In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, countless things have been changed and altered. Included in this is how Advanced Placement (AP) tests are to be administered. 

Tests for AP courses will be entirely online. Tests will take about 45 minutes and consist of two to three free-response questions. Multiple choice questions have been eliminated from tests, due to cheating concerns. AP art classes will have portfolio submissions and no separate online exam. AP language tests will have two spoken tasks and no written portion. 

“With the constraints that we have, we don’t want people gathering in various areas,” AP teacher Matthew Wolfe said. “I feel like this is the best way that they can do it.”

Exams will be administered from May 11 to 22. The testing schedule for each subject can be found at the Advanced Placement Program’s website. The majority of AP exams will only test students on material learned in the classroom before school was cancelled. Despite this, many teachers will continue teaching untested material. 

“I probably won’t get as much in depth, so for those people that are taking the test, I’ll be able to shift more toward review,” Wolfe said. “I do want to teach World War I, the Great Depression, World War II and then I’m going to shift into review. Even though those other three topics aren’t tested, I think it’s important.”

College credit will still be awarded on the usual 1-5 scoring scale. According to the Advanced Placement Program, they believe the vast majority of colleges and universities will award credit like they have in the past. 

“It’s just crazy times and I think that everybody from the College Board to Johnson County Community College to IB, they’re trying to make the best of the situation,” Wolfe said. “They’re trying to salvage what they can. I do think it’s fair, they’re cutting back the amount of material that’s allowed to be tested. They’re just doing the best they can.”