Under the Cloak of Invisibility: The Fight for Accommodations for AP Exams
Imagine this scenario:
You are a student in a school and groups are being assigned for a in-class assignment. You are nervous, you want to be in the “right” group, with people who are cool but give you the best chance to succeed.
Your heart rate picks up when he/she/they calls out names. He/She/They call out everyone’s name and says, “ok get to work’ and everyone scrambles. You realize, your name has not been called. A pit forms in your stomach as you realize your teacher doesn’t notice. You nervously walk up and tell your teacher. He/She/They is/are apologetic and quickly assigns you to a group after the fact. Whew… crisis averted. No big deal.
Now imagine this happens again throughout the year. Lets say for every 4 times a group is formed you are left out 1 out of 4 times. Every single time, you are the only one left out.
This one teacher isn’t the only person in your academic life or even non-academic life who does this, it happens repeatedly. It happens frequently in every space you occupy. People are apologetic at times or at other times they tell you to, “stop making a big deal” and/or “it isn’t personal.” You are nervous about speaking up but tired of being excluded.
You feel you always have to speak out even if you don’t want but feel you must speak out to be successful. You are tired of being excluded. You just want to be included from the start. You want to be seen and accounted for from the beginning.
That it is like to be a student who needs accommodations. I know this, because I’ve lived this growing up as student who needed accommodations.
Right now, we see a trend across America which is alarming but not surprising to students with accommodation. Online learning plans and online testing is announced due to Coronavirus (Covid-19) without students with accommodations in mind. Accommodations are dealt with after the fact, if at all. Students with accommodations are an afterthought, if they are even a thought at all.
ONLINE AP EXAMS AND THE ERASURE OF STUDENTS OF ACCOMMODATIONS
Out of all the test providers the College Board has been the most egregious in their lack of regard for test takers with accommodations for the reformatted AP online exam.
The College Board seems to have made time to convince colleges and universities to accept their AP scores, release press releases, design slide decks and organize webinars to alleviate the concerns of teachers/parents, and respond to the press about concerns. But they have yet to update their accommodation website as of today (April 13th) to allow students with accommodations to know how to submit request for the new exam, what to expect for the new exams, the best accommodations for this format, or how to get accommodation for prep and/or practice.
The issues for students with accommodations are both troubling and yet familiar. It is clear that College Board does not feel required to develop specific and meaningful plans that include students with accommodations in regards to their online AP exam. They feel entitled to launch these online initiatives and tell students with accommodations they will sort out their issue(s) at a separate, unknown, time frame.
As always, students with accommodations are left advocate on their own behalf while their peers have their needs provided and questions answered for at the start. Students with accommodations don’t appear to be a priority or even a thought much less an afterthought
When I’ve pressed AP’s representative, Trevor Packer, Senior Vice President of Advanced Placement and Instruction at College Board for answers about the online AP exam and accommodations via Twitter, I’ve received only one short response which assured me that accommodations would be provided “per usual.” When I’ve pressed for additional details, such as what does that mean or what will accommodations look like my questions were ignored or went unanswered.
What I have experience is Mr. Packer’s and College’s Board’s willingness to answer many questions in detail via Twitter except inconvenient questions regarding accommodations.
In fact, I was told that when College Board hosted a question and answer webinar for teachers and administrators connected to AP, they prepared a slide deck of commonly asked questions which was designed to include helpful information. What I learned from others on that webinar was that College Board did not even bother to include a slide about accommodations. A teacher had to ask for the information about accommodations.
Had the teacher not asked questions to College Board about accommodations and had that information not been leaked to the public, the general public would not have had ANY information for accommodations for the new online AP exam.
The information supplied to that teacher was incomplete. When pressed on that webinar College Board about ALL accommodations, College Board allegedly said extended time would be allowed but provided no detail on what that meant, what that would look like, and/or how that would be handled.
