Over the summer, the College Board announced that traditionally paper Advanced Placement examinations would be transitioning to hybrid and digital this upcoming testing season. The twenty-eight previously paper exams will be making the switch to digital with the aid of a new digital testing application, Bluebook.
Hybrid courses will include STEM classes like Biology, Calculus AB and BC, and Statistics, as well as language and art classes, including Spanish, German, and Drawing.
The College Board itself is made up of and governed by an elected Board of Trustees and works as a mission-driven nonprofit.
Trevor Parker has directed the Advanced Placement Program for the College Board since 2003.
“[The College Board] believes 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,” Parker said in a July statement.
Bluebook is an all-in-one digital platform students can use to practice for their exams, access their admission tickets, and utilize to take their tests.
Gaolee Yang is a senior at Stoughton High School and a veteran of AP testing. Yang has previously taken classes in AP World History (Modern) and AP English Language and Composition.
“I heard [of cheating from last year] this year… someone in the AP Pre Calc exam, apparently, used their calculator when they weren’t supposed to on a specific portion. I think they also might have had AirPods,” Yang said about cheating rumors in SHS.
David Lodahl is a Social Studies teacher at SHS and has taught the AP World History (Modern) course at the high school for the past two years.
“I think in the short term, [testing going digital] is a decent solution [to cheating] because it’s a new problem for someone to figure out,” Lodahl said.
Along with its intended goal to put an end to cheating, the digital exam is set to have other advantages
Brenna Squires instructs AP English Language and Composition at SHS.
“I’m hopeful that the lack of handwriting and more focus on typing might let students write faster. I don’t know if that will yet be true, though,” Squires said.
Predictions vary among students and teachers on how digital test-taking will affect students and test results this spring.
“Because tests are going digital, I feel like [pass rates for classes] might be higher. Courses like AP Lang and AP World have multiple essays, and you can digitally type a lot faster than if you were to handwrite. I feel like you have more time to think through your FRQs since you can type,” Yang said.
Vast changes in the testing procedure may impact course structure, although class content is not set to be adjusted for exams.
“As of right now, I’m still sticking with paper and pencil. [In the] second semester, we will transition to digital, but a lot of the skills that you use in AP are a lot easier to teach on paper,” Lodahl said.
Students should expect adaptations to previous class styles and how instructors allocate assigned work.