Canceled Exam

Janelle Tengco | April 22, 2020 | Features

In late April, Stanton College Preparatory School transitions into a period of testing as students prepare to take their exams for their respective Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses. This can be a stressful time for students who are taking multiple exams or their first AP exam in order to receive college credit.

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Stanton’s testing season this year, however, may experience unprecedented changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus. Mandated orders for quarantining and social distancing has prevented schools across Duval County from holding regular classes. The importance of self-quarantining to combat the virus poses the possibility of canceling end of course exams. 

Although virtual schooling has allowed students to safely learn within their homes, there can be setbacks that may affect a student’s learning experience. 

“Online learning is difficult because it can give students the option to slack,” said senior Tuyen Huynh. “[The workload] is okay [because] some teachers give lots of work while others give small amounts of work, which balances [it out] a bit.”

  On March 20, 2020, the College Board released a statement regarding AP exams, which will now be in the form of a free-response made available online to students. On March 27, 2020, the IB committee issued a statement that all exams administered under the Diploma Programme will be canceled to prioritize the safety and health of IB students during the pandemic. 

“I’m kind of nervous that IB exams are canceled because that means our [Internal Assessments] make up most, if not, all of our grade,” said junior Connor McLoon. “Myself, along with other [students], were relying on the actual exam to be the best part of our grade.”

While AP students have the option to take their exams online, IB students are faced with the dilemma of finding alternatives to determine the final grades in their IB classes. The IB program will be requiring schools to submit students’ Internal Assessments (IA) as a substitute for a formal assessment and will become factored in their final grades. 

“Since our IAs form the basis for our grades, it means we have to put a lot of more work into them than we would have,” said McLoon. “Apparently, the due date is sooner so that means we have to readjust and put more work in very quickly to finish them all.”

The COVID-19 pandemic contributes to the emergence of several difficulties and challenges that Stanton students encounter. The sudden changes in the testing schedule for AP and IB exams can also affect students’ performances when taking these formal assessments. With the flexibility of educational institutions, such as the College Board and the IB Program, students are able to take their exams and earn their college credit while remaining safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stanton Newspaper