AP CLASSROOM
Frequently
Asked Questions
Updated: April 23, 2020
Optional Student Practice Questions
NEW
What is optional student practice?
Are these new questions?
Do teachers need to do anything to enable student practice?
Can teachers see the questions their students have been assigned?
How closely do these questions match this year’s exam?
Can teachers see with questions students are responding to and their answers?
Can teachers score the questions and/or provide feedback?
Can teachers assign or reassign these questions for more practice?
Can all students access practice questions or do they have to be in a teacher-led class?
Can students answer each question more than once?
Is the LockDown browser required?
If teachers are still able to guide student instruction and preparation, what should they assign to
help students?
Because of unforeseen circumstances, I’m afraid I won’t be able to score my students’ responses.
Is other guidance available?
Which questions can be assigned to students at home?
Which questions are still considered “secure” and what does this mean?
Can AP questions be posted on school or district-managed software or websites?
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Teacher Access to AP Classroom
How do teachers get access?
I am returning to teaching an AP course after a few years. How do I get access to AP Classroom?
Is there an app?
Will administrators and AP Coordinators have access to the to the same tools (Personal Progress
Checks, Question Bank, Progress Dashboard) that teachers do?
Can a district staff see AP Classroom data?
What happens if a teacher moves schools (but remains in the same district)?
What happens if a teacher moves out of their district? Will they continue to have access to the AP
Classroom resources?
Do I have to train my peers/other AP teachers in my school that did not attend online training sessions?
Student Login and Enrollment
How do students log in?
Can students use their existing College Board account to sign in, or do they need to create a new
account?
What if a student’s account was set up by their parent?
Do students use the same login information each school year or does this change from year to year?
What if students forget their login information?
Can my school or district get our students’ College Board login information? Our students will forget
this information and have trouble registering?
What are join codes?
Will students be connected to all of their classes once they log in?
Do students need to be registered for the exam to access AP Classroom resources?
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AP Classroom General
Where do I report an issue?
Is AP classroom accessible to visually impaired students?
Do I need to have students registered in the class to have access to the practice questions?
For Progress Checks and Question Bank assessments, do I have to assign each section separately in AP
Classroom or is there a way to assign multiple sections at the same time?
Is it possible to unlock/assign a Progress Check or Question Bank assessment without giving students
access to it yet?
Are teachers required to use all the resources in the AP Classroom?
What if teachers don’t have time to incorporate all the resources from the AP Classroom?
Are all AP subjects included in the AP Classroom?
Will there be resources to align AP Classroom to the local curriculum?
What should schools tell students and parents about AP Classroom?
Why don’t AP Capstone courses have the resources that other courses do in AP Classroom?
Setting up Class Sections
I teach the class in the fall semester, only options when creating a class section are full-year and
second semester. What should I do?
If you have multiple sections of a class and decide to make only one section for all your students in AP
Classroom, will that impact their exam registration? Are separate sections necessary?
If I have students taking an AP course with two or three teachers over multiple terms with students
changing teachers at least once during the school year, should I create one big section for all of the
students so the AP coordinator doesn’t have to move individual students at the terms?
Is it possible to group students within a class section?
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Student Class Switches and Account Changes
What is changing for the students who are switched into my class using AP Registration and Ordering’s
“Change Section” feature?
Which assignments will be moving with the students to their new class?
Will all assignments be transferred all at once, regardless of whether they have been assigned in the
new class?
What else will be moved to the student’s new class section?
Will I be able to distinguish whose assignment was moved into my class from those who took it in my
class?
Does this affect students who have already transferred into my class this school year?
What about when my student has started using a different College Board account?
Topic Questions
What are topic questions?
Do all courses have topic questions?
Can assessments with topic questions be taken in print and online?
Unit Guides
Do all subjects have Unit Guides in the AP Classroom?
Are teachers required to follow the Unit Guides?
Personal Progress Checks (PPCs)
What are Personal Progress Checks?
Do all AP courses have Personal Progress Checks?
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Do the Personal Progress Checks accurately represent the new types of questions on AP exams? Or, are
these just old questions pulled for student/class use?
Are there explanations for the answers for Personal Progress Checks?
Where can I find the rationale? I don’t see this feedback when previewing the Personal Progress
Checks.
Can the Personal Progress Checks be customized to add or remove questions?
Do Personal Progress Checks have to be completed in class?
Can Personal Progress Checks be taken on paper? If so, how do I print?
Can the test book (when selecting to print) be generated as a Microsoft Word doc (rather than PDF) so
that teachers can adjust the layout of the test (i.e., so that question and answer choices are on the same
page)?
How do I assign to students who missed the test day?
Can I reassign Personal Progress Checks?
Can you scramble the order of questions in an assignment that are presented to students?
Do teachers have the ability to set a time limit on assignments?
Can you schedule times during which the Progress Check is available (rather than unlocking it
manually)?
If a student changes class sections, will data from their PPCs be saved?
The Progress Dashboard
What is the Progress Dashboard?
The Question Bank
What is the Question Bank?
Can students access the AP Question Bank directly?
Are there explanations/rationales for the answers for Question Bank items?
Using Practice Exam Questions
Can I assign practice exams to my students?
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Can I add questions from AP practice exams to Question Bank assessments?
Can I assign assessments with practice exam questions online and in print, and as homework, like
other assessments I create in the Question Bank?
Are there differences for students when they take assessments that include secure multiple-choice
practice exam questions?
Creating Assessments
How do I filter the Question Bank to see new (post-redesign) questions only?
Why are questions that are no longer aligned included?
How can I see the number of questions I’ve added to the assignment I am creating?
How can I tell if I’ve already used a question in an assessment?
How can I tell the number of questions available for the assessment I’m creating?
Can I create new questions in the Question Bank?
Can I edit existing questions in the Question Bank?
How can I edit a quiz after it’s been created?
Is there a way to edit a quiz that has already been assigned?
I just created and assigned a Question Bank assessment, but now I want to delete it. How do I do this?
How do I print Question Bank assignments?
Can the test book (when selecting to print) be generated as a Microsoft Word doc (rather than PDF) so
that teachers can adjust the layout of the test (i.e., so that question and answer choices are on the same
page)?
Assigning Assessments
Can you “reset” the test?
Will I be able to access quizzes I set up this year again next year?
How do I assign to students who missed the test day?
Can you easily assign an electronic retake?
Can you scramble the order of questions in an assignment that are presented to students?
Can teachers share assignments that they have created in the QB with other AP teachers in their
school?
Do teachers have the ability to set a time limit on assignments?
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Can you schedule times during which the assignment is available (rather than unlocking it manually)?
Some questions ask students to graph, write equations, provide music notation on a staff, etc. How is
this done?
Will students be able to read for the speaking prompts?
Scoring Question Bank Assessments and Viewing Results
How do I score multiple-choice questions assigned in print? Do I need to score MC questions
administered online?
How do I score free-response questions they assign through the Question Bank?
Can teachers see how long it took for a student to complete the assignment (i.e., time on task)
Can teachers view results to see how many students missed questions aligned to specific standards?
