A version of this article was originally published in Kaleidoscope‘s April 2025 print edition. It is being published as a separate online article now for easy access.
For decades, high school students in Advanced Placement courses have demonstrated their proficiency and knowledge in a variety of subjects through rigorous standardized AP exams. While such exams remain a critical benchmark for students across the globe, an increase in unauthorized early access to physical copies of testing booklets, along with increased incorporation of technology into education, have spurred College Board, the testing nonprofit that administers AP exams and the SAT, to rework the test administration process. In 2025, AP exams will transition from the traditional paper format to a digital or hybridized medium. This decision has garnered varied responses and opinions from teachers preparing their students for these exams.
Teachers of AP humanities courses at Ward Melville, which typically have exams that require students to read lengthy excerpts and answer essay-style questions, generally expressed discontent at the complete digitization of their examinations. “Just because you can doesn’t necessarily mean that you should,” said AP English Language and Composition teacher Ms. DiIorio. In AP English courses, students must provide long-answer responses to prompts that require complex analysis of a variety of speeches, essays, letters or documents. “I don’t believe all tests are created equal, and different subjects require different skill sets that are not always transferable digitally,” added Ms. DiIorio.
AP United States History teacher Ms. Bilek voiced similar concerns. “The test requires so much writing and analysis that a digital test may be challenging for students who aren’t as comfortable typing their essays. Personally, I don’t like the fact that it’s not a paper test because students lose the ability to physically annotate documents, which is a big part of tackling sections like the DBQ [Document-Based Question].”
On the other hand, College Board’s decision to computerize AP exams is less disputed by teachers of STEM subjects. With some exceptions, these subjects will employ a hybrid test model with online multiple choice and free response questions and a paper free response answer booklet. “Students will need at least a few opportunities to have the online questions and get used to going back and forth from a piece of paper to a computer screen, but I don’t think it’s going to have a huge impact,” said AP Physics 1 teacher Mr. McGunnigle.
AP Statistics and AP Calculus AB teacher Ms. Re agrees. “The shift is not really that different for math. The fact that they’re still going to let you do all your free responses on paper is good, but I’m interested to see how the hybrid format will affect the presentation of questions they’ve asked in the past. In general, as long as teachers are having students practice online questions, whether it’s through homework or in class or through assessments, you will all be fine,” she stated. The online platform also provides a limited number of math courses with the Desmos graphing calculator, which has already been integrated into other College Board-administered exams such as the SAT. “I think Calculus will be much better because of Desmos,” said Re. “I’m disappointed that they don’t have it for Statistics, but I think they have a little bit more they need to work through with Desmos for that to be ready for us.”
Meanwhile, for courses such as AP Computer Science and AP Psychology, the complete migration to an online setup has simplified the process of preparing students for their tests. “We won’t practice handwriting code anymore, which is something that we literally only had to do for the AP exams,” said AP Computer Science A teacher Mr. Smit. “I think the shift will make it easier for computer science students to organize their code, especially when it comes to reorganizing things after they’ve already started writing. It’s about time they’re making this change.”
Similarly, AP Psychology teacher Mr. Wilson suggested that this development is “a natural evolution.” “It’s going to be second nature,” said Mr. Wilson, who believes that distractions and fatigue that come from the digital test will “mirror that of your cell phone use.” He and many other teachers have already relocated course materials like assignments and tests to online applications.
A major motivating factor in pushing the exams online was the security issues College Board encountered in recent years. In summer 2024, College Board Senior Vice President Trevor Packer released a statement saying, “Unfortunately, this year, we saw a rise in bad actors compromising AP Exam content for financial gain.” However, this change does not guarantee that the issue will be resolved. Concerns remain about the vulnerability of digital platforms to potential breaches, and teachers worry that new methods of cheating may emerge as technology continues to evolve. “They have to be two steps ahead of the students, because students are always going to try stuff. As long as you’re two steps ahead, you’re going to block their attempts before they go down the road and academic integrity gets compromised,” Mr. Wilson said.
Despite the uncertain alterations to the AP examination process, Ms. Bilek acknowledges that “because it’s the first year, these changes seem like a big hurdle or challenge. However, students always rise to the occasion and they always handle new challenges really well. They’ll be successful, regardless of the potential struggles.”
