{"id":31253,"date":"2019-03-13T11:01:40","date_gmt":"2019-03-13T15:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/?p=31253"},"modified":"2021-05-20T21:58:02","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T01:58:02","slug":"skeptics-claim-changes-to-ap-exams-are-all-about-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/skeptics-claim-changes-to-ap-exams-are-all-about-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Skeptics Claim Changes to AP Exams Are &#8216;All About Money&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Skeptics are fighting back against the College Board\u2019s proposed changes to AP exams, which they claim could make things more stressful and expensive for high school students. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Traditionally, students register to take AP exams in March, but the proposed changes, which would go into effect before the 2019-20 school year, would force students to register in November. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And in addition to the $94 it costs students to take an AP exam, the proposed changes will make students pay a $40 late fee and a $40 cancellation fee. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNovember is way too early in the year to make these decisions,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newrichmond.k12.wi.us\/domain\/1477\">Jennifer Wander<\/a>, a high school counselor in New Richmond, Wisconsin, who recently started <a href=\"https:\/\/www.change.org\/p\/tell-the-college-board-not-to-add-more-expense-and-stress-for-students-taking-exams\">a petition<\/a> against the College Board\u2019s proposed changes. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cStudents are already stressed about applying to college and paying for scholarships along with other adolescent stressors,\u201d she continued. \u201cThey do not need extra fees assessed to pressure them to sign up for a test that they have no way of knowing whether they will be ready for.\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Her petition, which urges the College Board to respond to her demands by March 31, 2019, already has been signed by over 100,000 people. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEvery day I see students in their junior and senior years coping with the anxiety of getting into college,\u201d Wander wrote in her petition. \u201cThe cost of applications and exams, not to mention the prep courses and other expenses regularly paid by privileged students, are widening the gap between what is possible for those in difficult economic situations.\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The College Board, however, suggests that its proposed changes will benefit high school students, especially those in underrepresented groups, including low-income students, minority students and girls taking science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) courses. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last year, as an experiment, the College Board asked 40,000 high schools students from 800 different schools to decide in the fall whether or not they would take their AP exam. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The organization concluded that when students register to take an AP exam in the fall, their chances of earning a 3 (the minimum passing grade) or higher increases. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt gets them engaged right from the beginning because they want to pass, they want to do well on it.\u201d Brandon Griffin, an AP physics teacher, explained in a <a href=\"https:\/\/apcentral.collegeboard.org\/about-ap\/news-changes\/ap-2019\">video<\/a> on the College Board\u2019s website. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some students had a similar reaction. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s definitely been a constant reminder that I\u2019m taking an AP class, I\u2019m here to do work and I\u2019m here to make sure that work is shown.\u201d Ezinne Iwuanyanwu, an AP student, said in the video. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wander, along with many other high school teachers and counselors, recognizes the importance of AP exams, but they still don\u2019t believe these changes will benefit students. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEarning college credits in high school has been an amazing opportunity for all students,\u201d said Wander. \u201cIt has saved them thousands of dollars in tuition, fees, books, etc.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI&#8217;m not sure why changing the timeline and assessing larger fees is going to increase these opportunities,\u201d she continued. \u201cThe College Board says they did research from the 800 pilot schools last year, but I just don&#8217;t buy it. Many of us in the AP community feel it is simply a money grab for College Board.\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is worth noting that Wander doesn\u2019t disapprove of every adjustment the College Board is making. The organization is adding resources for teachers and students, including new practice questions, instructional videos and online assessments that give students feedback &#8212; of which Wander refers to as \u201cgreat changes.\u201d <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But in regards to the proposed fees and schedule changes, Wander is very concerned. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLet\u2019s face it, the College Board says they\u2019re a nonprofit, but really they are all about money,\u201d Wander wrote in her petition. \u201cThey made $200 million last year and paid their CEO $1.4 million. They are going to make at least $40 million more every year with this new policy, which is supposed to go into effect next school year. The College Board doesn\u2019t care about students \u2013 they only care about their bottom line.\u201d<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Skeptics are fighting back against the College Board\u2019s proposed changes to AP exams, which they claim could make things more stressful and expensive for high school students. Traditionally, students register to take AP exams in March, but the proposed changes, which would go into effect before the 2019-20 school year, would force students to register [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":31260,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[647,230,229],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic","category-news","category-lead-stories"],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/AP-Exam.png",830,533,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/AP-Exam-224x144.png",224,144,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/AP-Exam-300x193.png",300,193,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/AP-Exam.png",830,533,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/AP-Exam.png",830,533,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/AP-Exam.png",830,533,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/AP-Exam.png",830,533,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Jackson Schroeder","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/author\/jackson-schroeder\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Skeptics are fighting back against the College Board\u2019s proposed changes to AP exams, which they claim could make things more stressful and expensive for high school students. Traditionally, students register to take AP exams in March, but the proposed changes, which would go into effect before the 2019-20 school year, would force students to register&hellip;","featured_media_src_url":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/AP-Exam.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}