Can teachers provide individual feedback for students while scoring their results?
Can teachers export student results from the system to an Excel file?
If you use the question bank to replicate the entirety of an old AP exam, could you get an AP score from
the students' results?
Technical Questions/Problems
Using the secure LockDown browser
What is the LockDown browser?
Is the LockDown browser required for the 2020 online AP Exam?
What student devices are supported by the LockDown browser?
Does the Lockdown browser work with mobile phones?
As a teacher, do I need to install the LockDown browser?
Which AP Classroom assignments require the LockDown browser?
Do all practice exam questions require the use of the LockDown browser?
May I assign assessments using the LockDown browser even if not required?
I have assigned an assessment requiring the LockDown browser. How will my students know they
need to have it?
My students are getting error messages when they try to take a secure assessment, what should I do?
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Other questions
I am getting error messages when trying to view Question Bank items. What should I do?
I can no longer access the Teaching and Assessing modules through the links sent by College Board.
Are they not available anymore?
Can students take assessment on their mobile devices?
What browsers will work with the applications?
Is there a mobile app for AP Registration and Ordering or AP Classroom?
What device is recommended for users?
Do I need to download any software to use AP Classroom?
Who do I contact if the site is blocked?
Can we load the assignments from AP Classroom into my school’s local LMS?
Security
Are teachers permitted to assign “secure” question bank questions to students as take homework?
Do teachers need to be concerned about copyright permissions for copying/printing multiple copies of
questions from the Question Bank?
Answers
Optional Student Practice Questions
What is optional student practice?
To help students as they prepare for this year’s at-home exams, AP Classroom has released optional practice for students.
Here’s what to expect and how you can best help your students prepare for this year’s exam:
Students will see a new Optional Student Practice section that includes free-response questions
(FRQs) for students to practice demonstrating their knowledge and skills. No LockDown Browser is
needed to answer these, or any other FRQs, online.
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All students already enrolled in a course section and/or registered for the exam have immediate
access to student practice, and educators will not need to take any additional steps to enable student
access.
Student Practice FRQs are from practice or released exams and were selected to help students
prepare for the tasks on this year’s exam.
The FRQs focus on the units assessed on this year’s exam whenever possible. In some courses,
additional FRQs that include content from all units are provided so students have multiple
opportunities to demonstrate the skills they’ll need for this year’s exam.
Students can answer these FRQs in any order and they can review how each question might be
scored on a typical AP exam before they submit so they can review and revise their answer.
Optional Student Practice FRQs are indicated with a green target icon. Teachers can easily identify
these and add to assignments to encourage students to practice for the Exam.
Teachers can view student progress and responses in the progress and results tabs within the
Question Bank, and optionally provide students with scores and feedback.
Are these new questions?
No, the optional student practice questions are all drawn from practice and released exam questions already
in AP Classroom.
Do teachers need to do anything to enable student practice?
No, the questions are unlocked for student access already and appear in a new “Optional Student Practice”
tab that students will see in the assignments area of AP Classroom. Teacher assignments display first, on a
“Your Assignments” tab, to ensure any class assignments are foregrounded for students.
Can teachers see the questions their students have been assigned?
Yes. For teachers, all the questions assigned to students will appear in the Progress section of the Question
Bank under the new “Optional Student Practice” tab. Also, when teachers search for questions in the
Question Bank, a green target icon highlights the questions unlocked for optional student practice.
How closely do these questions match this year’s exam?
Optional student practice questions are from practice or released AP exams and were selected to help
students prepare for the tasks on this year’s exam. Since the 2020 exam questions will be modified to enable
at-home testing and fit the allotted time, students should use the practice questions to practice demonstrating
the knowledge and skills they’ve learned throughout the course. The FRQs focus on the units assessed on
this year’s exam whenever possible. In some courses, additional FRQs that include content from all units are
provided so students have multiple opportunities to demonstrate the skills they’ll need for this year’s exam.
Can teachers see which questions students are responding to and their answers?
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Yes, teachers can see which questions are being answered by students in each class on the Progress section
of the Question Bank, under the “Optional Student Practice” tab. Selecting a question will display a list of
the students and their progress status – Not started, In progress or Submitted. For submitted questions,
teachers can select the student name to see and score their response, using the same scoring criteria used by
AP Readers.
Can teachers score the questions and/or provide feedback?
Yes, in the Progress section of the Question Bank, the questions will be listed under the “Optional Student
Practice” tab. As your students complete the questions, you will be able to score the questions in AP
Classroom using AP scoring guidelines. AP Classroom also provides the ability to add personal feedback
that the student can view. Select the feedback icon to add feedback to a student response.
Can teachers assign or reassign these questions for more practice?
Yes. In the Question’s Bank’s Create section, you can assign or reassign optional student practice questions
by looking for any FRQ with the green target icon . You can assign as a stand-alone question or add to a
custom assessment you assign to your class(es). Note some FRQs can be lengthy, so these are best assigned
one at a time.
Can all students access practice questions or do they have to be in a teacher-led class?
All students see the optional practice questions, whether in a teach-led class or Exam-Only section. The only
requirement is that the student must be enrolled in one section for the course in AP Registration and Ordering.
Can students answer each question more than once?
Students can only answer each question once, unless their teacher reassigns it as described above.
Is the LockDown browser required?
No, to help students prepare for this year’s at-home exam, which focuses on free-response question (FRQs),
all FRQs can now be answered by students digitally, without requiring the LockDown Browser. This includes
all FRQs, including Practice Exam FRQ sections, Personal Progress Check FRQs sections, and all topic
questions and exam questions in the Question Bank.
The only questions that still require the LockDown Browser are the Practice Exam MCQ sections, as these
are less relevant to this year’s exam but will be most useful for continued teacher usage if they remain secure
this year.
If teachers are still able to guide student instruction and preparation, what should they assign to help
students?
The Personal Progress Checks and Topic Questions were designed for students to answer at home or in
class. Assigning or reassigning the multiple-choice questions for the units covered on this year’s exam can
help students confirm their knowledge and get feedback on misunderstandings with rationales explaining
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each answer. The free response questions can also help students review concepts and apply skills that build
through each unit.
Teachers can also encourage students to take advantage of the optional student practice questions; this can
be especially helpful for any teachers able to review student responses and help them improve, by applying
the scoring criteria in AP Classroom, and individual student feedback buttons, to provide students
encouragement and guidance on how to further improve.
While teachers may wish to assign the full Practice Exam MCQ and FRQ sections, these forms include units
and tasks less relevant to this year’s exam. Additionally, the MCQ questions require in-class administration
in print or online using the LockDown Browser, and because these questions remain secure, will not provide
students with the ability to review or receive the useful feedback they’ll receive on Personal Progress Checks
or Topic Questions.
For all of these reasons, we recommend teachers and students leverage the many questions designed or
enabled for students to use on their own:
Personal Progress Check MCQ and FRQ sections
Topic Question MCQs and FRQs, which can be found by searching the Question Bank for “topic
question”
Summative FRQs, which can be found by filtering the Question Bank by question type
Optional student practice, which are summative FRQs identified by the green target icon .
