Letter to the Editor: AP Testing Requirements Unfair

*The following is an open letter to the Half Hollow Hills School District from Jacob Henner, President of the National Federation of American Students.

As you may know, for the next two weeks students will be taking Advanced
Placement, or AP exams. According to the College Board, these exams are
designed for preparing students for higher education, in addition to
expanding students' knowledge on specific subjects. To prepare students
for these tests, College Board, a business, sells curricular materials
and charges school districts for training sessions and seminars, in an
effort to establish so-called Advanced Placement courses. While these
courses are of the highest quality and caliber, the Half Hollow Hills
School District has made an error in AP implementation: requiring
students enrolled in AP classes to take the AP exams in May, with a
penalty if they choose not to. College Board offers the AP exams to
students as a standardized test for showing colleges which subjects a
student excels at. The exams, according to College Board, are by no
means a requirement for students enrolled in an AP level course. Unlike
the International Baccalaureate program, there is no special
accreditation, diploma, or other recognition awarded to students who
complete AP exams. College Board also states that students who do not
enroll in AP courses are even permitted to take the tests
(http://goo.gl/s06oo).

The issue lies with the school district's response to a student not
wanting to take a test for a course he or she has enrolled in,
regardless of the reason or rationale provided. As an example, I  am
enrolled in five AP classes this academic year, which constitute seven
exams. I do not wish to take every exam, as the benefits typically
awarded do not apply to me, due to my choice of College path. In my
situation, the University of Pennsylvania does not award credit or
placement for three of my tests, and for three of my other tests, I've
already received the maximum benefits awarded.  Many other students fall
into the same situation, where their school or their major is
incompatible with the AP exams they are required to take. If AP exams
were administered at no cost to the student, as is the case in Jericho
(where the average number of exams is six tests per test taker, with an
85-percent participation rate), this would be less of an issue. The student and
his/her family would not have a financial burden from the AP exams, and
the tests could be approached as simply part of the course. The student
would not be affected economically, and his or her grades would not be
affected, so the student would have no solid reason or credibility to
refuse.

However, at $87 a test, this policy becomes unreasonable (College Board
charges the school $79, and the District keeps the $8 rebate). In my
situation, the exams cost $609 in total, an unacceptable sum, from which
I shall receive absolutely no benefits. That money could have instead
been contributed to my College fund, and with the current price of
higher education, every dollar counts for me. I'll be working three jobs
this summer just to outweigh a percentage of costs for room and board,
and I can imagine it being even harder for other students. For families
facing economic hardship, these costs could have a significant impact on
daily activities, or necessities.

With all of these ideas considered, it's clear that punishing a student
who does not take an AP exam is not an acceptable response or action, on
behalf of the School District. The punishment for a student who chooses
not to enroll in an AP exam affects the highest achievers, the students
who have gained admission to some of the top educational institutions in
the country, as the more rigorous college programs accept fewer of the
AP exams. The current policy response is two-fold. First, the student's
final transcript will be altered, to list a course as a “College” level
course instead of an “AP” level course. Then, the student is required to
take a final exam in the class, which is not administered to other
students. Both of these actions are flawed.

For the first, many colleges look for “AP” on a student's academic
record, and if that designation changes on a student's final transcript,
the college may question the student, which could very well lead to
admission withdrawal. These colleges do not care whether or not the
student takes the exam, just whether he or she took the highest level
course offered by the school. The student, having taken the full-length
AP course, with all of the same work as his or her peers, does not
deserve his or her accomplishments to be held in any lower regard. This
also constitutes a legal misrepresentation, which poses two serious
issues for the district: possible civil litigation by students and their
families, or an agent operating on their behalf, and college admissions
offices holding the district in a lower regard (which has happened
before, for different reasons). If, for example, I take the AP
Government course, and choose not to take the AP, the school will
indicate I took College Government. As the Half Hollow Hills school
district does not offer a College Government class, the school would be
illegally misrepresenting its course offerings, as well as my
accomplishments in High School.

For the second, mandating additional work to specific students taking
the same course as others is an inappropriate action. AP classes (with
the exception of those taking a Regents exam) do not typically assign
final exams to students, and as such, these tests are not produced
regularly by teachers. If a student in a teacher's class chooses not to
take the AP, the teacher must produce an exam that has not previously
been administered (a task which does not interest teachers), and give it
to the student. Unreasonably, this test will count for 20-percent of that
student's final grade, and as the majority of the class will not be
taking the exam, there will be no curve, which could significantly and
unfairly elevate or deflate a student's well-deserved class average.
Keep in mind, AP exams are not included as a grade in a student's
academic record, so this policy does not have any sort of equalizing
effect, it instead has a rather disproportionate one.

As the President of The National Federation of American Students, both
nationally and in our school district, I am asking you, the
administrative staff, to alter these policies, and revise them
immediately. If the school district were to cover the costs of these
tests, the situation would be different, and I would understand
mandatory test taking. However, many students take AP courses for the
material, the learning environment, and/or the teaching staff, and as
such, disciplining a student for not taking an exam that would not
provide any benefit, but rather exert a financial burden on him, her or
his or her family is not only illogical, but also irresponsible,
unethical and illegal under New York State and Federal law. On behalf of
the student body at both High School East and High School West, I
request that this issue be given the utmost priority, especially before
these next two weeks elapse. I appreciate your assistance, and I look
forward to hearing back from you.

Sincerely,

Jacob Henner, President, The National Federation of American Students