David Coleman, College Board CEO, on school closures impact to SAT & AP exams | Homeroom with Sal

Stream.

For those of you all who have not been here before, this is a way for us all to stay connected. As you have now school closures around the world, Khan Academy is a not-for-profit with a mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. The way we've been doing that for years is by making resources from as early as pre-K, Khan Academy Kids, that goes through kindergarten and first grade, and then resources in math, English language arts, science, humanities, all the way through elementary, middle, high school, and even the foundations of college. That's always been there, but when the school closures started happening a few weeks ago, we realized, "Oh, it's our duty to do more." So, we've been doing parent webinars and teacher webinars, this daily live stream to stay connected, and we've been publishing things like schedules for students of different age groups.

Over the course of the next few hours, actually, we're going to be publishing some learning plans for students at different grade levels for how you can learn through the end of the school year and keep learning ideally through the summer. I do want to remind folks we are a not-for-profit and we're funded by philanthropic donations from folks like yourself, so if you're in a position to do so, please think about donating to Khan Academy. I do want to give a quick shout-out to several corporations who stepped up in the last few weeks when they saw that our folks like Bank of America, AT&T, Google.org, and Novartis—and I want to thank our many other supporters—but even with that, we were running at a deficit before the crisis hit. The costs have gone even higher. But with that, I'd like to introduce our guest for today, David Coleman from the College Board, CEO of the College Board, another not-for-profit that we have been close partners with for many years around official SAT practice.

David may be a good place to start. Even before our live stream started, and I encourage everyone to ask questions on the message boards; we have team members looking at it. But we had a lot of questions about AP exams and how that's all going to work out, so I’d love to hear how you all are thinking about it and how it's going to play out for students.

"Thanks Sal, and I hope you and your family, as well as your colleagues, are well during this demanding time. I know people are working at home and facing the demands of sometimes their children and other forces. Not to be somber, but I know this can be, has already been for some and will be for others, a time of loss. I just want to offer our heartfelt condolences and support for people who are struggling through this. I know it sounds weird to begin this way, but there are definitely things more important in this life than AP and SAT. Those include the safety and sanctity of everyone. I know you and I are also very concerned that this crisis will hit the low income and underrepresented communities hardest in this country; it's things like this that always do. That's why Khan Academy is such a beacon available on any device to any person—what an equalizer! And I'll talk a little bit about why the digital divide can still make that hard. But I don’t know of a force that is as astonishing as Khan Academy in offering such high quality to everyone. When we partnered with Khan Academy, it was not to provide free test prep, as you said, Sal; it was to provide the best test prep that happened to be free. Khan Academy has delivered on that. The quality of your team's work and everything it touches continues to amaze me and inspire me, and us at the College Board.

My most important message today may be never has the importance of Khan Academy been more re-evident to the world, and I just hope people listening to this really understand that donating to one of the great public utilities of our time, one of the great public goods of our time, which is Khan Academy, is urgent and important. It’s now evident that it is essential to everyone alive, and let's help make it so by investing in it. You know that we invest in you due to your great work in the SAT with us, and we regard none higher than Khan Academy in the quality of its work and its ethos. So, sorry for that long preamble, but I think that's really important.

And actually, how are you doing? I mean, it's my bad."

"Yeah, you're in New York. I'm really involved; my husband is an ICU nurse, so I'm super proud of him. He's on the front lines every day, and I'm trying to do my best to keep them safe and help them along. We have young twins that are five, that are irreverent as ever, and they're thriving. I cannot complain of my individual circumstances, and I could talk about, as many people have, my concerns about my parents in various places and all of that. But all together, Sal, we're well, and we at the College Board are energized by what we're attempting to do. We've chosen to come at this crisis with a spirit of innovation and flexibility. So, let me outline what we're doing about AP because I know people have a lot of questions. I'm going to apologize; I'll read a couple of things here because I want to get the facts exactly right and then turn to your questions.

I hope I've made clear that the health and safety of educators, families, and, of course, students is the most important thing driving the College Board at this time. That is our top priority. So, as students and families and teachers navigate these challenges, we've done two pivotal things. First, we have launched AP Live to provide every student in a regular schedule each day, free online review and coursework around every AP course. As of now, there have been 4.7 million views of that content. And number two, we're providing all students the chance to test safely at home this spring and I'll outline that assessment opportunity.