Because of unforeseen circumstances, I’m afraid I won’t be able to score my students’ responses. Is other
guidance available?
Before students submit their responses, they will have an option to review the scoring guidelines for the
question. This will allow them to better understand the criteria for earning full credit. They will then be able
to revise their answers before submitting.
Which questions can be assigned to students at home?
Personal Progress Checks, Topic Questions, and all free-response questions (FRQs) in the Question Bank
can be assigned to students at home.
Which questions are still considered “secure” and what does this mean?
A secure question can only be assigned in-class, where teachers can monitor student access and protect
questions from being shared with other students. Typically, secure questions are assigned on paper as the
best preparation for AP’s paper-based exam.
This year, students will take a digitally enabled, at-home exam. For this reason, Practice Exam free-response
questions (FRQs) had their security restrictions removed to enable digital, at-home testing without restricting
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access to the internet from a LockDown Browser. This also applies to all FRQs in the Question Bank,
including previous practice exams.
The blue icon requires students to answer these questions in class on paper, or online using a LockDown
Browser to restrict access to the internet.
Can AP questions be posted on school or district-managed software or websites?
AP questions should only be administered to students using AP Classroom, as only AP Classroom provides
autoscoring of the MCQs and scoring criteria for the FRQs to evaluate student responses. In addition, AP
Classroom’s reports are designed to provide students and teachers with responsible feedback on areas of
strength and improvement.
Non-secure AP questions can be shared with students in local systems for instructional and review purposes,
particularly as we recognize the current importance of remote learning and support. Any secure AP
questions, currently limited to Practice Exam MCQs, cannot be posted on any website.
Teacher Access to AP Classroom
How do teachers get access?
Teacher Login: https://myap.collegeboard.org
Teachers will use their CB username and password to log in; these are the same login credentials used for
AP Course Audit and Online Score Reports. Administrators and students will create accounts by providing
an email and password.
I am returning to teaching an AP course after a few years. How do I get access to AP Classroom?
If you did not teach the course in 2018-19, you will need to submit a subject-specific AP Course Audit form
and have it approved by your AP Course Audit administrator.
Is there an app?
Rather than building separate apps for iPhone, Android and other mobile devices, the platform is responsive
and adjusts its display to the unique size of your mobile device. Currently the student experience is
accessible on phone and the teacher experience is accessible on tablet since they have access to features and
data best used on a larger screen. We will be enhancing and optimizing the display for mobile phone access
and all common browsers. Note: Chrome is the best browser to use.
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Will administrators and AP Coordinators have access to the to the same tools (Personal Progress Checks,
Question Bank, Progress Dashboard) that teachers do?
Yes, administrators and coordinators will be able to see the question banks for the AP courses taught in their
school.
Can district staff see AP Classroom data?
At launch district staff will be unable to view AP Classroom data, although staff will be able to tour the major
sections of the site. Access will be enabled in September 2019. When enabled, district staff* will be able to:
Review Unit Guides now, which are included in the Course and Exam Description PDFs on AP
Central. Beginning August 1, they can also access each individual unit guide in AP Central when
viewing each unit.
Preview Personal Progress Checks and view results by student and class, beginning August 1.
Preview Question Bank questions and view teacher-made assessments and results by question,
student, and class, beginning August 1.
*Important note: Schools and districts will be responsible for distributing access codes to ensure that only staff
who can legally view student results – the same staff who are allowed access to AP online score reports – are
given access to AP Classroom, as the same access code will grant access to both systems, providing access to all
student results within the school or district.
What happens if a teacher moves schools (but remains in the same district)?
Teachers will keep their login because it is associated with their CB login; however, their access would be
subject to confirming they are teaching the course at the new school. The teacher can create new classes for
their new school and archive the classes at their old school.
What happens if a teacher moves out of their district? Will they continue to have access to the AP
Classroom resources?
Access to these resources is currently limited to teachers and students within the participating districts. Any
exceptions to this rule would need to be evaluated on a case by case basis.
Do I have to train my peers/other AP teachers in my school that did not attend online training sessions?
Recordings of virtual trainings are being provided along with user guides and tutorials that will be accessible
directly in the AP support system under the “Help” menu.
Any support you can provide to your peers is appreciated. What better way to improve your own knowledge
of the system than explain it to someone else and work together?
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Student Login and Enrollment
How do students log in?
Students need a College Board student account to log into My AP (myap.collegeboard.org) and access each
of their class sections. They may already have an account, from registering for SAT tests, viewing AP and
PSAT/NMSQT scores, participating in the College Board Opportunity Scholarships program, etc. It’s
important that students don’t create multiple College Board accounts. If a student isn’t sure whether they
have a College Board account, they should contact AP Services for Students for verification before attempting
to create a new account.
Can students use their existing College Board account to sign in, or do they need to create a new account?
Students should use their existing College Board account to sign in. If they don’t have one, they should
create one before the start of the 2019-20 school year.
What if a student’s account was set up by their parent?
As long as the student knows the user name and password for their College Board account, they should be
able to log in to My AP and join their class section.
Do students use the same login information each school year or does this change from year to year?
Their College Board account is all they need to log in, and this would stay the same from year to year.
What if students forget their login information?
Students should follow the “Forgot user name or password?” links at myap.collegeboard.org to reset their
user name or password. If they take these steps and are still unable to access their account, they’ll be able to
create an AP 2019-20 interim account, which will enable them to receive AP Classroom assignments from
their teachers and register for AP Exams.
Can my school or district get our students’ College Board login information? Our students will forget this
information and have trouble registering?
We understand your concern. Login credentials for College Board accounts belong to individual students. To
protect their privacy, we don’t share students’ account information directly with any third parties, including
schools and districts. Please encourage students to save their account information in a safe place they can
access if they need to do so.
What are join codes?
Join codes are unique alphanumeric codes that connect students to their teachers and classes online. Student
must have a join code for each class they’re taking to enroll in the system, enabling them to receive
assignments from their teacher and be accounted for in the exam order.
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These codes are automatically generated when the AP coordinator creates class and exam only sections for a
school. After sections are created, AP teachers can sign in to My AP, get their join codes, and share them
with their students. Students then sign in to My AP and enter the join code to join their class section online.
Coordinators can download a list of all join codes by clicking “Download Section Info with Join Codes” on
the Courses page in AP Registration and Ordering.
Note: Join codes are generated per class section, not per student or per teacher. If a teacher has multiple classes
for an AP subject, each class would have its own join code, enabling the teacher to create class-specific
assignments and review class-specific data.
Will students be connected to all of their classes once they log in?
Once they’ve logged in with their College Board account and joined each of their class sections, using the
unique join codes provided by their AP teachers, students will have access to the assignments and feedback
for each of their AP classes.
Do students need to be registered for the exam to access AP Classroom resources?
Students must join your online AP class section to access AP Classroom assignments, but they do not need
to be registered for the AP Exam.
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AP Classroom General
Where do I report an issue?
