This forum is for the 2013 Mills AP testing community to voice their stories about how they are affected by the AP score cancellation. Comments that don’t follow these rules will be removed:

1) Please ONLY post if you are a Mills High School test taker, a parent of a child who took the test, a Mills AP teacher, or Mills High staff member.

2) Share how the score cancellation affects YOU personally by clicking “Leave a Reply” to this post.

3)No anonymous comments allowed. Please sign your full name under your comments. This is necessary to show the school administration and College Board that the letter has been signed off by actual students at Mills High School.

4) DO NOT cite names/experiences of other students in your comments. PLEASE only comment about your own opinions or experiences. If you know someone who has a personal anecdote or opinion to share, please send them the link to this letter, but do not “tell the story for them” as this will undermine the credibility of our case.

5) Keep your comments free from profanity and rumors. This letter is meant to keep the conversation with College Board, the Mills High administration, and SMUHSD open and bring about a fair result for Mills students. Comments with poor language or ungrounded accusations will be removed from the website.

6) We are not blaming anyone for this situation. Our main goal is to collect stories from Mills High AP test takers to build a compelling case for why College Board needs to provide us with our scores and why retaking the test is neither fair nor feasible.

7) No spamming allowed.

_____________________________________________________________

July 17, 2013

TO THE COLLEGEBOARD,

MILLS HIGH ADMINISTRATION,

SAN MATEO UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT,

AND ANY OTHER PERSONS WHOM THIS MAY CONCERN:

We, the 2013 AP test takers of Mills High School, issue this letter and the following public forum in regards to the recent news of our AP test cancellation.

According to a letter we received from Mills High School dated July 11, 2013, “the invalidation of these tests was the result of ETS’s determination that there were seating irregularities.” The letter goes on to say, “It is important to note that these scores were not invalidated as a result of student misconduct.”

As students, we enrolled in the AP curriculum, immersed ourselves in the subject, studied intensely for an entire year, paid for the AP tests (the cost of each test was $90), and took the examinations with the understanding and agreement that as long as we adhered to the AP testing rules and procedures on test day, we would receive our scores.

We abode to all the procedures and instructions issued to us by the Collegeboard according to how our test proctor and school administration presented the information to us. Mills AP test takers were NOT responsible for ANY aspect of test-day organization or set-up, which included seating assignments. In addition, Mills AP test takers did not participate in any form of misconduct, as the formal letter from the high school principal clarifies.

It is absolutely unfair and, frankly, illogical, for all of our scores to be invalidated.

As such, we are writing to ask the Collegeboard to return our scores to us. We would like to request the Mills High Administration and the San Mateo Union High School District to help us advocate for this result (including legal advice) as we feel this is only right.

The Collegeboard’s cancellation of all our scores is not fair in any way, and does not correlate to how they have handled similar issues in the past. More details are included in the e-mail written by Chris Norma and sent to Cynthia Clark, Director of Curriculum of the San Mateo Union High School District. The issue of delayed AP scores, and score cancellation has already, and will affect Mills AP test takers for the following reasons:

1) Revocation of college enrollment/acceptance and loss of class credit

For many 2013 Mills graduates, the deadline for sending in AP scores to their colleges has already passed or will be coming up soon. Many Mills 2013 graduates risk the possibility of the revocation of their college enrollment/acceptance and loss of class credit if they are unable to provide their AP scores by a deadline as is a “condition for enrollment” in many colleges’ contracts.

Many Mills 2013 graduates needed their scores LAST WEEK.

2) Class enrollment

Many Mills 2013 graduates need their AP score results in order to enroll in college courses.

3) Class standing

Many Mills 2013 graduates might have been eligible for a higher class standing (ie: entering college in the fall as a college sophomore) with the scores of the AP tests taken in May. This affects family college plans such as college tuition, college graduation, etc. Who will be responsible for this loss in time, money and effort?

4) College Applications

Returning Mills students who took the May 2013 tests put their best foot forward with the understanding that colleges receiving the students’ AP scores along with their college applications will be seeing scores that the students achieved to the best of their ability. Retaking tests in August, three months after they last studied the AP curriculum will not be an accurate representation of these students’ best abilities. In fact, it will be setting them at a disadvantage with the rest of the applicant pool.

5) Retaking the tests is not feasible

Our retake scores will be compared to those of AP students who took the test in May. The retake, scheduled for August 5-12, gives us less than three weeks to prepare for a year’s worth of material (in most students’ case, for more than one class subject). The standard review time allotted during the academic year is six weeks. Forcing us to retake the examinations violates Collegeboard’s principle of equal opportunity — that “no one has an unfair advantage.” Individuals taking the retake in August are already at a huge disadvantage.

Our retake scores will NOT be an accurate OR fair representation of our abilities nor will it accurately reflect “the culmination of college-level work in a given discipline in a secondary school setting” as stated on the Collegeboard’s website.

Furthermore, Mills AP students who are out of the country or on vacation for the summer will be unable to retake the tests.

Many colleges begin curriculum in mid August to late August, and Mills 2013 graduates will be unable to travel back from their colleges for a retake. Moreover, retakers may not have access to preparatory materials such as review books, practice tests, etc. due to a variety of reasons.

Students should not be retrospectively punished for a lack of test proctoring auditing by the Collegeboard.

The Mills AP test taking community is not interested in retaking the tests at this time NOR is it interested in directing blame upon any persons. We are merely asking for the return of our AP scores as is our right so we can start our college careers/college application process.

Thank you for your time, consideration, and support.

Sincerely,

Mills High School 2013 AP Test Takers

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