To be clear, before we made that decision—which was a hard decision because it forced an enormous amount of work and innovation on the College Board's part to design an at-home exam—we found when we surveyed 18,000 students that over 91 percent of them said they wanted the opportunity to take an exam and claim the credit they've earned. Let's remember the crisis hit after 75 percent of the school year was done, so these are students who have been working all year in their AP classrooms. We felt that we could make only one principal decision, that we would provide a brief at-home exam to allow students to show what they've learned. That exam could only cover information in that first 75 percent of the course units that are typically covered, so we will not include the material that is typically covered in March and April when schools were out of session.

If you want to learn more about either AP Live or the exams, you can always go to cb.org/ap. Let me tell you a little bit more about the solution. It will be a 45-minute online exam at home for this year and this year alone. Educator-led development communities, which are a blend of higher education professors and high-end high school teachers, AP teachers are currently selecting the exam questions that will be administered. Exams will be given May 11th through 15th and May 18th to 22nd, and make-up test dates will be available for each subject from June 1st to 5th. But I strongly encourage all students to take the exam in that original testing window when we're more assured of our full capacity to reach every student.

As I mentioned before, we recognize that the digital divide could prevent some low-income and rural students from participating. Working with partners, we're heavily investing so these students have the tools, connectivity, and technical support they need to review AP content online and take the exam. If you're a student who needs help, or you're a teacher whose students need mobile tools or connectivity, you can reach out to us directly to let us know by April 24th. Please complete the form at cb.org/tech, and I'm really proud that 50 of my colleagues have given of their time to reach out directly to these families and students to make sure that we complete the last mile and understand the pressures on homeless students and other students in our society that may be without devices or bandwidth or in homes where bandwidth is scarce and devices are shared.

We'll continue to support students with free resources through exam day, and while we encourage students to wait until closer to the test date to decide, any student now registered for the exam can choose to cancel at no charge. I have good news: we're confident that the vast majority of higher education institutions will honor the credit from these courses. We've gotten an overwhelming response; the University of California just published a statement. I believe it's now 22 states that have endorsed this solution and several private institutions and more coming in every day. So, there’s enormous consensus in higher ed to honor the work done on these exams and give credit and placement accordingly.

For seniors, it will offer credit and placement for their futures if they succeed, and for juniors, it will offer all of that and also distinguish themselves on the way to college. At a time when families' incomes are compromised across this country, we felt it was our obligation, Sal, to press on innovation in order to make sure kids didn't lose their chance to earn the credit they had done. I could say a little bit more later if you'd like about the AP Live sessions, and I've told you you can go to the website and look at it. I just want to be clear, though, that nothing that happens in AP Live, as cool as I think it is, will be required on the exam. We know some kids will not have access to future online learning, so the exams only cover what you've already done in the first 75 percent of the course.

We'll be adding optional student practice online for students to practice for free. Again, let me say a little bit more now about the exams. For this year only, we'll go back to our traditional AP exams. These streamlined exams will not require any test book shipments, external proctors, or any additional workload. Again, the exam content will only cover topics and skills most AP teachers and students have already covered in class by March. Students will be able to take these streamlined exams on any device they have access to: a computer, a tablet, or a smartphone. They can even take a picture on a smartphone of their handwritten work and upload that. Most exams will be given from May 11th to the 22nd, and, as I said, the make-up dates will be June 1st to 5th.

In the unlikely event that schools reopen, students can take these exams there. Let me say a little bit more about the exam format. Most exams will have one or two free-response questions, and each question will be timed separately, so students will need to write and submit their responses within the allotted time for each question. For most subjects, the exams will be 45 minutes long plus an additional five minutes for uploading. Students will need to access the online testing system 30 minutes early to get set up. Certain courses, such as AP Art and Design, 2D Art and Design, 3D Computer Science Principles, Drawing Research, and Seminar will use portfolio submissions and will not have a separate online exam. All deadlines for these submissions have been extended to May 26th at 11:59 p.m. for those who cut it close, Eastern Time. Teachers and students will receive special course-specific communications on these projects.

Interestingly, excitingly, students taking world language and culture exams will complete solely two spoken tasks consistent with free-response questions three and four in the current AP exam. They'll be giving an oral exam by a qualified adult, and so we're really going direct from readers to students to hear their command of the language. As you can see, what we've tried to do is we’ve tried to make the exams much simpler, briefer. I want students to feel confident that they've got this; you've done the work the first three quarters of the exam. We're not trying to trick you; we're not trying to surprise you. We're actually trying to just give you a venue to show you what you know. I've never been more confident that the majority of students should be able to flourish on these exams.

