As the second week of AP testing came to an end, the administration of the AP Psychology exam was disrupted by technical issues with the digital testing app, Bluebook. While the exam worked for some students at Townsend Harris, most students were unable to log into the testing application at the assigned start time. For those students, the test was postponed until a later date.
Initially scheduled to start at 12:00 pm, the test was delayed for over an hour as administrators attempted to sort through the technical issues. “Ms. Fee came into the room at around 12:30, and explained that they were on call with the College Board and that this problem was happening throughout NYC,” said senior Loise Arcega. Students were told that if the issues were not resolved by 1:00, they would be dismissed from the testing site.
The unexpected disruption was a shock for both students and teachers, who were not fully aware of what was going on.
AP Psychology teacher Micheal Quach said, “We were all surprised about the delay since I don’t think there has been any issue as widespread as this throughout the examination season so far.”
“The delay was a bit stressful because we weren’t aware of what would happen if we couldn’t take the test,” said junior Mariam Ahmed.
Ultimately, students who were still experiencing technical difficulties were dismissed from the testing site at 1:00 pm. College Board, in response to the disruption, has offered students who were unable to take the test the opportunity for a test retake at no cost during the late testing week. Schools were given the flexibility to choose the specific testing dates.
Students have shared mixed feelings regarding how the delay has affected their readiness for the exam. While some felt it hindered their ability to perform well, others were grateful for the extra time it provided to study.
“I feel like [the delay] made it more stressful in a way because I have other classes to study for and other tests and finals that it also interfered with,” said junior Vicky Chen. “Now that it got pushed back, I feel like I just lost the momentum.”
Senior Li Li said, “I think the delay helped me feel more prepared for the test because it [gave] me more time to study and memorize all the materials.”
For the small number of students who were not experiencing technical difficulties, they were brought to a different room to administer the test.
Senior Abigail Kronenberg, one of the students who remained to take the test, said she would have preferred a choice to not take the test even if her computer was working. “Everyone else got to go home and select which day they wanted to take the test that worked best for them,” she said. “The delays definitely impacted my preparedness because originally, at 12:00, my mind was clear. I was ready to take the test. But as time went on, I got tired and started talking to my friends and hanging out. At that point I was not prepared or in the right headspace.”
The College Board said in a published statement that “most students have had a successful testing experience, with more than 5 million exams being successfully submitted thus far.” However, the technical issues that arose during the exam sparked debate regarding the transition of AP exams to the new digital format this year.
“My perception of digital testing definitely changed from this experience because it made me realize just how unreliable it is compared to paper,” said Abigail. “Although it’s more efficient for the College Board to have it online and get the results all in one place and platform, the room for error that it has might not be worth it in the end.”
Mr. Quach said, “I personally prefer the old exam format compared to the new digital version, but I do believe that digital exams can be used to optimize things about testing such as resources, timing, and grading. However, more precautions and contingency plans need to be put in place by the companies involved to make sure issues like this do not happen in the future.”
“Despite this, I’m grateful for our school’s administration and testing coordinators for quickly adjusting and finding solutions to this situation,” he said. “All our students have been working hard to prepare for this exam. This past year has proven how resilient and determined they are; I’m proud of the ways in which the students have remained diligent and supported each other throughout this endeavor.”
