Coronavirus has shaken up virtually everything in our society, from business to general social life. School systems nationwide have been hit especially hard, with some states closing schools through the end of the year.
In Williamsville
On WITS, Superintendent Martzloff wrote in a letter to the families of Williamsville Central School District students, “With schools being closed until April 29, 2020, we wanted to remind parents, students and athletes that all athletic practices and games are also canceled at this time. As we continue to adhere to social distancing guidelines, as of Tuesday, April 7, 2020, all of the District’s outdoor fields, tracks, courts, and playgrounds are closed.”
Yet, it is likely that our schools will be closed past April 29, due to the infectious nature of COVID-19 and the longer school closings in other parts of the country.
Statewide Regents Exams
Additionally, New York State’s Education department made an announcement that this June’s Regents exams would be cancelled. Accordingly, the requirement to pass a course’s Regents exam in order to graduate has been waived for those students who pass the corresponding high school courses this school year.
Nationwide AP Exams
On a national educational scale, the College Board’s Advanced Placement Exams have been moved online. The exams will now be administered from May 11 to May 22, with specific schedule and exam information available at this link. Makeups are available from June 1 to June 5.
These exams will consist of only free response questions, and have been announced to be open book and open notes. However, collaboration is still not permitted.
Colleges and universities are expected to take the exam scores for college credit as they normally do. Yet, even if course credit is granted for exams, it could pose a problem for students in their educational progression, as this year’s exams only test an abridged subset of the normal AP curriculum.
In light of these unprecedented circumstances, if students wish to not take this year’s exams, they will not be charged for the cost of the exam or the cancellation fee.
More information is available here.
Reactions
Erin Suh, a junior, says, “I think it’s important that we have the opportunity to get our money’s worth and the credit we deserve for working so hard, so I totally support the 45 minute exam, even though it could mean that the value of getting a high score could be lessened if everyone gets high scores.” Indeed, even as the College Board announces that colleges will still continue to accept exam credit, there are legitimate concerns over the value of this year’s exams to reflect true subject mastery in this arcane format. (Disclaimer: The author of this article happens to believe that AP exams, even in their usual format, are terrible measures of a student’s knowledge and aptitude for success, but I digress.)
Megan Rajakrishnan, a senior who will be attending Colgate University in the fall, also expresses skepticism over the validity of the new exam format: “I don’t know if I’m qualified for this because I definitely haven’t thought that in depth about it, but if they gave me the option for refunds, I would definitely take advantage of that because my college doesn’t accept the APs I’m taking this year at all! Also, multiple choice is more my thing, and I’m really bad at FRQs, so I feel like it won’t be an accurate representation of what I would’ve gotten on the tests in a normal year.”
Owen Lewis, a senior who will be attending Hamilton College, has more favorable views of the new format: “I like that we won’t have to sit in the weight room for four hours. I won’t miss the old format.”
In regards to Regents exams, Ryan Chou, our Business and Finance editor, gives his take: “I believe that cancelling Regents exams was necessary this year. Different teachers work at different paces in different ways, and if we continued with Regents exams in June, more people would have failed or performed poorly on the exam than usual because of the effect on teaching coronavirus has had.” Indeed, in these times, it is best to be as forgiving as possible to one another, as the circumstances are particularly extenuating.
Danielle Guo, an eighth grader at Transit Middle School who is enrolled in Regents Algebra and Earth Science, says, “I don’t care that Regents exams are cancelled … Well, I do care. It’s two fewer final exams for me to take.”
Looking Ahead
At the end of the day, tough times call for tough measures. Although the solutions to AP and Regents exams are certainly not perfect, no solution would have been. At this point, all we can do is have a positive attitude (and possibly study, if the quarantine hasn’t sapped your motivation to do work like it has for me).
