AP exam changes: Helpful for test prep, or more money for the College Board?

Changes in the Advanced Placement world could help more high school students earn college credit via AP exams – but teenagers will pay new fees if they change their minds about taking the tests.

The College Board will soon offer AP teachers new practice questions, instructional videos and automated assessments that can give students feedback online. The testing and college-prep giant has invested $80 million into helping more students successfully prepare for the annual May exams, leaders said.

But the changes coming Aug. 1 include a controversial exam registration deadline in November instead of March, and new $40 penalties for each late registrant or canceled exam.

Some skeptics say the new deadline could actually deter skittish students – especially those already overwhelmed in the fall by college applications or by the rigor of AP material.

"The students I'm most concerned about are my lower-income and minority students – I'm afraid this will scare them away from taking the exams," said Deanna Smith, headguidance counselor at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington, Kentucky.

"While we have several measures in place to help our low-income students cover the cost of the exams, we cannot afford to keep those measures in place if there is an additional $40 fee for late or canceled exams," she said.

Others see the changes as a way for the College Board to bolster its revenue from the AP program – if not through more exams and new fees, then through the collection of student data at a time of year when it could be most attractive to pass along to college marketers.

More than 2,700 people have signed an online petition asking the company to drop the earlier exam registration deadline and fees. They also want students to access the new exam-prep materials without having to share their personal data.

"The College Board is trying to mandate that all students taking AP classes take the exams and punishing students in the interest of increasing their profit margins," said Jim Jeffreys, the assessment coordinator at Franklin High School in Seattle.

Trevor Packer, a former English major who's led the AP program at the College Board since 2003, said that's not it at all.

Since 1956, he said, the AP program has been more focused on creating tests that predict college placement than with helping students prepare for the exams. That's widened the opportunity gulf between students at rich and poor schools – something that AP can address, Packer said.

"The most powerful thing is getting a student who would never have taken an AP class to take one and get a three or better," he added.

A total of 32 AP courses include spring exams. The exams are scored by independent graders on a scale of one to five. A three typically earns a student at least a semester of college credit in the subject; a five can garner up to two semesters of credit.

Researchers generally view students enrolling in AP courses as beneficial because the classes offer exposure to college-level material. But earning college credit through the exams is even better, as students can stave off debt and graduate faster.

Exam registration rates shot up at 800 high schools across the country that have experimented with an exam sign-up deadline in fall rather than spring, according to College Board data released Wednesday. The increase in AP exam registration among low-income and minority students was particularly strong, Packer said.

But Mike Elings, whose company, Total Registration, works with schools to register students for the exams, estimates the College Board stands to earn millions more because of the changes.

Keep in mind: Elings' business could be disrupted by the College Board's move to register students online in the fall.

Elings said the College Board's own numbers from previous years show that as more low-income students took the exams, the share of their exams earning a three or higher decreased each year.

College Board leaders dispute those claims. They say AP exam pass rates have remained fairly steady nationwide and that overall, more low-income students are passing the exams.

Packer said the fees are designed as an incentive for students to commit to taking the exams earlier in the year. Data from schools trying out the early deadline do not suggest many will sign up late and incur fees, he said.

He also stressed that the company would not gain any marketable student data from the 2019 fall AP exam registration or generate any revenue from it.

That would be a change from past practice. The company's website openly statesit collects student data from its nationwide pool of test-takers to power a search tool that colleges, universities and nonprofits can pay to access.

Changes aside, the number of students taking AP courses and exams has risen dramatically in the past decade.

According to data released by the College Board Wednesday, 1.24 million students who graduated in 2018 took at least one AP exam – almost 39 percent of the graduated class. A decade ago, only about 750,000 graduates took at least one AP class – about 25 percent of the Class of 2008.

Those increases have bolstered the College Board's financials. As of 2016, the nonprofit was sitting on $1.1 billion of assets and paid its top executive, David Coleman, more than $1.4 million in compensation.

Revenue from the AP and Instruction division shot up from $37 million in 2014 to $446 million in 2016, according to tax filings. AP tests are now the College Board's largest stream of revenue – more than the SAT college entrance exam.

But the company has poured money back into exam development and support and grading, Packer said. The exam fee of $94 has remained fairly steady, even though some of the most expensive tests, like for AP German, costs almost $500 to produce and score, he added.

The College Board also offers a $37 subsidy toward each exam fee for low-income students. Additional public subsidies typically make the exams free or low cost for disadvantaged students.

In rural Montana, Alan Hoffmann was thrilled to hear about the new, free AP materials.

He's the lone English teacher at a K-12 school with 100 students. Last summer he drove nine hours to Missoula to train to teach AP. Now he's teaching AP Literature for the first time – to five students. To provide quality assignments, he's been stealing ideas from more experienced AP teachers who post online.

"If they’re going to offer up more stuff from College Board, and you know it's going to help your students, then I'm all about it," Hoffmann said.

"Back in November, my students wouldn't have had much confidence that they could pass the AP exam," Hoffmann said. "But now their confidence is building."

In Edmond, Oklahoma, Meg Shadid teaches AP world history and AP economics. Her school, Edmond Santa Fe High School, is one of 800 that's been experimenting with the fall registration deadline – and the new content materials.

Shadid said the new test-prep questions and curated homework assignments have made a huge difference.

"It's been a game changer for me in terms of how I teach," she said. "These are realistic questions (students will) see on AP tests. Students can track their own progress online, and they can get immediate feedback on quizzes I make from old questions."

About half of Shadid's students come from diverse backgrounds, she said. So far, nobody has backed out of the exams after signing up for them in November, she added.

Will that translate into more passing scores on the AP exam this year – and more college credit? Shadid will have to wait until after May to find out.

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