If you are having issues with logging into College Board platforms, please contact AP Services for Educators
at 877-274-6474 (toll free US and Canada) or 212-632-1781, or email apexams@info.collegeboard.org
If you are having technical difficulties or have feedback on Question Bank items within AP Classroom, you
can use the Help menu within AP Classroom, located at the top of the screen next to your username. If there
is a technical issue with a specific question or assignment, teachers should include the link of the page they
were attempting to access.
If you have content-related feedback on AP resources, including the CEDs, topics questions, Personal
Progress Checks, or other instructional resources, you can complete the AP Feedback Form found here:
https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/ap-feedback
If you ordered a binder and have received it or you want to confirm the status of your order,
email cedsupport@collegeboard.org
Is AP classroom accessible to visually impaired students?
AP Classroom is available to all students enrolled in an AP course via AP Registration and Ordering where
they can access any resources their teachers share with them. Progress checks and question bank
assessments can be read by non-sighted students using a screen-reader when assigned online or if their
teacher provides the test as a PDF. Progress checks and question bank assessments are not available in
Braille.
Do I need to have students registered in the class to have access to the practice questions?
Teachers can access and preview the Personal Progress Checks and Question Bank items without having
class sections created or students enrolled online. In order to assign the Progress Checks or Question Bank
assessments, a class section needs to be created, but no students need to have joined the class section.
For Progress Checks and Question Bank assessments, do I have to assign each section separately in AP
Classroom or is there a way to assign multiple sections at the same time?
You can assign multiple sections at the same time. When you click to unlock/assign, you will see the list of
class sections that you can assign the assessment to. You can select one or more of these. If you select
multiple class sections, note that the same assignment settings (due date and time, time limit, etc.) will apply
to all of the selected sections.
Is it possible to unlock/assign a Progress Check or Question Bank assessment without giving students
access to it yet?
If the assessment is assigned as an offline assessment, students will not be able to access the questions
when logged in to AP Classroom. If you are planning to give the assignment online but don’t want students
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to have access to it right away, you can set a date and time in the future for the assignment to open. The
assessment will unlock automatically at the specified time. Until then, students will not be able to access it.
Are teachers required to use all the resources in the AP Classroom?
Instructional decisions belong to teachers. Teachers should feel empowered to use these flexible resources as
they see fit, to best meet the instructional needs of their students.
The resources are designed to provide teachers with a time-saving roadmap that they can modify and adjust
rather than having to build from scratch. We look forward to learning from the different, creative ways
teachers use these resources to support students’ success in the coming years.
Teachers are asked only to help ensure that their students enroll in their class section online at the beginning
of the school year. This enables exams to be ordered for students and instructional planning reports to be
created for each section. To assist teachers, we’ve developed two-page guides for them (Helping Students
Join Your AP Class Section) and their students (Joining Your AP Class Section), which can be downloaded
from collegeboard.org/ap-tools.
What if teachers don’t have time to incorporate all the resources from the AP Classroom?
Teachers can make use of these resources as they see fit, to best meet the instructional needs of their
students. In fact, the resources and supports are designed to save AP teachers time, by providing trusted
solutions for tasks like mapping curricula, developing and scoring quizzes, and providing students with
formative feedback
Are all AP subjects included in the AP Classroom?
The full set of resources will be available for most AP subjects. Some subjects will necessarily have fewer
resources because of the nature of the course or exam. For example, subjects without end-of-course exams,
like Art and Design and Research, will not have a question bank.
Will there be resources to align AP Classroom to the local curriculum?
No. AP teachers will make their own decisions about how best to implement AP Classroom resources.
Teachers will have access to videos and interactive tutorials about the new resources. Beginning in summer
2019, AP summer institutes and workshops will reflect course and exam updates and include information
about AP Classroom.
What should schools tell students and parents about AP Classroom?
They must decide about taking AP Exams in the fall, so that the AP coordinator can submit the
school’s exam order by the preferred (October 4, 2019) or final (November 15, 2019 11:59 p.m. ET)
deadlines.
It is possible to request an exam after the final deadline until the spring course orders and fall order
changes deadline (March 13, 2020, 11:59 p.m. ET), but an additional late order fee of $40 per exam
will apply.
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If an AP course starts after the Nov. 15 final deadline, schools can order those exams by Mar. 13, and
students will not be charged the late order fee.
If a student chooses to cancel an exam or does not take an exam that was ordered for them, the
school will be charged $40 for the exam.
Students will have access to more AP practice and feedback resources.
Students should have a College Board account and be able to access it. At the beginning of the
school year, they’ll need to sign in with their College Board username and password to join their
teacher’s class online.
Why don’t AP Capstone courses have the resources that other courses do in AP Classroom?
Due to the flexibility of AP Capstone courses, and the desire of AP Capstone teachers to create their own
course focus, these courses have not yet been put into units. Additionally:
Seminar (and Research) are the only courses with mandatory summer training for all new teachers –
and there is time and support built into that training for teachers to build their own skills sequence
(with the flexibility to choose on content).
AP will be launching two new online modules for Seminar this fall – which means that teachers will
have detailed guidance and training on the rubrics for all 6 components.
Early commitment should make the completion of AP Seminar Performance Task 1 run more
smoothly (where students have to work in teams – they will see fewer dropouts at the critical team
presentation stage).
Setting up Class Sections
I teach the class in the fall semester, but the only options when creating a class section are full-year and
second semester. What should I do?
Select full-year. This option can be used for any courses that start in the fall, whether they are full-year are
fall semester only courses.
If you have multiple sections of a class and decide to make only one section for all your students in AP
Classroom, will that impact their exam registration? Are separate sections necessary?
If a teacher teaches multiple sections of a subject, the best practice is to create separate class sections in the
system. This doesn’t take very long and enables the teacher to create class-specific assignments and get
class-specific reporting, including for AP Exam scores. However, if a school or teacher decided to create a
single section for an AP subject, even if there were multiple classes of the subject, this would not impact the
ability of the school to order exams.
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If I have students taking an AP course with two or three teachers over multiple terms with students
changing teachers at least once during the school year, should I create one big section for all of the
students so the AP coordinator doesn’t have to move individual students at the terms?
It would be easiest to create one section with co-teachers so all three teachers have access and students
would not need to switch sections during the year. If the school prefers, they can set up separate sections,
and the AP coordinator can help move the students between the sections when the terms change. If the
teachers work closely together, they may still want to be co-teachers on each other’s sections. When scores
are released, the students will appear in whichever section they were enrolled in when the exam was given.
Is it possible to group students within a class section?
AP Classroom currently does not offer this feature. However, developing the ability to create sub-groups
within a class is on our product roadmap.
Student Class Switches and Account Changes
What is changing for the students who are switched into my class using AP Registration and
Ordering’s “Change Section” feature?
On December 20, 2019, results data from students who are switched into your class using AP Registration and
Ordering’s “Change Section” feature will be displayed in the results area of the Personal Progress Checks, the
Question Bank and the Progress Dashboard.
Important: When you want to move a student to a different class section for the same course, you or your AP
coordinator should always use the “Change Section” feature in AP Registration and Ordering. You should not
“Drop” the student and then add them to another class section. By changing a student’s section instead of
dropping/adding them, the student’s exam decision doesn’t change, no additional costs are incurred regardless of
when you move the student, and any completed assignments follow the student to their new class section.
If a student is changing from a section in one course to a section in a different course, you need to drop the student
from the section in the first course and give them the join code for the section in the new course so they can enroll.
Which assignments will be moving with the students to their new class?
When a student switches into your class section from another class section you teach using AP Registration
and Ordering’s “Change Section” feature, any common assessments that were submitted in their previous
class will transfer to their new class. Common assessments are Personal Progress Checks and Question
Bank Quizzes that you created. Question Bank Quizzes created by other teachers are not considered common
assessments so are not included. Submitted assignments include assignments that have been submitted or
scored.
Will all assignments be transferred all at once, regardless of whether they have been assigned in the new
class?
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No. Assignments that the student submitted in their previous class will be transferred to their new class only
when there is an assignment in the new class for the same assessment. When you create an assignment, AP
Classroom will look for any students who took the assessment in their previous class and then transfer it to
your class. This means that you could see student submissions on a new assignment as soon as you create
it.
For a PPC or Question Bank assessment with multiple attempts, the two assignments must be of the same
attempt in order to be included. For example, if the student took a PPC and retake in their first class but in
the new class you’ve assigned the PPC once, only the results for this first attempt will be included in the
transferred results. If you assign that PPC for a retake, then the switched student’s results for the retake will
be added.
What else will be moved to the student’s new class section?
1. For scored FRQs, the rubric scores will be transferred and can be reviewed and edited by the
student’s new teacher
2.
Personalized comments/feedback provided by the teacher of the prior class will be transferred and
can be reviewed and edited by the student’s new teacher.
3. The Progress Dashboard will also reflect a student’s movement to a new class.
Will I be able to distinguish whose assignment moved into my class from those who took it in my class?
Yes. On the Progress page for the assignment, there will be a notice that the assignment includes students
whose assignment was submitted (or scored, in the case of an assignment taken on paper and scored in AP
Classroom) in their prior class. You will also see each student’s submission date, marked with an asterisk
for students who submitted the assignment in a prior class.
Additionally, the student response matrix on the assignment progress page (the “Students” tab) includes
each student’s submission date, marked with an asterisk for students who submitted the assignment in a
prior class.
Does this affect students who have already switched into my class this school year?
Yes. However, if the student has started or submitted an assignment for the same assessment in their new
class, the assignment from their previous class will not be transferred. The assignment in their new class
will remain unaffected.
What about when my student has started using a different College Board account?
Sometimes students create multiple College Board user accounts. Either by request or as part of an
automated process, one of the accounts will be deactivated and their College Board resources associated with
the deactivated account will be moved to their live account. Now, AP Classroom assignments will also be
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transferred to the live account. If there is a conflict, where the same assessments were taken with both
accounts, the assignment associated with the live account will be retained.
Moving assignments from a deactivated student account to the live account is planned to be done over the
course of January, 2020.
What’s next?
While assignments will now be transferred to the student’s new class, you will soon have the option to view
the performance on assignments taken in your class by students who were in your class, but who either
dropped it or transferred to another class. This will allow you to get a complete picture of how students
performed in your class to inform your class instruction. The option to view performance of past and present
students will be available for PPC and Question Bank results and on the Progress Dashboard.
Topic Questions
What are topic questions?
Topic questions are formative questions that teachers can use to check student understanding as each topic
is taught in the AP course. There are typically three Topic Questions for each topic, easily accessible to
teachers in AP Classroom on the homepage next to each topic and skill of each unit. Teachers can review
class and student results on Topic Questions to reveal misunderstandings and target content and skills to
emphasize during lessons on that topic.
Do all courses have topic questions?
While all courses may not be structured around topics, all courses will have questions that assess the content
and skills in the unit guide. For example: the World Language courses will have three or more questions
provided for every task model and skill, and the English courses will have three or more questions provided
for every skill. All courses that have Progress Checks have topic questions.
Can assessments with topic question assessments be taken in print and online?
Yes, topic question assessments are assigned and managed through the Question Bank, which supports both
print and online assessments.
Unit Guides
Do all subjects have Unit Guides in the AP Classroom?
All subjects except for Art and Design (2D, 3D, Drawing), Computer Science Principles, Research, and
Seminar have Unit Guides.
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Are teachers required to follow the Unit Guides?
Instructional decisions belong to teachers. Teachers should feel empowered to use the Unit Guides as they
see fit, to best meet the instructional needs of their students.
Personal Progress Checks (PPCs)
What are Personal Progress Checks?
Personal Progress Checks measure knowledge and skills through multiple-choice questions with rationales
explaining correct and incorrect answers, and free-response questions with scoring information. These
formative questions are designed to provide students with regular opportunities to check their understanding
throughout the year.
Do all AP courses have Personal Progress Checks?
Not all courses have topics or have a Unit at a Glance to guide the Personal Progress Check design. But all
courses with traditional summative exams DO have PPCs that follow the Unit Guides. For example:
• AP World Languages courses lack topics; the unit guides outline the stimulus/task models with
suggested skills. The PPC questions in these courses will assess every skill and every task model in
the unit.
• The AP English courses lack topics but the unit guides outline the skill categories and skills. The
PPC questions in these courses will assess every skill in the unit.
Do the Personal Progress Checks accurately represent the new types of questions on AP exams? Or, are
these just old questions pulled for student/class use?
Personal Progress Checks consist of new questions that are formative in nature. Questions in early units are
not at the level of rigor that the students will see on the exam in May. They are designed to be assigned
throughout the year to measure student progress as they acquire content knowledge and develop skills.
Are there explanations for the answers for Personal Progress Checks?
Rationales for each correct and incorrect answer are included for all of the new, formative multiple-choice
questions that have been created, including Personal Progress Check questions.
Where can I find the rationale? I don’t see this feedback when previewing the Personal Progress Checks.
To access the scoring guides for the FRQ Personal Progress Checks, teachers can click to preview the
assessment and then click the “Scoring Guide” link at the top right next to the Assign button. Similarly, for
any Question Bank Assignments teachers have created, they can click to preview and then click the “Scoring
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Guide” link. Note that Question Bank items need to be added to an assignment to access the scoring
guidelines.
Available rationale will be displayed to teachers when reviewing the responses submitted by students. Each
question-level results screen in the will show the question prompt, the answer choices, and the correct
answer (marked with a checkmark). Selecting the option itself will display answer feedback. Teachers will
also see a student icon with the number of students who chose each option.
Can the Personal Progress Checks be customized to add or remove questions?
The Personal Progress Checks were created as full forms to assess all the topics and skills within a unit and
have been designed to fit within a 45-minute class period per part. Therefore, it is not possible to customize
the Personal Progress Checks. However, for teachers who do not follow the units as outlined in the Course
and Exam Description, there are additional formative multiple-choice questions available for each topic and
additional formative free-response questions for each unit that are not packaged as an entire assessment like
the Personal Progress Checks and that can therefore be used more flexibly; those questions can be accessed
by clicking “Topic Questions” next to each topic or by going into the Question Bank and filtering by
assessment type for “Formative” questions.
