The 2019-2020 school year will bring nationwide changes to Advanced Placement test registration deadlines – moving the current deadlines forward for the May tests.
Students enrolled in first-semester or year-long AP courses must register for AP testing in October; while students in second-semester AP classes must register in February. The new February deadline will not affect NCHS students since the school already requires students to be registered by that time.
This school year, the registration window for all courses is open from January 1, 2019 t0 Friday, February 22, 2019.
The College Board is implementing the registration deadline changes in an attempt to influence students to start studying for the tests earlier. The idea is that if students are registered for testing earlier they will also begin preparing for the test earlier.
The College Board piloted the new deadlines last year with 500 schools and stated that overall those schools saw an increase in AP scores as well as increased numbers of students taking AP exams.
Despite the new registration deadline reportedly increasing test scores, it may present a problem for Normal Community High School students. NCHS, unlike other schools, does not require it’s students enrolled in AP courses to take the AP test.
“Our fear is that many students do not know that early if they want to take the exam or not,” Mrs. Kristina Chase, Community’s AP Exam Coordinator, said. “So it will cause those students to pay hefty late fees if they decide late.”
In addition to the new registration deadlines, The College Board will also be adding new AP preparation materials and resources to their website for student and teachers to use.
The College Board will be adding online question banks, unit guides, personal progress checks, and a performance dashboard. These new features will allow students to prepare for AP tests using materials that are more closely related to the tests themselves and are designed by the test makers.
More detailed information on these changes and additions will be released in the spring.