COVID-19 pandemic results in changes to standardized testing protocol

With the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the country and the globe, quarantine protocol has made in-school standardized testing out of the picture. In response, different standardized testing agencies such as the College Board, the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) and the ACT have adapted new procedures ranging from at-home exams to cancelations. 

Currently, the College Board has canceled the May 2 and June 6 SAT and SAT Subject Test Administration, along with April PSAT 10 and PSAT 8/9 administrations. The March 25 SAT School Day administration will also not be rescheduled.

Instead, starting in May, students will be able to register weekend SAT administrations every month through the end of the calendar year, if deemed safe by public health officials. Those previously registered for the June administration and those in the class of 2021 without a prior SAT score will be given early access for registration for the August, September and October sessions. 

Likewise ACT has rescheduled its April 4 national test date to June 13, and the next test date will be June 18. Free rescheduling will be available for all students previously registered for the April 4 test date. 

In late March, the IBO canceled all Diploma Programme and Career-related Programme examinations scheduled between April 30 and May 22. International Baccalaureate (IB) Diplomas will still be awarded to students, but scores will instead be calculated through “data analysis from previous exam sessions, individual school data, subject data as well as comparative data of schools who have already completed uploading requirements and those who have not.” All internal IB work that was previously scored only by teachers will also now need to be submitted for external marks. 

The IBO has not released a final statement on whether or not students will receive refunds or adjustments for their exam registration fees but has stated, “We will provide more information to all finance questions raised in due course.”

The College Board announced that all Advanced Placement (AP) exams will still take place in May in the form of online tests at home. Almost all tests will be shortened to take place over 45 minute blocks instead of the traditional several-hour-long sessions. This decision was carried forward after the College Board conducted a survey of 18,000 AP students and found that 91 percent wanted to continue taking their tests. 

On April 7, College Board CEO David Coleman went live with Khan Academy founder Sal Khan on YouTube to expand on how the 2020 AP exams will be administered. 

All 2020 AP exams will now consist of one or two free response questions, with no multiple choice answers, and the tests will be open note/open book. The primary testing dates will be from May 11-22, with make-up testing between June 1-5. The submission deadline for students enrolled in courses with portfolio submissions has been extended to May 26.

The exams will take place through an online testing system, and students may either type their answers or write their responses by hand and upload a photo. For students who do not have access to stable internet connection or a device to connect to the internet, the College Board has invited them to fill out a device intake form by April 24.

Exams will be administered at the same time worldwide, so all students taking a particular exam would be tested at once. The exams are scheduled in two hour intervals, and each student will be allowed to take a maximum of three exams in one day. Students must log into the system at least 30 minutes before their scheduled exam time, and they will be given five additional minutes after the allotted 45 to upload work.

The College Board has not yet addressed how this schedule will affect international students. 

Students will not be allowed to consult others while taking their exams. The College Board has remained vague about what security measures will be put in place to prevent cheating but has stated that plagiarism detection software and post-administration analytics will be used. A copy of each student’s test will also be sent to their teachers to identify inconsistencies with regular work.

Through April, the College Board will release a series of free, live AP review lessons on the AP YouTube channel, taught by AP teachers from around the country. 

If students elect to no longer take an exam, they can cancel at no charge. Refund policies will vary depending on individual schools. 

In terms of AP scores qualifying for college credit, the College Board has stated that they are “confident that the vast majority of Higher Ed institutions will award credit as they have in the past.” Universities such as Yale and the UC system have already supported offering credit for 2020 AP exams.

Article by Helen Qian of Richard Montgomery High School

Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons