What AP Tests Measure

Annual exams indicate mastery of curriculum by college standards

By Donald Chan, News Editor

Many chastise the Advanced Placement (AP) Program for measuring one\’s test-taking skills or for giving too much weight to a single three-hour exam, but its assessments are very similar to those of colleges and therefore have the same flaws. To solely criticize the AP Exams is to ignore the system of college evaluations from which the tests stem.

AP Exams are similar to college finals in measuring mastery of curriculum. Unlike high school classes, college courses only have a few tests throughout the year, and the final exam possesses a considerable amount of weight in determining one\’s grade for the semester.

I concede that someone\’s test scores do not adequately indicate how much he or she has learned. For example, many students cram the night before a big exam and forget everything after it. Others have test-taking anxiety and cannot demonstrate their knowledge on evaluations.

It is impossible to measure everyone\’s knowledge of the material fairly using a single evaluation or assignment, including projects, written tests, and practical exams. Any type of assessment plays to  a particular set of strengths, such as the process of elimination required on multiple-choice tests, critical thinking, and essay-writing, skills that some possess and others lack. One cannot solely blame the AP Exams for favoring those with superior test-taking skills, but instead must realize that all types of assessments and assignments are advantageous to those with a specific trait.

While AP Exams are deemed unfair, they validly determine the colleges\’ definition of knowledge of material as a student\’s performance on a single, cumulative test.