Shorter online tests replace traditional Advanced Placement exams

As the spread of COVID-19 transforms the country’s education system, high school students are simultaneously preparing for an online Advanced Placement testing season — a dramatically altered format than the one they have been preparing for all year.

College Board, the New York-based company that administers both AP and SAT tests, has shifted the exams from multi-hour, in-person affairs to shorter, open-note online tests. For most subjects, the test will last 45 minutes with only one or two free response questions, a far cry from the typical gauntlet of multiple choice questions, longer free response problems and essays.

“AP classes and exams are a crucial part of lowering the overall cost of higher education by accumulating credits without paying college tuition,” a College Board spokesman wrote in an email. “This is especially relevant for students and their families during these very uncertain times.” 

College Board surveyed 18,000 students about how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, and 91% indicated they wanted the test to continue in some format. The revised tests will cover only what students should have reasonably learned by March, or about three-quarters of a course’s total content.

“It really threw me through a loop, the whole online learning and stuff,” said Sadie Sease, a sophomore from Montgomery, Alabama who is taking AP World History. “But since we don’t have to continue past what we’ve already learned, I’m not quite as anxious because I don’t have to learn new stuff online. We just get to spend the rest of the time reviewing.” 

Andrew Sharos, a former AP U.S. History teacher and author of the book “All 4s and 5s: A Guide to Teaching and Leading Advanced Placement Programs,” said that although it faced an “impossible situation,” College Board made the right decision by moving tests online. 

“College Board kind of looked at the least common denominator and said ‘You know, most of these students have put in 75% of the work into these classes. We have to figure out a way to still assess what they know and what they can do, but also be as fair as we can to every student,’” he said. 

College Board introduced AP Classroom at the start of the 2019-2020 school year, an additional online resource for teachers to help their students learn the college-level content. In addition to unlocking content from AP Classroom relevant to the new tests, College Board began uploading review videos from various AP teachers across the country starting at the end of March. 

John Cowan, an AP Microeconomics and Macroeconomics teacher from Atlanta, said he was “surprised and pleased” that such a massive change was organized quickly in light of the pandemic. College Board announced their response on March 20, and put out test-specific information, such as format and scheduling, on April 3.

“Canceling the tests outright would be massively unfair to students who have been working all year to prepare for these tests,” he said. 

A successful score on an AP test translates to credit at most American colleges and universities, reducing the number of core classes students need to take as an undergrad. Over 2.8 million students took an exam last year, according to data from College Board, with the most popular subject being English Language and Composition. 

Cowan said his main focus when his school returns from spring break will be review of free response questions. Both economics tests usually have sizable multiple choice sections and essays that require students to draw basic graphs, so he heavily focused on those elements in the classroom this year. 

“That’s a skill we’ve worked on throughout a lot of the year,” he said. “And so that’s kind of thrown out the door now. It’s definitely more difficult now, going to free response questions and just telling students ‘I know we’ve been practicing drawing graphs and I’ve kind of grilled you on it, but now it’s not as important.’” Even though his students won’t be tested the same way as they’ve practiced, Cowan is encouraging them by emphasizing that the content and concepts are unchanged.

Reese Gabrielson, a junior from Knoxville, Tennessee, thinks the new testing format will be easier for him because he is stronger with free response than multiple choice questions. The 45-minute time limit, he said, will also make it simpler to complete. He is taking the AP Physics and AP Psychology exams.

“I prefer to take shorter tests, personally,” he said. “I think we all do.” 

Sease is also optimistic about the free response format. She said she doesn’t think her score will be impacted by the change.

“I personally am a good writer,” she said. “I might honestly do a little bit better, because I am an overthinker. So most of the time when I mess up on a test, it’s the multiple choice when I overthink everything and ultimately pick the wrong answer.”

Ultimately, this year’s changes may indicate an unplanned beginning to an increasingly digital AP testing system. Sharos pointed out that the online version will be “much more efficient than counting all the booklets” from a physical test.

“I think they’re going to learn something from this experience,” he said. “Much like teachers with their new digital resources—like that’s going to become a part of their class moving forward. Similarly, College Board is going to find some things about this process that they like and they’ll be able to take a harder look at doing this in the future.”