real examples of schools that handle testing well and understand how other students handle the pressures that exist during AP testing weeks to help make things better for next year and future students.
For example, my DC took the AP US History Exam Friday morning (3 hours 15 min) which started after 8:30 am due to proctor seating kids very slowly. Test ended at 12:08 pm, kids got released at 12:12 pm, DC was seated for her next exam at 12:15 pm and started it at 12:30 pm. Obviously, no break for lunch or bathroom after getting up at 6 am and eating breakfast before 7 am. DC was not the only student taking both tests that day with this timeline. I've reached out to the AP Coordinator for some explanation and received no response. It seems at our high school, students who have two different exams scheduled for one day are required to take both exams. I've heard that other schools automatically allow students to reschedule one of the exams on a makeup day. Is that true at your school or school system? If so which one. I've also been reading that College Board policy acknowledges that a 3 hour and 15 min exam can be over 4 hours in duration with instruction and breaks -- and says it's up to the AP Coordinator at the school to ensure that students get a mandatory 20 min break between tests (um -- does anyone else think 20 min is comically short and expecting schools to figure this out is bad design?). Has anyone had experience with this getting handled well? How? Does anyone think the break should be at least 40 min? Does anyone know why College Board doesn't address this issue with their scheduling, e.g. by scheduling the longer test in the later slot or starting the afternoon test at 1 pm instead of 12 noon? Teachers at our high school have also continued to assign papers and tests during these two AP testing weeks. Is this normal? Are students expected to navigate the load themselves or does your school have policies in place to help with assignments and attendance for students who have multiple AP tests during these weeks? Appreciate hearing about your DC experience. |
Anonymous
| At our school, students must take exams when college board has it stated unless they have an exam that overlaps in which case one exam may be taken on makeup day. Even when I was in school, that was the rule as well. |
Anonymous
| ^^ same |
Anonymous
| My kid has accommodations which probably drives his scheduling. He can only take 1 exam per day. The AP coordinator automatically rescheduled his exams |
Anonymous
I think no time for bio break or food is unacceptable. How can you expect kids to do their best on the exam if their bladder is full and they're hungry. |
Anonymous
| This is normal during exam week. I've known kids who have done two tests, no lunch and then headed to race in the conference track meet. Your kid is fine |
Anonymous
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About your second point: at Madison HS, tests, papers, projects, and cumulative tests are ongoing, likely through until the end of school. There's a big push to keep kids in school and learning up until the last day. AP teachers are sometimes behind on the curriculum and are trying to cram it in, even if that means leaving something for after the AP exam.
It's not ideal, seeing as many seniors are taking these AP classes; after the exams, many of these seniors are doing 2-week projects (like mini internships) off campus. But the underclassmen in the AP classes still have to keep going with projects, essays, etc. My daughter who is a junior has important assessments in all her classes, even those that had an AP exam. Many are summative grades, so they still have to be putting in max effort. Although I agree that kids should be learning right up until the end of school, I wish in that case that the AP exams could line up closer to June instead of May. And wouldn't it be lovely if they had a suspended 2-3 days of "no work, just study" in those AP classes leading up to the exam? Since you wrote that you are trying to figure out best or at least better practices, that's my two cents! |
Anonymous
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This is your first go-around, I take it? 1. Same-day exams are a problem, precisely due to delays during the morning exam, which lead to a very short or a non-existent break before the afternoon one. Yes, I believe it DOES affect exam performance, and there should be a declared minimum length of break between two back-to-back exams!!! As it stands right now, it's a little fuzzy and discretion is given to the onsite testing coordinator. Usually, since they want the least hassle possible, they tend to try to shuffle off everyone into their afternoon exams, and a student would need to be very persuasive to get a testing coordinator to approve a make-up date in the situation you describe. Which I don't think is fair, at all! I entirely sympathize with your daughter, OP. For illness, I believe you need a doctor's note to schedule the make-up, so if you know a doctor who can write one, maybe your kid, if her first exam runs so late, can just walk out of school, and you request the make-up for the second exam with the doctor's note. 2. Life goes on separately from College Board exams, unfortunately. My kids' high schools were/are each quite understanding about late work and requesting test make-ups for AP exam absences. Indeed, MCPS gives excused absences on AP exam days, so that kids don't get zeros when they miss instruction on those days. It is understood that students need to keep studying for their other classes, hand in their assignments and take their tests at some point. 3. We declared a moratorium on extra-curricular activities last weekend and this week. My DD has missed a number of horseback riding classes. If she gets marked down in her semester assessment, we don't care. She has missed a number of her private instrumental lessons, and her teacher is very understanding. She's part of a selective youth orchestra that limits the number of absences to 2 per concert cycle, so we declared her "sick" for the last rehearsal. I'm sure lots of other high schoolers were somehow "sick" that day  The concert is next weekend, so the conductor isn't happy, but AP exams are more important! In the house, DD is exempt from chores, laundry, pet care, etc. We make all her meals and baby her so she can focus on her exams, like we did for our son.
I hope your kid did well despite adverse circumstances, OP. |
Anonymous
| Kid has had two days with two exams. Managed to pee and wolf down a power bar and protein shake betw first and second. Also has tests and papers in other classes. |
Anonymous
| OP - public school parent outside of DC. We have the same policies, except our school requires kids to check-in at 7:45 a.m. to start their first exam at 8 a.m. so there is a break between exams. On double exam days, my kid takes a sandwich so they can eat it between the tests. It is exhausting and reminds me of my bar exam days (6 hours of testing a day). |
Anonymous
Ok, Bea calm down. Students get to leave after 1st exam and are not required to attend classes after lunch. So that's ridonc that they are taking back to back exams on same day. The second exam on makeup date. Not all kids take the exams. |
Anonymous
| It’s disorganized and handled poorly. My kid has 5 AP exams and a spring sport. Not only do there other classes assign a lot of work (that they are missing for exams) that they have to makeup, but they also have several far away games that have made them miss even more classes or have to go from a long day of exams (or worse, have to reschedule)on a bus to a game. It’s a mess and I wish there was better coordination |
Anonymous
Check-in at 7:45 doesn't protect you from long delays. Sometimes proctors are inexperienced, sometimes there's connectivity issues, etc. Yesterday, for the AP Calc BC exam, my kid and her entire group were told to wait in front of the wrong location to take their exam, and 15 minutes later, a teacher came to find them to lead them to a new location. It was not the kids' fault. Someone dropped the ball and did not announce the room change. If there's an accumulation of such delays, the poor kids who need to take a second exam in the afternoon are cooked. |
Anonymous
| this is an AP issue not a your high school issue |
Anonymous
| I told my school my kid had a drs appointment so they could take the second test on the makeup date. Was accepted. |