JennyD Posted July 25 Share Posted July 25 Presumably those of you registered as AP teachers received this email as well, but for anyone who is not, many more AP exams will be digital as of this coming May: Dear AP Community, Students and teachers work hard in AP® courses and deserve the confidence that other students aren’t gaining an unfair advantage. Unfortunately, this year, we saw a rise in bad actors compromising AP Exam content for financial gain. We were able to avoid large-scale cancellations only because none of the compromised material was distributed broadly. But we believe that paper AP testing will continue to be vulnerable to theft and cheating. We are getting ahead of the issue by accelerating our transition to digital AP Exams. Starting in May 2025, we will discontinue standard paper testing for 28 AP Exams—these exams will move to the Bluebook™ digital testing application. Digital exams are much more secure than shipping paper exams in boxes to thousands of locations weeks in advance. Learn More In addition to ensuring exam security, digital exams have other advantages: • Digital AP testing is streamlined: No more lengthy bubbling and labeling of paper materials before testing can start. • Digital AP testing is accessible: Bluebook supports testing on commonly used devices, and students can use their own or a school-issued device. • Digital AP testing is student-friendly: Students like the Bluebook interface for the way it helps them focus on the relevant parts of longer reading passages; enables faster writing and editing compared to handwriting; and provides a less stressful testing experience. Fully digital AP subjects for 2025—no paper testing option is available except for students approved by College Board to receive a paper exam for digital assessments: • AP African American Studies (U.S. schools only) • AP Art History • AP Comparative Government and Politics • AP Computer Science A • AP Computer Science Principles • AP English Language and Composition • AP English Literature and Composition • AP Environmental Science • AP European History • AP Human Geography • AP Latin • AP Psychology • AP Seminar • AP United States Government and Politics • AP United States History • AP World History: Modern Hybrid digital AP subjects for 2025—students will view all of the exam questions in Bluebook but will answer free-response questions in a paper booklet as usual: • AP Biology • AP Calculus AB • AP Calculus BC • AP Chemistry • AP Macroeconomics • AP Microeconomics • AP Physics 1: Algebra-Based • AP Physics 2: Algebra-Based • AP Physics 😄 Electricity and Magnetism • AP Physics 😄 Mechanics • AP Precalculus • AP Statistics The following subjects will remain unchanged for 2025, but will transition to Bluebook digital testing in the future: • AP Chinese Language and Culture • AP French Language and Culture • AP German Language and Culture • AP Italian Language and Culture • AP Japanese Language and Culture • AP Spanish Language and Culture • AP Spanish Literature and Culture • AP Music Theory AP students will be able to access free online practice resources. Test previews will be available for all subjects in Bluebook later in the 2024-25 school year. Students will be able to access free online practice exams, quizzes, and other teacher-created assessments in AP Classroom. Accelerating the digital transition will help us preserve the integrity of the AP Exam experience for students and educators. We understand that this is a significant change, and we will work closely with the AP community throughout the year to ensure that schools have the information and resources they need to prepare for digital AP Exams. College Board will provide schools with loaner devices and Wi-Fi supports as needed. Visit AP Central® for more information. Register for an upcoming webinar about administering digital AP Exams. Sincerely, Trevor Packer Senior Vice President, AP & Instruction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El... Posted July 25 Share Posted July 25 (edited) I just saw that email, too. Interesting. If anyone's kid has taken a digital AP test already, did they need to supply their own laptop? How was it? Edited July 25 by El... Typing on phone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom_to3 Posted July 26 Share Posted July 26 The hybrid exams like AP Stats seem to be a nightmare waiting to happen? Might be a year to sit out? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver Posted July 26 Share Posted July 26 10 hours ago, Mom_to3 said: The hybrid exams like AP Stats seem to be a nightmare waiting to happen? Might be a year to sit out? Yeah. I get that they want to protect the questions by having them in bluebook rather than on paper, and there isn't an elegant way to let students type math without having to add more time per question. But this really does seem like a pain. One of my kids is already started on AP Stats for the year. And now I'm worried that the school might not be open to letting homeschoolers sit, because of the technology (and desk space for a laptop, scratch paper, and answer book) requirements. Or that the hybrid exam will be a huge pain. The only possible upside is if they allow Desmos in bluebook (they way they do on the digital SAT)--graphing is so much easier to work with on Desmos than on a tiny graphing calculator screen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted July 26 Share Posted July 26 My kid writes faster than he types, so the shift is not helpful for him taking APUS this year. Hopefully, his teacher will adapt the instruction to include some online test-taking skills, in addition to the basic content and essay writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachermom2834 Posted July 26 Share Posted July 26 1 hour ago, ScoutTN said: My kid writes faster than he types, so the shift is not helpful for him taking APUS this year. Hopefully, his teacher will adapt the instruction to include some online test-taking skills, in addition to the basic content and essay writing. My dd is in APUSH and AP Gov and AP Lang this year and they are all going digital. She was aware of the APUSH and had already been complaining about it but I don't think she knew about the others (I don't know if they were already planned or part of the change?). The APUSH teacher at her school, who is also the Gov teacher, isn't really known for being the best at test prep. My dd is strong and used to prepping herself but this switch to digital is not something she is happy about at all. She has had a few APs already and felt like she had the hang of it and of course here is a twist. Always. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom_to3 Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 On 7/26/2024 at 8:33 AM, silver said: Yeah. I get that they want to protect the questions by having them in bluebook rather than on paper, and there isn't an elegant way to let students type math without having to add more time per question. But this really does seem like a pain. One of my kids is already started on AP Stats for the year. And now I'm worried that the school might not be open to letting homeschoolers sit, because of the technology (and desk space for a laptop, scratch paper, and answer book) requirements. Or that the hybrid exam will be a huge pain. The only possible upside is if they allow Desmos in bluebook (they way they do on the digital SAT)--graphing is so much easier to work with on Desmos than on a tiny graphing calculator screen. Good point. This change may have negative implications for homeschoolers... