On Friday, March 20, the Advanced Placement (AP) released information proposing online testing and access to free online course material in response to COVID-19. 

AP is a branch under the College Board, which also owns the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). 

According to information released on the Board’s AP Central website, all 38 AP classes will be administered online and can be accessed at home. Each test will allow 45 minutes and will have two test dates with one available for students wishing to test early. AP says additional information regarding the exams’ schedules, types of practice questions and other developments will be released by April 3. 

To facilitate fair testing, AP says it will only test already-covered material and is working with partners to provide low-income and rural students with access to internet and other needed materials.  

“The exam will only include topics and skills most AP teachers and students have already covered in class by early March,” the release said. “Students will be able to take these streamlined exams on any device they have access to—computer, tablet, or smartphone. Taking a photo of handwritten work will also be an option.”

The website contains a form available to students, teachers and parents to request access to assistance. 

AP Language and Composition teacher Emily Rountree says that the changes were anticipated because of the Board’s communication with AP instructors.  

“I was relieved that the College Board recognized the need to adapt the test to accommodate the drastic changes in the ways we will teach during this crazy time,” Rountree said. “My initial impression is that it is very fair to adapt the test around the fact that students only received three-fourths of the traditional instruction and to shorten the test to 45 minutes considering the home-testing environment.” 

Rountree says her curriculum moving forward will be shaped by the district’s instructions after Spring Break. 

“In the planning process, I will be exploring all the options available to me,” Rountree said. “[I’ll] also try to stay as true as I can to my belief in relationships, student choice, and independent learning.”