Panic, Acceptance, and Remedy: After AP Exams Are "Canceled"
China News Weekly reporter/Xu Pengyuan
Published in the 1045th issue of "China News Weekly" on May 30, 2022
"I saw a saying on the Internet that the AP exam is compared to the college entrance examination. In fact, it is not that serious. The review of American undergraduates is Holistic Review (comprehensive evaluation), and AP scores are only one of many dimensions." The canceled AP exam, Yang Yun, a consultant studying abroad for ten years, provided an explanation to China News Weekly.
On May 6, the College Board (CB) and Prometric, the AP test partner, issued a joint announcement, announcing that due to the impact of the epidemic and corresponding prevention and control measures, some test centers in China could not take the test on May 5. AP exams are held on schedule every month, and there are no make-up, internet-based exam options, and no homework-based predictive assessments or scores.
The AP exam website shows that except for the normal exams in Guangzhou, Changsha, Nanjing, Qingdao, Hangzhou, Ningbo and other cities, Beijing, Shanghai, Changchun, Harbin, Nanchang, Suzhou, Zhengzhou and other test centers are all closed.
As soon as the news came out, it immediately aroused great attention, and some media even said that "the efforts of the top students in China's international education system to move towards the first-tier overseas universities for several years have been in vain, and the situation is almost unsolvable."
Some candidates and parents are also in anxiety. The parents of senior two students in the International Department of a middle school in Beijing issued an open letter on social media, expressing that they are anxious at the moment, and the suspension of the test will have a great negative impact on their children's lives.
"At the beginning, parents will have a great reaction, and children will be more excited. After all, things that have been preparing for the exam for a year will not be able to take the test." In contact with many families, Yang Yun also felt obvious emotional fluctuations: " But now everyone has accepted it."
minimize losses
The full name of AP is Advanced Placement, which is the American Advanced Placement Course. It originated from the AP project launched by the Ford Foundation in 1951, and has been managed by the CB (American College Board) since 1955. It is suitable for high school students who plan to apply for American undergraduates globally.
Outside the United States, AP scores are recognized by admissions in more than 60 countries around the world, including G5 schools such as Oxford and Cambridge.
In 2021 alone, more than 84,000 candidates around the world will take more than 176,000 AP exams.
Unlike Chinese universities, which in most cases use the college entrance examination scores as the only admission criteria, the admission of freshmen to foreign universities usually examines multiple conditions.
Taking the United States as an example, data such as school grades, language test scores, and academic test scores (such as SAT, ACT) are required, as well as soft qualifications such as club activities, public welfare activities, professional competitions, internships, and scientific research.
As a part of the former, AP scores, although they cannot play a decisive role, obviously constitute an effective bonus item in competitiveness.
Therefore, most students usually choose at least 4 of the 38 courses in the 7 categories of AP according to the university major they are preparing to apply for.
Generally, in May of the first semester of senior high school and May of the second semester of senior two, candidates will take two exams, and then apply to the target university in the first semester of senior three.
At the same time, senior year students can still continue to take the exam, and the results obtained can be deducted from the corresponding course credits of the university.
AP has been officially introduced in mainland China since 2007. In just over ten years, 483 schools have offered related courses.
At the same time, according to Yang Yun, before the global epidemic, Chinese students' intention to study abroad from high school to master's degree increased year by year. After the epidemic, there was a return in high school, but the undergraduate degree remained stable.
Therefore, it is self-evident that AP has radiated the proportion of the number of people in the Chinese study abroad group and its importance.
High school sophomores are most affected by the cancellation of AP exams.
According to the original progress, they will enter the application stage after taking this year's exam. Losing this bargaining chip will undoubtedly greatly increase the difficulty and risk factor.
"In particular, there is a situation where many students who apply for prestigious schools are not satisfied with the courses provided by the school, and will take a few additional courses in the training institution, which cannot be seen on the school's transcript, and can only be reflected by taking the big exam. Speaking of influence, Yang Yun specifically pointed out that in addition to the obvious general situation, there are actually many specific and subtle differences: "There is also a situation, for the top international schools in China, the universities in the United States all have certain differences. Recognized, some particularly ordinary schools lack this kind of reputation. AP exams could have improved the gold content of their course backgrounds, and after the cancellation, the gold content of students’ transcripts in these schools will drop.”
In addition to the application, the cancellation of the test will also increase the cost of studying abroad in the future.
Since AP scores can be deducted from college credits, some students will spend two or three years studying 10 to 12 courses in domestic high schools, so that they may graduate a year early after entering college. No matter the cost or time, they can gain considerable flexibility. space.
This isn't the first time AP has made major adjustments.
In the past two years, AP exams have been unable to be conducted normally around the world due to the epidemic. CB had to choose online instead of offline. However, with the lifting of epidemic prevention in many countries and regions, this year's exams have returned to the traditional paper-and-pencil mode. , no longer offering online opportunities.
In the announcement, CB also specifically stated that because it has been paying close attention to the epidemic prevention and control situation in Shanghai and other Chinese cities and the challenges facing the exam, it has also discussed various contingency plans, including postponement, but due to changes in the epidemic situation and the scale of the impact And many uncertainties, only a partial cancellation decision can be made regrettably.
The Tianjin exam room was once reopened on May 9, but was closed again on the 17th.
The only remedy currently given by CB is that they will provide students who cannot submit AP scores for this year with letters of proof of local exam cancellations, and are communicating with international colleges and universities, calling on the latter to provide as much flexibility as possible for affected students .
Regarding the follow-up in these aspects, "China News Weekly" sent an email to CB to inquire about the situation, but as of press time, no reply has been received.
High schools in China are also taking active actions to help students minimize losses as much as possible.
In a self-help plan of WLSA Shanghai (Fudan) School obtained by "China News Weekly", the school will give estimated grades for British universities based on students' exam subjects in the next school year; for American universities, the school will cooperate with top American universities. In high school, an estimated score is given based on a comprehensive assessment of students' in-school grades, final or mock exams.
At the same time, these two assessment methods will be specifically explained in the school profile in the application for the coming year to increase their recognition.
"Some parents also choose to study undergraduates in Chinese-foreign cooperative universities because they feel that the epidemic situation abroad is not particularly stable, such as New York University in Shanghai, Duke Kunshan University, and the University of Nottingham Ningbo China." Yang Yun said, although this is a very small number However, it is indeed a new phenomenon in the study abroad industry: "(Because) it is impossible for them to return to the domestic education system to take the college entrance examination, so they can only go down this road."
The main competitiveness of East Asian students lies in taking exams
Earlier than AP exams, IB and A-Level also made the decision to cancel the exam in some parts of China: On April 12, IBO announced the cancellation of the IB exam in East China (Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Anhui provinces) in May; Also in April, the Cambridge Examinations Bureau announced that the Shanghai A-Level summer exam was cancelled, and then on May 4, the Beijing A-Level summer exam was also cancelled.
IB is a high school course offered by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) for students around the world. It is also a university preparatory course. It includes 48 courses in 6 categories and a two-year schooling period. It is recognized by 75 countries around the world and can be used as the basis for applying for university admissions; A-Level is It is an advanced level course for the British General Secondary Education Certificate Examination and a university entrance examination course for British students. There are 78 courses in 6 categories. It is used by almost all English-taught universities as the admission standard for new students.
IB and A-Level are different from AP in terms of single subject difficulty, comprehensive difficulty, and English requirements.
IB aims to cultivate comprehensive ability, and the standards in all aspects are relatively higher; A-level is the lowest in terms of comprehensive difficulty, and it is easier to obtain high scores.
On a more practical level, Yang Yun also made a specific explanation for "China News Weekly": "IB is a complete system, primary school is PYP, junior high school is MYP, high school is IBDP. The International Baccalaureate Organization is a school for a school. There are many considerations for becoming an IB school, from the teachers to the facilities and the possible student groups to reach the level. Therefore, the best international schools are generally IB schools, and families with advanced educational concepts will bear the brunt of the choice. IB. Children who transfer to international schools midway through, if they are well prepared in English and have strong ability, they may challenge IB, otherwise they will consider AP or A-Level.”