If you want, Sal, I’ll end with a few words on security because I must, of course, people wonder, “How can we give these exams securely at home?” Like many college-level exams, they'll be open book and open note. The exam format and questions are being designed specifically for an at-home administration, so points won't be awarded for things you could find out from Google or elsewhere online. However, now I must be more than clear: students may not consult with any other individuals during the testing period, and we'll take the necessary steps to protect the integrity of the exam administration.

I say this because I'm confident that the vast majority of AP students will follow the rules for taking the exams. There’s something kind of crazy about cheating on an AP exam because who wants to wind up in advanced calculus that’s not ready for it? But we will nonetheless put in strict measures to avoid cheating, including plagiarism software and several other efforts. I don't want to go into them in too much depth because the more I talk about them, the less strong they sound as security measures. But they are strong and they surround the student in various ways. They are taking seriously the possibility of students having someone else impersonate themselves and show their work or going to the internet to share with other students or conference calls with their students.

We've thought of all the scenarios and put tactics in place, but I need to warn students in this special circumstance that the College Board will be tougher on cheating. Students who are found cheating in this kind of situation, we will not only, as usual, merely cancel your score; we're going to let every university know that you've sent an SAT score if we have conclusive evidence that you were found cheating in this environment. It would be a foolish move that would limit one’s future to cheat in this environment. But that said, putting that dark specter aside, I think this is an extraordinary opportunity for AP students. There are free live lessons every day, brief exams that will reinforce that will reflect your mastery. I really look forward to seeing what kids can do and students can do.

"Yeah, that’s super helpful and I think it already addresses a lot of the questions that we've been getting. A few things you mentioned that I think are interesting and address some questions that I think we can highlight from Instagram. Earthly 1008 asked, 'I have only a mobile phone and I took AP Calc BC. So, it’ll be possible for me to take the exam?' It sounds like it will."

"It will!"

"It will! The only disadvantage of a mobile phone is typically in the humanities, when some of the prompts may be a little longer, it'll be a little annoying to scroll through them on your phone. But that doesn’t mean that you can either then type back your answers on the mobile phone or, in the BC calculus situation, that person could write their work, take a picture of it, and upload it as well. They can get all the prompts from their phone; they can get the questions from the phone."

"Yep."

"What about students who don’t even have that, or they're maybe afraid that their phone isn't good enough? You mentioned cb.org/tech; how would that work?"

"That's exactly right! The way it's working is really exciting. When we made the announcement, we gave that address to every student. 2,000 of us got in touch with us and we're getting back to them. We have thousands of Chromebooks, and we're trying to make sure those Chromebooks get to just those students who need them most, who really can't borrow a device or need them on test day. So we're trying to really ask people to be restrained in what they ask for; we're going to loan them out and ask for them back. We're working with other state and district partners to ensure that their device strategies are coordinated and they're getting to these AP students who need them. A lot of this, Sal, as you know, is case management and we're investing today in providing widespread tech support because sometimes it's actually tech support that gets in the way. But if you have a concern, please go to cb.org."

"That's super helpful. I have a question from YouTube: Dara Ray Blot is asking, 'Will there be practice tests, example questions in the same style as the new at-home questions?'"

"Yes, there will! Some of them are going to roll out by the end of the week and then we will be having more practice for you. We may even have—we're just designing now ways that you can simulate the test experience and test the systems and where you can further take practice questions as you go. So, the answer is yes; already by the end of the week, there'll be practice, and there'll be more to come as we further develop."

"And there's two questions here, they're related. One is from YouTube: Aisha Condom is asking, 'Will the AP exam be harder to compensate for open notes?' and Lucy is asking, 'How is the AP curve going to work for students if the tests are going to be open notes?'"

"Well, the curve is not really affected because you're still evaluating students on a one through five scale as to whether their work represents college-ready work at a more or less advanced level. And we're still going to have the distributed reading process, so readers won't meet in person, but we'll still have college faculty and AP teachers reading the work and making those judgments. I think students should enter this exam situation with great confidence. I want to be clear that if you look at what's happening in higher ed and what's happening in the AP program, we're trying to get every chance to students. We know that students are under very stressful circumstances, and so we're trying to make the exam as brief as possible. We don't want to surprise anyone; we want to make the questions as much as possible look like work already done in the class so that we can look at that value-added analysis. You can do the synthesis; you can do the analysis; you do not just regurgitate facts. But we’re not trying to trick you in any way, and it should be very routine with the kind of work you've already been doing in the classroom."