Do Personal Progress Checks have to be completed in class?
Personal Progress Checks can be completed in class or at home. These formative questions are designed to
provide students with regular opportunities to check their understanding throughout the year – they are not
intended to function as timed tests with implications for students’ course grades.
Can Personal Progress Checks be taken on paper? If so, how do I print?
The Personal Progress Checks are provided in two sections to enable easy administration: a multiple-choice
section delivered online for autoscoring and immediate feedback, and a free response section that can be
assigned on paper or online if appropriate to the question. Administering the Personal Progress Checks
multiple-choice section online helps teachers efficiently review student completion and performance data,
without having to manually score and enter students’ results in the system. If students lack access to mobile
devices or computers at school and at home, teachers can use the Question Bank to assess students on
paper.
In order to print a Progress Check, follow these steps:
1. When you assign the Progress Check using the Assignment pop-up, set the "Take Assessment
Offline?" slider is selected so it is green.
2. When you select “Update” on the Assignment pop-up, you will go to the Progress tab where you will
see the button "View Test Books". Clicking the button converts the test to a PDF and downloads it on
your computer. You can then open the PDF and print it for your classroom.
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Can the test book (when selecting to print) be generated as a Microsoft Word doc (rather than PDF) so that
teachers can adjust the layout of the test (i.e., so that question and answer choices are on the same
page)?
Generating a Microsoft Word document is unfortunately not currently possible but we appreciate the
feedback that keeping the answer choices on the same page as the prompt is important. We have tried to
balance the need to minimize paper with the goal to show responses alongside questions; we'll continue to
optimize this in our product development.
How do I assign to students who missed the test day?
You can unlock the test you already assigned so the student can take it. Only students who haven't already
completed their tests will be able to submit a test.
Can I reassign Personal Progress Checks?
Yes, you can reassign PPCs after all of the students in your class have completed it. When assign an
assessment, you’ll see a Reassign column, and any of your class sections that have completed the
assignment will be listed there. You can reassign by checking the box for that class period. This will create a
new assessment with the identical questions that you can assign to your class.
Can you scramble the order of questions in an assignment that are presented to students?
The “Scramble Questions” feature, when applied while assigning an assessment to multiple classes,
randomly scrambles the order of questions for each class so they’ll be different. (Note that if multiple
questions are associated with a shared prompt, those questions will always be consecutive and following that
prompt. The order of questions associated with that prompt will be scrambled too though.)
Do teachers have the ability to set a time limit on assignments?
Yes – when assigning a Progress Check, you can select whether you want to include a time limit, and then
set that time limit. There will be an on-screen timer counting down the time for your students as they take the
assignment. The clock starts for each student when he or she begins the assignment, and can be hidden or
viewed at the student’s discretion until there is less than one minute remaining. When time runs out, the
student will be notified, and can submit the assignment as is or choose to continue working. To enforce the
time limit, you can lock the assessment at any time.
Can you schedule times during which the Progress Check is available (rather than unlocking it manually)?
Yes - when you assign a Progress Check you can set a start date and due date for the assessment
If a student changes class sections, will data from their PPCs be saved?
Yes, all assessment data should be maintained when a student changes class sections. If you have changed a
student’s class section and are not seeing his or her data in the AP Classroom, please contact the College
Board.
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The Progress Dashboard
What is the Progress Dashboard?
With the Progress Dashboard, teachers and administrators can view progress for every student and class
across AP units and skills. The Course Summary report highlights student progress across the units.
Teachers view their classes and students, and school and district administrators can view results for the
schools, classes, and students they’re responsible for.
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The Question Bank
What is the Question Bank?
The AP Question Bank is one of the most frequently requested resources by AP teachers. It is an online
library of more than 15,000 real AP Exam questions that teachers can use to create practice tests and
assignments to support classroom instruction and help prepare students for the AP Exams.
Teaches can find questions indexed by course topics and skills and create their own practice tests and
assignments using real AP Exam questions. In addition to the individual questions in the bank, teachers also
have access to a new, full length practice exam. Students are able to complete quizzes or assignments on
paper, phone, or computer.
Can students access the AP Question Bank directly?
No. Only AP teachers and other school staff have access to the AP Question Bank. Students will only have
access to Question Bank items that have been assigned to them by their teacher. However, questions have
different security levels indicated, and those marked “publicly available” have previously been released, so
students may have seen them in other formats.
Also, the Question Bank provides each question individually, rather than as complete exams in PDF format.
This greatly reduces the number of questions that can be inappropriately shared, and help teachers easily
assemble their own unique quizzes that are harder to replicate. The Question Bank will also contain
thousands of never-before-seen questions.
Are there explanations/rationales for the answers for Question Bank items?
Rationales for each correct and incorrect answer are included for all of the new, formative multiple-choice
questions that have been created, which include the Question Bank’s Topic Questions. We don't have
rationales for the summative Question Bank multiple-choice questions because rationales aren't created for
the AP Exam.
If having rationales included for all the summative multiple-choice questions by the AP Program is of
interest, teachers can submit this feedback through the contact form in AP Classroom. If we hear interest
from enough teachers to prioritize this feature over others we will investigate building them over time.
Can I assign practice exams to my students?
Yes, in the Question bank you can assign the MCQ or FRQ portions of any available practice exams to your
students. You will see these options under the Assign tab in the Question Bank. Print versions of these
exams are formatted in AP exam style and the scoring guides for the exams can be downloaded in PDF
format.
In order to use practice exams containing MCQs in AP Classroom, you must agree to an attestation that
appears on screen when you visit the Question Bank. You will also have the opportunity to agree to the
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attestation when you assign an assessment containing MCQ practice exam questions. The attestation has
been updated for the online 2020 AP Exam administration and reads:
The question bank has been updated to better support school closures and students at home. All free-response questions
may now be assigned to students for digital testing using mobile phones, tablets, and computers. Please review the updated
security policy below.
I understand that the 2020 AP Exam will ask students to answer free-response questions on digital devices at home; as such,
all free-response questions, including all free-response questions on practice exams, can be assigned digitally to students at
home.
To protect the security of multiple-choice questions for teacher use, I will not assign multiple-choice practice exam questions
as take-home assignments. I will use AP Classroom to assign online or in print, using the secure LockDown Browser for
online tests or collecting print tests back from my students in class.
I will not post AP questions on any other website or software. I understand this limits the ability for all AP teachers to use
questions with their students, as well as violates College Board’s copyright policies, and may result in termination of access
to AP resources.
Can I add questions from AP practice exams to Question Bank assessments?
Yes, all the practice exam questions in the Question Bank are available to added to the assessments you
assign to your class. On the Create tab of the Question Bank, you can find them by selecting the
“Assessment Purpose and Source” filter. Multiple-choice questions will appear with a shield icon, indicating
they are secure questions. FRQs will not have the shield icon and can be assigned without using the secure
browser, to facilitate their use for student practice for the 2020 AP exams.
Can I assign assessments with practice exam questions online and in print, and as homework, like other
assessments I create in the Question Bank?
