Your score is in progress and should be available by the end of July. You’ll be notified by email when your score is available. This was the misleading notification 50 students received when they attempted to view their AP Scores on July 5.
On July 28, Head of School Ron Cino sent an email stating that the College Board lost the free response (FRQ) portions of specific Advanced Placement (AP) tests and that students should expect to receive an email from the College Board in the following days.
The lost tests included AP Psychology, AP English Literature, AP Comparative Government and Politics, and AP United States History.
Students had three options: receive a projected score based on the multiple-choice section, retake the AP test lost, or cancel the score altogether. The projected scores relied on the portions of the test that were not lost, so families eagerly waited to receive clarifying answers from the College Board.
“What was missing from the testing materials were the free response
booklets,” Liv Gonzalez, Registrar and College Counseling Coordinator said. “For any affected student, it was only the free-response booklet. The multiple choice was received no problem; scantrons were received, disks were received.”
Students, parents, and teachers were upset with the situation after a year of working hard and teaching to learn the material in and outside of school.
“The writing portion of my AP Literature test was lost, and they did not give me a projected score for that multiple choice, so I had to retake the writing portion. They [College Board] also lost my AP Psychology writing portion, but I got a projected score,” Elli Westmacott ‘23 said.
Elli retook the test in early September after receiving a lost test notification. She was planning to leave for college two weeks later, so her decision was last-minute.
“I retook the test because I needed the credits for college, and I’m going to an out-of-state college, which means those credits count for a lot of money. I did not want to take the class in college all over again,” Elli said. Juniors and seniors spent countless hours preparing for their AP tests in late April and early May.
“I spent an entire year writing inclass essays, meeting with my teacher, and trying to perfect my reading skills for one test. After taking that test, I felt really good about my submission, and
finding out they lost all that hard work was really painful,” Elli said.
In August, the College Board sent an official letter explaining the next steps students could take in handling their tests. There was minimal time to review the options and to review testing material before the students were required to sign on the dotted line.
“I did not have access to my Laguna student drive anymore because they got rid of all of my work when I graduated, so I had to go online and try to find as many resources as I could. I reviewed every single book we read during the year, and I had to meet with my AP Lit teacher over the summer and review basically everything we could within a small time period before the test,” Elli said.
Although it is unclear how or when the tests disappeared, Laguna followed all the appropriate steps to send them back to the College Board.
“As the AP Testing Coordinator, I followed all of the steps given to me by the College Board to send all of these materials back,” said Gonzalez. “I am not sure where this happened. It could’ve happened with UPS, it could’ve happened with the College Board, it could’ve happened with education testing services.”
This is not the first time the College Board has lost students’ AP tests. Students faced similar challenges in other schools, including Chamblee High School in Georgia and schools in Palm Beach, Georgia.
“It is unfortunate, and it happens quite often. They have processes in place that they follow in the event materials are lost or damaged,” Gonzalez said.
The loss of the tests was difficult for students and faculty alike. Navigating this situation, including how to communicate the circumstances to parents and students, caused difficulty.
“This has been challenging for me. In my 6 years of doing all of this work, this has never happened to me, and it killed me,” Gonzalez said. “Just to know that an entire week’s worth of materials had been lost or damaged or whatever the case may be, especially after the hours of sweat put into that, and for it to all just be gone was the worst. It is mind-boggling that they somehow misplaced or managed to not accurately or properly handle our materials. When I say they, I mean it as a broad term, so it’s ‘they,’ the College Board, UPS, etc…”
Current senior Sarah Woodhouse faced the decision of whether or not to retake the Free Response Question (FRQ) section of her AP Psychology test after the College Board lost it.
“They projected my score from my multiple choice. I thought I did a really good job on the FRQ, so I think I would have definitely gotten a higher score if they hadn’t lost it,” said Sarah.
The FRQ on AP Psychology typically makes up 33% of a student’s score and has the potential to significantly impact whether a student scores a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5.
“I chose to just keep my projected score,” said Sarah. “Honestly, I didn’t want to retake it. I had already moved on from AP Psych. I didn’t want to study all over again.”
In 2020, the College Board faced a class-action lawsuit for unfair testing practices, and their lawyers reduced it to arbitration.
This is due to the contract that students sign before sitting for exams, which prevents them from taking legal action after taking the exam.
After taking an AP exam, it is entirely up to the College Board whether or not students will receive their scores, and taking further action is not an option.
“I didn’t like the College Board before, but this definitely doesn’t help. Currently, my SAT that I took in August is missing as well, which is very frustrating,” Sarah said.
Current senior Amelie Dalporto was one of the students who discovered that the College Board did not have her AP United States History (APUSH) test.
“I was only missing APUSH, but I knew people who were missing all of theirs. We were all upset because we spent a long time studying,” Amelie said.
After receiving an email from the College Board stating that they had lost her entire test, Amelie and her family searched for answers.
“We emailed the College Board, and it took a month to get a response. They said they had half of my test, so I accepted the projected score,” Amelie said.
This event stunted trust in the College Board and the standardized testing process in general. After losing their scores, students have had time to reflect and prepare themselves for another year of AP classes and testing, as credit is one of the few ways to save time and money in college.
“I hope it doesn’t happen again. It’s definitely a little nerve-wracking that something like that is possible,” Amelie said. “I’m just preparing for it in case it happens again. I know what to do now.”