The AP Exam provides the following accommodations for AP Exams (additional ones may be provided but these are the standard accommodation): Braille format, extended time, large-type exams, assistive technology-compatible (ATC) formats exams, large-block answer sheets, permission to use a braille device, computer, or magnifying device, a reader to dictate questions, a writer to record responses, a written copy of oral instructions.
No information has been supplied on any other accommodations at this time. From what I have learned, AP has only provided information informally about 1 out of their 9 standard accommodations and has yet to supply any details about the remaining 8 accommodations they regularly provide.
Extended time can include double time or time and a half. It wasn’t even clear what they meant by extended time when it was discussed and whether students would be able to practice with this accommodation.
After digging through multiple sites, I found ONE statement on an FAQ page about the reformatted online AP exam and accommodations, “Students will be able to take online AP Exams with College Board–approved accommodations such as extended time. Details will be available soon.”
In addition, there is no information about paper/pencil accommodation request. This is a common accommodation provided for online exams for those individuals whose disability precludes them from taking an online exam. There is no mention by College Board if this accommodation will be granted or what documentation will be needed to request this accommodation due to the new format.
I called to see if I could get information but was put on hold for 45 minutes then hung up on. I called back again and had a similar experience. There is no way to get this information even if you tried as of April 13th. I tagged multiple parties at College Board but College Board and Trevor Packer are non-responsive on Twitter. College Board hangs up, or did for me, when you call.
It is now April 13th as I write this, AP announced their exams on March 20th, AP exams start on May 11th. The accommodation website still has no information about how the new formatted online exam will impact accommodations and what students should do. The (Coronavirus) Covid-19 resource webpage has no information as well. There is no detail on how students who need accommodation for prep or practice can request those accommodations.
IT HAS BEEN 25 DAYS SINCE THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE ONLINE AP EXAMS
WE ARE 29 DAYS OUT FROM THE FIRST EXAM
THERE IS NO INFORMATION OR SPECIFIC GUIDANCE ON HOW ACCOMMODATIONS WILL WORK AND WHAT TO EXPECT IF YOU HAVE ACCOMMODATIONS FOR THIS ONLINE EXAM.
There are no accommodations in place right now for prep/practice.
In fact, College Board, a multi-million dollar company, cannot even bother to hire transcriptionist to caption or provide ALT Text for their online videos. Even after I have repeatedly requested this simple accommodation.
April 13th, 2020: Upon my examination of College Board's Accommodation Website there was no new information about the AP exams for students with accommodations. I hit the Coronavirus update link (image below). Fair use exception for commentary
There was no information supplied on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) page about accommodations as well on April 13th, 2020. Fair use exception for commentary
Accommodations can take up to 8 weeks or more to approve and students who need documentation need information to start the process of advocacy. There is no mention of whether there is an expedited approval process for accommodations under the new format.
The documentation required usually involves coordination with a doctor and/or counselor or assigned individual at the school which submits the necessary documentation for accommodations. All of this will be difficult with coronavirus restrictions, it is even more difficult when you have no guidance. There is no guidance on what to do if you cannot get documentation during this chaotic time or how to submit if you cannot submit the documentation online.
Students need time to prepare to request accommodations and decide if they need a modification of accommodations due to the new format. Those who have not requested accommodations in the past because the format was conducive and realize they will need accommodations due to the new format, have no guidance at this time for this specific online format.
College Board has not supplied any meaningful information for accommodations for this new online test as of today.
There are no accommodations set up for prep and practice, which College Board created to level the playing field and ensure all students had what they need to prepare. There are no accommodations offered AT ALL.
Students with accommodations are on their own and will have to be their own advocate. Students with accommodations, who regularly have to fight for scraps and are an afterthought for many, seem to be erased from the Coronavirus COVID-19
It seems that College Board cannot be bothered to make students with accommodations a priority. Colleges and universities accepting this credit enable them to make this choice. Once again, students with accommodations will have to fight for their position. It’s a horrible yet familiar position to be in.