More than 500 students in San Diego must retake their AP tests

More than 500 Scripps Ranch High School students had their summer vacations disrupted Friday with news that they would have to return to school to retake Advanced Placement tests that have been declared invalid.

The College Board, the organization that oversees college admission tests, did not say that any students had cheated on the exams, but is invalidating 847 AP tests because new seating arrangements established two years ago were not followed. The move means 540 students will have to take the tests again.

Students often study for months for AP tests, which can earn them college credits by meeting the requirements for certain subjects. Each tests costs $93 and can last two or three hours. Some students take up to nine exams.

San Diego Unified School District officials said Friday that the tests would be given again for free, and eight teachers have agreed to return to school to teach refresher courses for students who want to bone up on the subjects before taking the exams.

“When I found out, I was pretty angry,” said Jonathan Lu, 17, who took four AP tests in May and recently graduated with plans to study business at USC. “It took awhile to let it sink in that I was going to have to retake all my AP tests.”

Supt. Cindy Marten and trustee Kevin Besier said they were frustrated that the College Board and Educational Testing Services, which administer the tests, took such a hard line after detecting a seating mistake.

“While I’m disappointed that the proper protocols were not followed at the site, I’m extremely disappointed the ETS is invalidating the scores, which I think is an overreaction,” said Besier, who represents a district in San Diego Unified that includes Scripps Ranch. “In my opinion, I think they should have considered a lesser penalty, such as a sanction.”

Marten said the test proctor, a teacher at the school, was experienced at overseeing AP tests but did not follow the new procedures. ETS noticed the error while examining the seating charts for the tests, she said.

Among new requirements, students taking the tests must be at 8-foot-long tables so they have space between one another, and partitions are not allowed on the tables.

At Scripps Ranch this year, many students were at 6-foot tables with partitions, which previously had been allowed.

Marten said the school will have a new proctor giving AP tests in the future, and all proctors in the district will be required to be trained in the latest testing protocols.

She also said the district’s attorney contacted ETS about the issue, but has recommended not pursuing a legal challenge because the company was within its right to require the retest and past challenges have not been successful.

The first round of new tests will be July 17-20. Students who opt not to take the tests again will be given refunds.

Among those who will be retaking a test is Kayla Daniel-Gonzales, 17, who graduated a couple of weeks ago.

“The test was maybe two or three hours, but we prepped for it all year,” she said of the AP test in psychology.

Kayla took the test May 1 and isn’t confident she’ll do as well when she takes it again. She plans to take the refresher class at school.

“Otherwise, I’ll completely bomb it,” she said. “There’s no feasible way to restudy an entire year’s worth of work on my own.”

gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Warth writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune

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