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendall Posted August 2 Share Posted August 2 I'm also concerned about finding a testing location because of the change. This will be my 5th child taking AP exams and I'm hoping the established relationship will help me. The formula sheet that they provide to AP Physics students will not be given as a piece of paper. They will have to access it on the computer which seems very uneccessary and is frustrating. They will have a bluebook for the FRQ. This is the first time that I have attempted to teach AP Physics and the exam (Physics 1) is changing this year. I've almost given up the idea multiple times and we haven't even started our school year! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyD Posted August 2 Author Share Posted August 2 40 minutes ago, Kendall said: I'm also concerned about finding a testing location because of the change. This will be my 5th child taking AP exams and I'm hoping the established relationship will help me. The formula sheet that they provide to AP Physics students will not be given as a piece of paper. They will have to access it on the computer which seems very uneccessary and is frustrating. They will have a bluebook for the FRQ. This is the first time that I have attempted to teach AP Physics and the exam (Physics 1) is changing this year. I've almost given up the idea multiple times and we haven't even started our school year! We are also doing AP Physics 1 (assuming I can find my son a seat). The upside is that the exam this year is shorter and there should be less time pressure. But OTOH, the CB moved back a unit from Physics 2 into Physics 1 (fluids) so there is a bit more material to cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NittanyJen Posted August 2 Share Posted August 2 On 7/25/2024 at 9:34 PM, Mom_to3 said: The hybrid exams like AP Stats seem to be a nightmare waiting to happen? Might be a year to sit out? I don’t think most students will have a problem with the hybrid exams. The MCQ are likely mechanically easier since you don’t have to bubble. To my understanding, they still get scratch paper and will still use their own calculator. For the FRQ, they are still writing their answers on paper just like always. And in Bluebook, they can still mark up the question, highlight, underline, etc as they please on the screen. Students will still be able to go back and do questions (within a section that hasn’t closed) out of order, review their work, and so on, on the computerized questions, so they aren’t losing out on that, either. And the app will be on the devices, so testing isn’t interrupted even if the internet connection fails at some point. I feel like on the whole this move should be a good thing. Jen AP Statistics/PA Homeschoolers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendall Posted August 2 Share Posted August 2 2 hours ago, JennyD said: We are also doing AP Physics 1 (assuming I can find my son a seat). The upside is that the exam this year is shorter and there should be less time pressure. But OTOH, the CB moved back a unit from Physics 2 into Physics 1 (fluids) so there is a bit more material to cover. Have you taught this before? The pass rate is really low. I've been reading posts written by experienced and successful AP Physics 1 teachers who say the exam is "tricky" and that they can work through other AP Physics exams with no problem, but when they themselves work through the AP Physics 1 exams/practice tests they will have some problems they have trouble with. There are some who have the opinion that it is more of an IQ test and the kids who have to work hard (and if so are successful at other AP science/math) really struggle to get a 4. Not encouraging for someone trying to teach this for the first time with a student who will be in the need to work hard category. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyD Posted August 2 Author Share Posted August 2 (edited) 15 minutes ago, Kendall said: Have you taught this before? The pass rate is really low. I've been reading posts written by experienced and successful AP Physics 1 teachers who say the exam is "tricky" and that they can work through other AP Physics exams with no problem, but when they themselves work through the AP Physics 1 exams/practice tests they will have some problems they have trouble with. There are some who have the opinion that it is more of an IQ test and the kids who have to work hard (and if so are successful at other AP science/math) really struggle to get a 4. Not encouraging for someone trying to teach this for the first time with a student who will be in the need to work hard category. Yes. My oldest, who is a very strong math and science student, sailed through the class and the exam. FWIW, he took many of the science and math APs and I believe he thought AP Chem was the most challenging (although we outsourced that one to ChemAdvantage and he was very well prepared.) My middle son is not nearly as strong a student; last year we worked through AP Physics 1 but decided that he wasn't quite ready for -- and so didn't take -- the exam at the end. To his credit, he really wants to take another stab at the Physics 1 exam this year, so I am planning for another run-through. His main issue with the practice exams was time, especially with the FRQs, so I think he will benefit quite a bit from those changes. I haven't looked closely at the new "types" of FRQs yet, though. Edited August 2 by JennyD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El... Posted August 2 Share Posted August 2 My daughter did AP Physics 1 last year, and got a 4, which we're very pleased about! We found the Schaums Physics problems book extremely helpful. Schaum's Outline of College Physics, Twelfth Edition (Schaum's Outlines) https://a.co/d/h3bgfor The worksheets (student workbook?) that was on the AP classroom website was helpful in learning to write to the test requirements. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 My kid who just graduated didn't realize his AP lit was going to be digital until he showed up to take the test (presumably the school informed their own students, but no one told us); it was fine. There was a moment of confusion because he didn't know his college board login off the top of his head (and didn't realize he'd need it), but he had it saved on his phone and they eventually let him look him up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ann.without.an.e Posted August 9 Share Posted August 9 My kiddo took the PSAT with a school that used digital this year and the college board uses this program for their digital tests called Blue Book and it is awful. Like constantly shuts down, stops working. The school said it truly is a problem. Thankfully, we struggled to get this program to work last year but it DID actually manage to work on test day. I am worried about when it counts for Merit scholarship though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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