"And there's another question here around technology from Facebook: Alpana Loyalca asks, 'We have internet issues from time to time; what would be a good backup that you would suggest in case that happens in the middle of the exam?'"

"I think then the make-up testing is going to be essential. So, what I would like people to do is what we’re not finding so far in our testing. I know people worry about like the earth-shattering moment the internet goes down just at the very moment they're testing, but what's more likely is people haven't checked their browsers and haven't gone through the exam simulation process and have a tech support issue they didn't expect. So we will ask students to go through simulations in advance, and I'm kind of, as much as possible, asking all students to really do that, and we will monitor that closely. Second of all, as I said, please sign up 30 minutes before the exam begins."

"That's useful! And there's a lot of questions, for those of y’all who don't know, the College Board, which y’all are a not-for-profit, represents essentially a board of colleges. You represent what the colleges are thinking on a lot of levels. And y’all are also, as we talked about earlier, the administrator of the SAT, and we're close partners on that around official SAT practice. A couple of questions on that front, but related to this notion of at-home testing. From YouTube, Tom Burt is asking, 'Is the College Board preparing for home online SAT testing in the eventuality COVID-19 prevents using testing centers in June?'"

"I think the eventuality in which the College Board is preparing for, and that I've talked about in a previous communication, so our members, Sal, just to be clear, are virtually all the nation's high schools and all the colleges. We work together with high schools and colleges to make that connection not only domestically but globally, and the SAT is part of that. But my brief answer to the question is I think we will need an at-home style solution for the SAT if schools are out this fall, and we'll be giving more updates on our progress toward that in about a week's time. But we have announced that we are preparing in that sad eventuality that our society really is off kilter and kids can't get back into a school setting by this fall, that we will develop alternatives."

"Yeah, and there's one thing that I think you said two questions ago that I really want to highlight. When people are asking about the curve of AP, it's really important for people to recognize that if everyone who takes the AP exam knows the material at a five level, you will give everyone a five. If no one does..."

"All right, let’s talk at once again, showing that you are better at this than I am sometimes. No kidding! Kidding aside, it's a perfect thing. Sal says there is no curve in that sense. It's not like there are only 75s to give out, so many fours, so many threes. We are really trying to create a situation where students who have done the work of this class come with confidence to do well in this exam."

"I just want to be clear about something."

"Oh, sorry, Sal. We know that it's cool that we have AP Live, but a lot of students have other things going on right now and they might just not have the time to take the exam. We've really designed this exam to make sure that even if you don't have a bunch of time to do a lot of studying in between now and then, you still should be able to show your work and do well. So we've tried to be very attentive to the mix of circumstances our students find themselves in."

"And we've gotten a ton of questions, not just today but in previous live streams, around I think it's mainly high school juniors who are just stressed a little bit about the college application process generally, given all of their volatility. They might not have... I know some of the local districts have gone pass/fail for this term. You all represent these colleges, yeah, in all things admissions and things like that. What are you hearing from them?"

"Let me, I'm going to do my best to give you as straight a shot as I can, Sal. I would urge immense calm on the part of students for a certain reason: colleges want them more than ever. Colleges are concerned about filling their classes, about students coming back. So don't think it hasn't affected everyone. So colleges are hungrier than ever for talent, are hungrier to define students. They're worried about recruiting students; they're worried about students from various communities not being adequately represented on their college campuses. So it's never been a better time to be a student applying to college. There’s such a hunger among the nation's colleges to re-engage with you, get back in touch with you, and develop your plans with you. Don't sweat the small stuff—a pass/fail grade or taking the SAT later in the year than you expected. You know, claim your opportunity with AP; get it done. But this is a time where everyone realizes what's important. All I would tell you is if there is a blessing at a time like this from what I know about college admissions, is high school students, many of them could do with being a lot less busy. Sal, sometimes applying to college has become this frenzy of doing tons of activities and trying to distinguish yourself every which way. The truth of college admissions is doing very well your schoolwork and doing one thing outside of it that you love and show your strength in is really enough.

I hope that as we realize, as this crisis makes clear, that real love for a few things matters more than being busy. Time with family and I hope we come back to a more balanced approach as we return to schooling this fall."

