Prep students to take digital AP exams

As the 2020-21 school year nears the end, Passaic Preparatory Academy students are getting ready to take the Advanced Placement (AP) exams, which will be held from June 1-11. Unlike last year, students will have to take the full-length exam.

The College Board provided three testing schedules for each AP subject from early May and June to school districts taking AP exams.

The Passaic Public Schools administration decided that students will take most AP exams digitally at home, from Tuesday, June 1, through Friday, June 11. To see the full exam schedule, visit https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/exam-administration-ordering-scores/exam-dates

Prep students taking AP Spanish Language and Culture, AP Spanish Literature and Culture, and AP Music Theory will be required to take the exam in-person at school. There are no digital versions for these subjects and all of the in-person tests will be held on Friday, June 4.

According to the College Board, “Students’ access to translation applications via mobile devices, musical instruments, and other resources means that not all parts of a full-length digital exam in these subjects can be securely and fairly administered in students’ homes.”

Prep students taking AP Macroeconomics will be allowed to use calculators throughout the exam, unlike the paper and pencil exam tests.

Students taking AP exams will make sure the Digital Testing App is downloaded on their Chromebooks. Students are advised to use district devices ONLY. The district cannot guarantee a successful exam experience on a non-district device. The tech department already has downloaded the application onto district Chromebooks. If a student does not see the app on their Chromebooks, they should do a hard shutdown (hold the shutdown button for more than 10 seconds). At startup, the app should appear before login. If it does not show, students should contact their AP teacher, who should fill out a ticket for the tech department.

For every digital AP exam a student takes, a complete exam setup must be conducted before test day. It is advised that the exam setup take place 1-3 days before the actual exam.

On the day of the exam, students must check in 30 minutes before the exam is scheduled to take place. There, students will review privacy policies and accept a security statement. 

Most AP exams will consist of a mix of multiple choice questions and free response questions (FRQS).

Students will not be allowed to go back or review multiple choice questions once they have moved on to the next question. They also cannot review FRQS once they move on to the next question. FRQS that have more than one section within a question can be reviewed.

There will be breaks within each section of the exam.

Note: If you’re having problems or don’t have a district-issued Chromebook, use the link below: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe7y9JR5BZ4ub_TywjZEc952ketzS0nWfkev5durK0FfG-cHA/viewform