To maintain the security of practice exam questions, teachers have some restrictions on how they assign
assessments with practice exam questions:
1. Assessments with MCQ practice exam questions should only be assigned in class, not as homework.
2. Assessments created with multiple-choice questions may be assigned to be taken online, but
students must have the secure LockDown browser installed on their computer or iPad in order take
the assessments. With the LockDown Browser, students cannot print, copy, or go to another website
while they are taking the assessment until they submit it. For more information, visit the
LockDown
Browser webpage and the technical questions section of this document.
3. In order to facilitate student practice for the 2020 AP exams, FRQs may be assigned as practice in
print or online, and do not require the use of the LockDown browser.
4. Any assessment with at least one multiple-choice practice exam question will be subject to the
restrictions listed above.
Are there differences for students when they take assessments that include secure multiple-choice practice
exam questions?
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Yes. First, for assessments containing MCQs assigned online, students will see a message in their
Assignments area reminding them they need to install the secure LockDown browser. They will see a link to
a diagnostic test to see if the LockDown browser has been installed. If the diagnostic test doesn’t work, they
should let you know so you can help troubleshoot the problem with your school’s IT staff. If students are
able to install software on their own devices, they will also see a link to download and install the LockDown
browser in the Assignments area of AP Classroom.
Second, when students view their results they will not be able to see the text of secure multiple-choice
practice exam questions: they will only see if they their MCQ response was correct or not.
How do I filter the Question Bank to see new (post-redesign) questions only?
One of the filters available in Question Bank is “Exam Alignment,” and can be used to filter out legacy
questions. Click on the question mark next to the ‘Exam Alignment’ filter wherever it appears, and it provides
the following explanations:
Perfect: Perfect alignment to Redesigned Course and Exam using a stimulus
Strong: Representative of the LOs/Key Concepts AND Skills of Redesigned Course and Exam,
though not asked in the format of the redesigned exam
Moderate: Represents skill OR content that is in the course, but mismatched or at a level lower than
the course suggests
Minimal: Prerequisite knowledge for course content/not (directly) assessed on the exam
Why are questions that are no longer aligned included?
We wanted to provide as many questions as possible - for example, while a question with ‘Minimal’
alignment would be not be a good example of a question that would be on a current AP exam, it could still be
useful in a formative assessment that’s making sure that students have relevant prerequisite knowledge.
How can I see the number of questions I’ve added to the assignment I am creating?
In the Create tab, you can Preview the assignment you are creating. In the top right of the Preview screen,
you can see total number of questions added to the assignment thus far (1/5).
How can I tell if I’ve already used a question in an assessment?
In the Create tab, when you are adding questions to an assignment, an orange bar appears to the left of the
question title indicates you have already used the question in an assessment. Clicking on the bar tells you
whether it’s in an assessment that’s been assigned or just one you’ve created but not assigned.
How can I tell the number of questions available for the assessment I’m creating?
In the Create tab, when you are adding questions to an assignment using the filters, you can see the number
of questions available for the subject you are working with above the question list. When you apply a filter,
the question count resets to reflect the number of questions that match the filter settings.
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Can I create new questions in the Question Bank?
Currently, you can create new multiple-choice questions. Select the “Add a Question” button on the Create
tab. The capability to create new free response questions will be added soon.
Can I edit existing questions in the Question Bank?
Currently, you cannot edit Question Bank questions. This feature will be added soon.
How can I edit a quiz after it’s been created?
You can edit an assessment you’ve created under the Assign tab. Click on the green pencil icon next to the
assessment you want to edit. You can add, remove, and reorder questions. Once you make changes, you can
click ‘Save Quiz’ and navigate back to the Assign tab to see your updated assessment. If you click ‘Cancel
changes’, the assessment will return to the most recently saved version.
You can also delete the assessment entirely as long as you haven’t already assigned it to a class.
Is there a way to edit a quiz that has already been assigned?
Once you've assigned a quiz you can't edit it because the system needs to store the version of the quiz
students actually saw.
I just created and assigned a Question Bank assessment, but now I want to delete it. How do I do this?
Since the assessment has already been assigned, it needs to be marked as complete before it can be deleted.
Follow these steps to delete.
1. Go to Question Bank and then select the Progress tab.
2. Click on the title of the assessment.
3. Select “Mark Complete” to stop tracking progress for this assessment.
4. Select “Delete” if you want to delete this assessment.
You will be asked if you are sure you want to delete and can then select “Yes” or “No”. Note that you will
also be deleting any student data associated with this assignment.
How do I print Question Bank assignments?
Any items from the Question Bank can be printed once they have been added to a custom quiz. In order to
print offline assessments, there are two steps users need to follow after the quiz has been created.
1. When you assign the quiz using the Assignment pop-up, set the "Take Assessment Offline?" slider is
selected so it is green.
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2. When you select “Update” on the Assignment pop-up, you will go to the Progress tab of the Question
Bank where you will see the button "View Test Books". Clicking the button converts the test to a PDF
and downloads it on your computer. You can then open the PDF and print it for your classroom.
Can the test book (when selecting to print) be generated as a Microsoft Word doc (rather than PDF) so that
teachers can adjust the layout of the test (i.e., so that question and answer choices are on the same
page)?
Generating a Microsoft Word document is unfortunately not currently possible but we appreciate the
feedback that keeping the answer choices on the same page as the prompt is important. We have tried to
balance the need to minimize paper with the goal to show responses alongside questions; we'll continue to
optimize this in our product development.
Can you “reset” the test?
You can delete the assignment (which will lose any associated student data) and reassign; or close the
assignment and reassign using a different title.
Will I be able to access quizzes I set up this year again next year?
Yes, any Question Bank assessments/practice quizzes teachers create this year will be available for use in
future years.
How do I assign to students who missed the test day?
You can unlock the test you already assigned so the student can take it. Only students who haven't already
completed their tests will be able to submit a test.
Can you easily assign electronic retake?
Students can only take an assessment once. However, you can reassign the assessment by clicking on the
“Complete” button while viewing the original assignment. This will create a new assessment with identical
questions you can assign to your class. We suggest you update the title to identify it's a retake so you'll be
able to easily differentiate it from the original in the results view.
Can you scramble the order of questions in an assignment that are presented to students?
The “Scramble Questions” feature, when applied while assigning an assessment to multiple classes,
randomly scrambles the order of questions for each class so they’ll be different. (Note that if multiple
questions are associated with a shared prompt, those questions will always be consecutive and following that
prompt. The order of questions associated with that prompt will be scrambled too though.)
Can teachers share assignments that they have created in the QB with other AP teachers in their school?
Currently, teachers cannot "share" a created assignment but we would like to develop this functionality once
we see how many teachers use the question creation capabilities. But if you set a co-teacher for your class,
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you and your co-teacher can share assignments. For example, John the teacher made an excellent Unit 1 Test
using the question bank. Sally the teacher can enroll John the teacher into her Period 1 class as a co-teacher.
