Once again, I was a reader for the Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition Exam. Let me make a few additional observations in addition to those I have made on previous readings. The best way to see previous comments is to click on the Entrance Exams menu choice above or to the side.

I have pled with students to write legibly. That is even more important now since no one reads actual test booklets. Instead, the booklets are scanned, so readers are reading a scanned copy on a computer monitor or laptop screen. This makes deciphering handwriting even more difficult. We were told that the online tests’ average score was higher than the written tests’ average score. I suspect much of that had to do with reading handwriting. If the handwriting is hard to read, the reader tends to be reading word by word, and that makes the overall scope or flow of the essay harder to keep track of.

Here are suggestions:

1. If you do not write legibly—and you know who you are—take the online test if at all possible.

2. Use black ink. While blue ink is usually OK, some scanned booklets were faint and harder to read. That probably meant the writer was using a lighter blue ink. Also, if your ink bleeds through the page, only write on one side of the page.

The way the test questions have been presented, you are given very specific guidelines. The guidelines come down to one word—Evidence!

Make your observations and support them with specific evidence. Take advantage of the online examples posted on AP Central. They show you what each type of essay, from 1 to 6, looks like. Consider those as models. If you can quote or paraphrase from the work or from a literary criticism, that is even better.

I would exhort students taking the test and teachers supervising them that they go over the scoring guides posted on AP Central so they have an idea of what the AP readers are looking for. They have specific examples of what works and what does not work. Also there will be sample essays that have been scored. Samples from this year’s tests will be available some time in July for teachers, and some time in August for students.

When I taught AP, I always assigned two term papers over the course of the year. That gave students a chance to really get into a particular work. That accomplished two things: (1) Students had a chance to use their critical reading and writing skills just as they would on the AP test, and (2) Students had a chance to go into more depth. If they could use one of the works they analyzed on the AP test, that gave them a real advantage.

You never know. One year I felt especially fortunate. The last work we read before the AP test in May that year was Shakespeare’s As You Like It. The open question that year was to write about the difference between country life and city life in a work. Wow! That kind of break does not usually happen, but going over term papers and outlines and character lists of works you read can really help.

Speaking of term papers, the AP reading normally has a session with a representative or representatives of the College Board speak. This year the representatives noted two things in particular.

1. Because of the success colleges have had with the new Seminar and Research AP tests, the Board is looking into the possibility of eliminating one or two of the essay questions on the AP English tests and replacing it or them with a research project similar to what the Seminar and Research AP programs do. This is by no means a done deal, but they are looking into the possibility with both English AP tests, Language as well as Literature. If they do, they will have to account for both plagiarism and AI. AI is becoming a challenge in the classroom as well as for the College Board.

2. It is very likely that some time in the not too distant future, the English AP tests will be entirely online. Again, there are some technical issues that have to be accounted for, viz., plagiarism and AI as we have seen as well as local Internet accessibility and security for those taking an online test. Even online test scorers sometimes had local problems reading or accessing tests they were supposed to score.

There is one other thing worth mentioning. Some students do not take the test because the schools they are applying to or that have accepted them do not give class credit for AP scores. Keep in mind that the principle behind the test is not school credit, though many schools give it, but placing students in more advanced classes than the usual freshman class. While I ended up majoring in English and eventually becoming an English teacher, I took the AP math test and got a good enough score that I could take the second year math class. I still had to take a math class, but I was placed in a more advanced class. After all, that is what the term advanced placement means.

If your college actually gives you credit for an AP score, that is a bonus, but that was not the original intent. Having said that, I have had students whose schools do give credit, and sometimes they can graduate early. That means they and/or their parents save money. It can also mean that they can begin grad school or a career track sooner. Even those who do not graduate early can take more specialized or higher level courses which can help them in getting into grad school or help them more in their chosen profession. (By grad school, I mean all kinds of schools—law, business, medicine, architecture, seminary, etc.—not just arts and sciences.)

Until recently, students could sign up for AP tests through March of the year they were taking the tests. Now they have to sign up by a date in November of the school year they will taking the test. The College Board reported to us that this has actually increased the number of students signing up for advanced classes who take the test. The biggest change has been with black females. Before the change, 58% of black female students who signed up ended up taking the English Lit AP test. Since then, 77% have. For the entire student population the change has been 9% more who have signed up take the test. One can cynically say that, yes, the College Board is taking in more registration fees, but the figures also show that students in AP are more committed to sticking with the program with the earlier registration.