AP Proctors should be well versed to monitor AP Test

Mia Cho

Staff Writer

After last year’s cheating incident with the AP Environmental Science Exam at Mira Costa, test administrators concluded that no other tests were compromised. However, the situation still caused inconvenience and panic to all students who took the exam, and further caution should have been taken this year so similar situations can be avoided.

Students cheating on AP exams can result in an inaccurate reflection of their abilities. It is unfair to those who achieved high scores on their own merit, and can even give students who cheated an advantage. AP exams offer college credit and high scores can stand out to colleges, and students who cheat to get a higher score can be unfairly rewarded for obtaining their scores illegally.

Also, if a student is caught cheating on an AP exam, it jeopardizes the scores of all other submitted tests. According to the College Board website, all tests taken at a school where a security breach has occurred are subject to invalidation on scores, which can result in students having to retake the test at a different time. This is unfair to all students involved, as the exam itself costs $94 to take and is crucial to moving forward with their education in college, according to the College Board website. Not to mention,  students spend countless hours studying for a high score on the exam and now have to worry about the added setbacks.

In addition, students who took the AP Environmental Science Exam last year were interrupted. According to an email sent out by Dr. Dale during the 2017-2018 school year, students had to wait while proctors secured the room, and then they proceeded on with the exam.

Scandals surrounding AP Exams can also reflect poorly on Mira Costa. When a student is caught cheating on a crucial nationwide exam it damages Costa’s reputation of being a school that promotes academic integrity. Costa could be perceived as a school condoning cheating behavior, which can ultimately lower the amount of people who want to attend the school.

Costa test administrators should put more focus on protecting test environments by using stricter methods and having more proctors so security breaches are avoided for this year’s exams.