What’s New
Slide 1 — What’s New?
Hello and welcome.
Thank you for joining this session of the AP Coordinator Tutorial for 2015-2016.
These tutorials provide assistance to both new and experienced Coordinators.
If you are a new Coordinator: First of all, welcome aboard. These tutorials provide an outline
of your new role and responsibilities.
For experienced Coordinators, these tutorials provide the same outline, and they also feature
annual updates as well as some advanced ideas to improve efficiency and accuracy.
Thank you again for joining us. Let’s get started.
Slide 2 — 2016 AP Exam Fees
There is no fee required for school participation.
The exam fee for the U.S., U.S. Territories, and Canada is now $92 per exam.
This reflects an increase of $1 per exam.
The international exam fee has also changed and is now $122 per exam.
This is also an increase of $1 per exam.
The $15 fee for unused exams remains the same as last year.
And the per-exam rebate that schools retain remains $9.
Slide 3 — Alternate Exams for Late Testing
Fees for certain types of late-testing did not change.
They remain at $45 per exam.
Slide 4 — Late Fees
Fees for Late Orders, Late Exam Returns, and Late Payments remained the same as well.
Slide 5 — Reports and Reporting Services for Students
Fees for Reports and Reporting Services for Students did not change.
They all remain the same as last year.
Slide 6 — Fee Reductions
The College Board provides a fee reduction of $30 per exam for students with financial
need.
Schools do not keep the $9 per exam rebate for these students.
This results in a cost of $53 per exam.
Many states use federal and/or state funds to supplement the College Board fee reduction.
Information on this will be posted on The College Board website when available.
Slide 7 — Fee Reductions
The College Board has different eligibility criteria for AP Exam fee reductions.
This depends on participation in the Community Eligibility Provision.
CEP is a program for schools and districts with high percentages of low-income children.
It provides free breakfast and lunch to all students.
More specific information is found on The College Board website and in the AP
Coordinator’s Manual.
Slide 8 — Free Practice Exams for 16 Subjects
Practice exams in 16 AP subjects are available to AP teachers.
They are available through the AP Course Audit website.
These are complete versions of the AP Exam.
They also include a multiple-choice answer key, free-response scoring guidelines, and
scoring worksheet.
The practice exams are for in-class use only.
Teachers must keep them in a secure location and may not assign them as homework.
The exams must be collected back from students after administering them in class.
And practice exam content may not be posted on the web.
Slide 9 — Free Practice Exams for 16 Subjects
This is a list of the 16 practice exams that are available.
Slide 10 — Online Scores for AP Students
AP scores are available online for students in July.
Students must have a College Board account to access their scores.
Students should create their account ahead of time.
Students should use the same email address provided on the AP Answer Sheet.
Students should also provide their AP number or Student ID number.
Enter information on the answer sheets carefully and consistently.
Slide 11 — AP Course and Exam Redesign: Major Themes
The AP redesign brings more clarity and focus to AP courses by reducing breadth and
enabling deeper understanding.
In other words, a smaller number of topics in greater depth.
The revised courses and exams also create more clarity.
This is done through curriculum frameworks and what students should be able to do.
Specific learning objectives are also addressed.
Slide 12 — Current Redesigned Courses and Exams
This year, the AP Art History and AP European History courses have changes.
More specific information about these courses can be found at apcentral.collegeboard.org.
Slide 13 — Current Course and Exam Changes
Also, Computer Science A has changes starting in 2016.
The multiple-choice section will now be 90 minutes long. This is an increase of 15 minutes
from last year.
The free-response section will now by 75 minutes long. This is a decrease of 15 minutes
from last year.
The total standard time for the exam remains at three hours.
There are some adjustments in U.S. History as well.
The students’ short-answer booklets will be returned in the U.S. History Short Answer
Booklet Return Envelopes. For European History, there are no envelopes for short-answer
booklets. This only applies to U.S. History.
Slide 14 — Upcoming Course and Exam Changes
In 2016-17, changes to the AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC and AP World History courses
and exams are scheduled to launch.
More information about these courses is available at advancesinap.collegeboard.org.
Slide 15 — AP Computer Science Principles
AP Computer Science Principles is a new course. It will begin in the fall of 2016.
This course will be offered in addition to AP Computer Science A. It does not replace AP
Computer Science A.
AP Comp Sci Principles addresses the challenge of making computer coursework more
engaging and accessible for all students.
The hope is to better prepare a pipeline of STEM majors.
The assessment has two parts: the first is a written multiple-choice exam, and the second
are two performance tasks administered by the teacher. During these tasks, students will
submit digital artifacts.
Professional development will be available in the summer of 2016.
Slide 16 — AP Capstone
AP Capstone is built on the foundation of a new two-year high school course sequence.
It begins with a year of AP Seminar and concludes with a year of AP Research.
It is designed to complement and enhance the in-depth, discipline-specific study provided
through other AP courses.
AP Capstone was developed as a response to feedback from College Board Higher
Education membership.
Schools must apply to participate in the AP Capstone program.
For more information, go to collegeboard.org/apcapstone.
Slide 17 — Service Enhancements
For Music Theory, starting in 2016, schools will no longer have the option of burning CDs.
Instead, schools that record digitally will now upload the responses through a new web
submission site.
Schools who use tape recorders may still utilize that option.
Please see the website listed on this page for more specific information.
For Music Theory, and also for French, German, Italian, and Spanish Language Exams,
schools are now permitted to use handheld digital recorders.
The recorders must be school-owned and the recorders must meet particular specifications,
including the ability to record as an MP3 file.
A full list of specifications is available online.
Slide 18 — Reminders
Here are a few important reminders:
The first is regarding mandatory AP Exam seating charts.
As of last year, all schools must complete a seating chart for every exam.
The seating charts must be retained at the school for at least six months, though some
states may have laws requiring that they be kept for a longer period of time.
To complete the seating chart, schools may use either student names or the 11-digit exam
booklet serial number.
The second reminder is regarding Incident Reports for extra paper.
As of last year, an Incident Report form must be completed for any students using extra
paper during the exam.
Only one form is required if a school has multiple students using extra paper for the same
exam.
Slide 19 — Reminders
And one final reminder is regarding the reading period for eight exams.
Those exams are: Biology, English Language, European History, Macro, Micro, U.S. History,
and World History.
All of these exams have a 10- or 15-minute reading period in the free-response section of
the exam.
This time is part of the overall Section II timing and must be given to students.
Students are encouraged to use this time to organize their responses.
However, students are permitted to begin writing before the reading period is over.
Slide 20 — End of “What’s New?”
Thank you for viewing this session of the AP Coordinator’s Tutorial.
For more information about the AP Program and AP Coordinators, please visit the other
tutorial sessions.
As an AP Coordinator, please make it your goal to provide a top-notch testing environment
for your students. Strive to give your students the best opportunity to maximize their
academic abilities.
Know that the work you do behind the scenes does make a positive difference.
Thank you so much for your support, and best of luck to you this school year!