"That's a good segue, David. You know, I want to give you a chance—I know and I applaud what you and the entire College Board team is doing. I can't imagine all of the complexities you're trying to navigate right now. But you know, I always, for those of y'all who don't realize, David and I are actually quite good friends. Over the course of many years, we've had many late-night conversations where I’m, you know, trying to expand David's imagination in one direction or another, and he's doing this for the record; maybe we'll get into it. But what I always tell people, even when we first partnered with the College Board and feel like, 'Oh, the College Board? That's that big institution that administers these tests and all this.' I was like, 'You’ve got to meet David; he's not what you're imagining as the CEO, the president of the College Board.' And frankly, everyone at the College Board are these really thoughtful people who are really out there to just do right by you, the students and the teachers and the parents. And so, David, I want to give, and I've always admired you for your ability to think broadly about life and where we sit and history and things like that. You know, what advice do you have for everyone going through this as people, especially students right now?"

"Many people will say to you that everything has changed, and so I want to start by what remains the same. The most powerful thing you can do as a student is to develop authentic fascinations. What I hope AP is for students is a chance to gain the pleasure and challenge of getting really good at something. I know that sounds super simple, but I want you to think for a moment about this one precious life you've been given and how meaningful it is to get fascinated by something, to fall into something. When you think about applying to college, if you think, 'Boy, what does it really take?' It takes getting to know your teachers really well and finding some great teachers because those mentors are everything to us. It means falling in love with your academic work to some degree, but particularly certain parts of it, and then it's finding an activity outside of school that you devote yourself to.

And what's funny, Sal, is before the crisis, we have research on success at college that says if you do those things when you get to college, you're going to have a great experience. If you find great teachers, if you find a class or discipline that you love, and apply it to your life, if you love an activity outside of class. I know that sounds strange, but it seems to me that success remains as simple as kind of falling in love three times, you know? Being devoted to your teachers and the relationships you have with them, to disciplines and finding academic work that really makes you awake at night and excites you, and finally finding an activity that engages you. When Sal and I look at each other and care for one another, it's in part because we both love what we do. Sal is a man energized entirely by passion; he began Khan Academy sharing his delight in math with his nephew and nieces. It began as an act of love, as the kind of irrepressible desire to bring other people into the beauty and power that he found in mathematics. Sal's passion for that changed the world, and that cultivation of passion and excellence is such a winning hand.

Faking it, being inauthentic, putting a face on yourself for college applications, getting caught up in doing too many things is wasting the precious life we’ve been given. But working hard to discover what you love, finding teachers that really move you, these are lasting things. What you'll find is later in life—you know Sal says he's impressed with the responsiveness of the College Board, and honestly, I kind of am too. A lot of people have really canceled exams, and we came to this with a very innovative, "Can do; we're going to make it work at home" attitude. But that’s in part because we've been working with Khan Academy for years, and we've seen their agility, and they inspire us.

So, I think that we may be more distant from one another for a period of time, but what really matters remains strangely the same. Never has your own motivation, your own inner drive been more important than now—out of the presence of your teachers, out of the immediate pressures of applying to college; can you cultivate that internal flame that really is what delivers you most things of value in this life? So, that’s my pompous preaching for the day, so I’m done."

"I think that’s going to leave a lot of students and some of us adults inspired, and I think it’s exactly right. You know, I think the first few weeks of this social distancing, all of us were fixated on the thing that we were losing. But now I think, and I know some people are in very hard situations and everyone is going through a lot of anxiety and stress, but we're starting to realize that there are some silver linings: more time with family, a lot of the noise of everyday life has gone away, and we have—we can reflect more. More time with ourselves to think about what makes us tick, who are we really. And I think for high school students especially, the normal world—there's just so much going on in their life they don't have the time to reflect. And this generation, all of y'all out there, actually there might be a silver lining where you have an opportunity to do what David mentioned: you have the time to reflect, who you are, what really energizes you, and be your authentic self as you apply for college.

So, thanks, David, for joining us. I hope we can have him on again. We got a lot of questions today, more so than normal, so I know there's a lot of high school students out there thinking a lot about college admissions and APs and SATs. And, you know, I always applaud David for, you know, his ability to really speak to the heart as you just saw. Thanks, everyone for joining. As I said, this is a way for all of us to stay connected—not just for you all to stay connected, but I also get a lot of personal joy, and I'm also socially distanced to be able to connect with all of y’all. And, as a reminder, we are not for profit. If you're in a position to do so, please think about donating to Khan Academy so that we can continue to support the world, hopefully in this time of crisis and beyond. Have a good day!"