If you give a school eight snow days, the school will push back four AP test, and if you push back four AP tests, rumors will spread that the push-back tests are much harder.
This February, Liberty had eight snow days because of Snowmageddon. As a result, Dean of Students Erin Armstrong found a solution to resolve the pressure on AP classes that this new time crunch has made for them.
Her solution was to offer all the AP classes a chance to take the exam at a later date, rather than the regular dates of the second and third week of May. But out of the twenty-two AP courses Liberty students take, only four classes decided to push back: Human Geography, World History, French, and Computer Science Principles.
“When you are learning a language, time is very important. While I believe that if my students took the first exam, they would be more than capable and do wonderful, but I want to give them the best chance they can have, and for that, we all came to the conclusion that the second date is the best chance,” AP French teacher Nadege Maciel said.
Most teachers asked their classes first which exam they’d rather take. The decision was made by listing pros and cons, like Maciel and her French class, prioritized time. On the con list, there was one big rumor that scared back the other 18 classes.
“A later exam date meant more time for my students to learn the material, learn the test, which meant the more comfortable my students would be when they took the exam, it was a no brainer. Sure there is a rumor but I don’t trust rumors,” AP World History teacher Peter Kurtz said.
The rumor is, the test content is harder and it’s graded harder. According to College Board, the tests are graded comparatively. One the first test date, thousands of students take the test and are compared to one another, so it is easier to get into the top 60 percent that gets a three, four, and five. But on the later dates, it is only hundreds of students.
But Armstrong rebutted the rumor.
“I have not been able to find any proof to back up the claim. We had students that participated in late testing and exception testing last year, and I don’t notice any significant differences in scores.”
No matter when the test date is, the AP courses are still on track for success according to Armstrong, and to some students like junior Lauren Klatt, the test is not the end goal.
“In the end, knowing the information is my end goal. Dr. Stephens has done such a great job on that front, I feel really comfortable in the subject that I don’t feel like the later date for AP Biology is necessary,” Klatt said.