In addition to the above differences, the IB and A-Levels also have a different impact on candidates than AP in terms of exam cancellations.
As early as the year before last year's global cancellation, the two adopted an evaluation method, using daily performance, mock exams, etc. as the review content. The estimated scores have the same effect as the big test scores. In 2020, the IB scores also increased significantly. - This also intensifies competition from another angle.
In general, the IB and A-Level changes have caused much less loss to candidates than AP, and even “in the eyes of the students themselves, it is beneficial and harmless, because their grades have basically been finalized, and the big test is just a foot in the door. After the kick was removed, they went straight into a relaxed state."
Wei Siliang, a teacher at an IB school in Nanjing, told China News Weekly.
"People with good academic performance will be very comfortable, and poor students will lie flat. Only students with average grades may feel that it is a pity, and he can't make a last-ditch effort." Wei Siliang felt that although the cancellation of the big test would basically not It has a substantial impact on students' further education, but as a teacher, he always regards repeated practice and moderate tension before the exam as a necessary learning state.
And in his view, the main competitiveness of East Asian students lies in taking exams.
"Actually, whether we are an international school or a domestic school, the common characteristics of students are the same, that is, they have strong adaptability to systematic education, but they are not particularly strong to the flexible and soft quality education of the West. Ability. Including western quality education is the accumulation and transformation of social resources. Our middle class is still too immature, and it is difficult to convert social capital into children's cultural capital. Therefore, if the (big test) has not been carried out, it will be difficult for us in the long run. The actual data also partially supports this view. By comparing the application results in recent years, Wei Siliang found that at least in the schools where he taught, the situation did decline slightly in 2020.
"Of course, there may be many reasons, such as international relations, such as the current overpopulation of students studying abroad." Wei Siliang said.
The making of bubbles and real anxiety
In fact, the huge fluctuations caused by the three major exams for studying abroad are to a certain extent related to the lack of standardization of China's studying abroad industry at this stage.
In her contact with parents, Yang Yun found that some people actually have misunderstandings about AP exams, especially some training institutions instill many incorrect concepts to parents in order to sell courses, "They will brainwash you, saying that AP courses have how important".
Wei Siliang also said: "Actually, the school has always emphasized that as long as you do a good job in the school, you can complete a relatively good study, but without parents listening, all parents are looking for an intermediary outside. The design of the intermediary is to find the highest ranking student. Go to school, whatever major is optional, and the students will talk about it themselves in the end, the major they study has nothing to do with their own interests, and they can’t continue to learn.”
This is the manufacture of a foam.
The party with better information has set up a harsh jungle world and a well-defined internal hierarchy through professional power, and enmeshed passive followers into a competitive game that is constantly expanding and escalating in difficulty. It's not about education, it's just a business.
In 2014, Zhang Yunkui, the vice president of Beijing Royal School, criticized directly: "Some schools and institutions regard AP as an exam and teach in the form of training, completely losing the University Council's support for AP courses. 'student-centred' teaching requirements, as well as 'inquiry-based teaching' academic goals."
The formation of the bubble is also inseparable from the rising anxiety of the middle class.
This anxiety itself is based on an unequal order, an unstable reality and an uncertain future. The trend of differentiation and isolation caused by the epidemic on a global scale has undoubtedly strengthened its pessimism and pessimism about its own situation. alert.
The sudden twists and turns in educational expectations happened to be surrounded by a series of uneasy and panic shadows, so "birth at the right time" became another weight to break the balance, a long-awaited emotional burst. .
(At the request of the interviewee, Yang Yun and Wei Siliang are both pseudonyms)
"China News Weekly" 2022 Issue 19
Statement: The publication of "China News Weekly" manuscripts is authorized in writing