John then has teacher access to Sally’s Period 1 class. From his account, he can assign his Unit 1 Test to
Sally's class. Sally (and John) can monitor students' progress, enter scores, print the Unit 1 Test booklet and
teacher guide, etc. as if she had assigned the test. However, the Unit 1 Test will not show up in Sally's
Assign tab.
Do teachers have the ability to set a time limit on assignments?
Yes – when assigning an assessment, you can select whether you want to include a time limit, and then set
that time limit. There will be an on-screen timer counting down the time for your students as they take the
assignment. The clock starts for each student when he or she begins the assignment, and can be hidden or
viewed at the student’s discretion until there is less than one minute remaining. When time runs out, the
student will be notified, and can submit the assignment as is or choose to continue working. To enforce the
time limit, you can lock the assessment at any time.
Can you schedule times during which the assignment is available (rather than unlocking it manually)?
Yes - when you assign an assessment you can set a start date and due date for the assessment
Some questions ask students to graph, write equations, provide music notation on a staff, etc. How is this
done?
Teachers can print these questions for students to respond to on paper, enabling students to graph and write
equations, or write their responses on staff paper they have on hand. Students can then take a picture of their
work using a mobile device and upload it to the AP Classroom.
Will students be able to read for the speaking prompts?
Students can record their response using a recording feature within the AP Classroom assessment
application.
How do I score multiple-choice questions assigned in print? Do I need to score MC questions administered
online?
A scoring guide is created for each assessment you create. For print assessments, you need to enter your
student’s scores on the Progress tab for the assessment in the Question Bank. Online MC questions are
scored automatically.
How do I score free-response questions I assign through the Question Bank?
Scoring guidelines are available for each free-response question in the Question Bank.
Can teachers see how long it took for a student to complete the assignment (i.e., time on task)
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Yes - if the teacher assigns the assessment as a timed assessment. Realistically there’s no guarantee that
time on task is measured, but the time between when a student started and submitted the assignment is
recorded in the system and displayed to the teacher.
Can teachers view results to see how many students missed questions aligned to specific standards?
The results display how many students selected particular responses to each question. Related Content and
Skills are displayed for each question, and you can see more detailed question categorization by clicking the
Question Details tab to the right of the question, which you can keep visible as you move through the
question review. You can also filter the Results page to identify tests that measure a particular standard or
learning objective. We are working on refining to the question-level so you can see standards-type
information (learning objectives, skills, etc.) for each question and across questions for future versions of the
AP Classroom.
Can teachers provide individual feedback for students while scoring their results?
Teachers can include feedback to individual students within the system to further explain the reason for the
student’s score. Only the teacher and the student receiving the feedback will see the feedback. Students also
see the scoring guidelines for the FRQs used at the AP Reading.
Can teachers export student results from the system to an Excel file?
This is in the development plan but is not available yet. We will be developing export capabilities over time.
If you use the question bank to replicate the entirety of an old AP exam, could you get an AP score from
the students' results?
No, the question bank is not designed to predict AP Exam scores; it is a teaching and learning tool for your
classroom.
Technical Questions/Problems
What is the LockDown Browser?
The LockDown Browser, a free secure browser that enhances the security of online testing by restricting
student access to the internet. Students must install the LockDown browser onto their device in order to take
a secure assessment. For more information on how to install the LockDown browser, refer to this page.
Is the LockDown Browser required for the 2020 online AP Exam?
No, students do not need the LockDown browser to take the 2020 AP Exam.
What student devices are supported by the LockDown browser?
The LockDown browser can be installed on:
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Windows or Mac computers (using Chrome, Firefox, or Safari 10 or higher)
School-managed Chromebooks. Note that the LockDown browser can’t be installed on Chromebooks
that students own and manage.
iPad (iOS 12 or higher) test administration is supported, but students may miss troubleshooting
messages.
Does the LockDown browser work with mobile phones?
No, the LockDown browser can only be installed on the devices listed above.
As a teacher, do I need to install the LockDown browser?
No, teachers do not need to install the LockDown browser. They should work with their school’s technology
department to make sure students have the LockDown browser installed on their devices.
Which AP Classroom assignments require the LockDown browser?
Multiple-choice questions from secure practice exams require the use of the LockDown browser when
assigned online. These questions can be found in the “Assign” and “Create” tabs of the Question Tab. They
are designated with a blue shield icon . In the Assign tab, secure MCQs are combined together with other
multiple-choice questions from the same practice exam as a full assessment. In the Create tab, they appear
individually and can be added to any assignment you create. Remember that as long an assessment you
create contains at least one secure MCQ, the assessment must be assigned either in print or using the
LockDown browser.
Do all practice exam questions require the use of the LockDown browser?
Multiple-choice practice exam questions require the secure browser. In order to facilitate student practice
using FRQs to prepare for the 2020 AP Exams, free-response practice exam questions do not require the
secure browser.
May I assign assessments using the LockDown browser even if not required?
Yes. If your students have the LockDown browser installed, teachers may assign any assessment in AP
Classroom using the secure LockDown browser. Note that assessments that have FRQs that require
uploaded or recorded responses can’t be assigned using the LockDown Browser, because it does not allow
file uploads or recordings. If you are unable to toggle the “LockDown Browser” slider, check to ensure the
FRQs in your assessment are text response only.
I have assigned an assessment requiring the LockDown browser. How will my students know they need to
have it?
When you assign an assessment containing secure questions, your students will see a notice in AP
Classroom’s assignments tab notifying that they have an assessment that requires the LockDown browser.
The notification includes a link to diagnostic test to make sure the secure browser is installed correctly. You
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should instruct your students to run that test. If it fails, they should let you know so you can work with your
technology staff to correct the problem. If your students are able to download and install software directly to
their devices, the notification also includes a link to download the secure browser so they may do this
themselves (note this will only work if the student is using a device compatible with the secure browser, as
listed above).
My students are getting error messages when they try to take a secure assessment, what should I do?
First, verify if the student is using one of the compatible devices listed below. Note that the secure browser
will not work with student-owned Chromebooks. Second, contact the technology staff at your school and
confirm they have followed the installation instructions
and have them reach out to the student for more
information about the error messages the student is seeing.
I am getting error messages when trying to view Question Bank items. What should I do?
If a teacher experiences an error with a question bank item, they should submit it through the Help menu
within AP Classroom, located at the top of the screen next to their username and include a link to the broken
questions they’re finding.
One additional tip: when a teacher previews a question but closes it before it loads, often by clicking the back
button while the system loads the requested question, it can result in an error when they try to view the next
question. So quick guidance that could help these teachers would be to refresh their page, and wait for each
question to load when they click preview. This can take some time because a teacher can navigate to preview
every question from this view, so subjects with larger totals can take a little time to load the preview.
I can no longer access the Teaching and Assessing modules through the links sent by College Board. Are
they not available anymore?
There is an issue with the link that we had provided in the past to access these, but they are still available.
Teachers can access the modules by going to AP Classroom and navigating to the Professional Learning
tab.
Can students take assessments on their mobile devices?
Yes, online assessments are fully compatible with mobile phones and tablets.
What browsers will work with the applications?
We recommend using the latest versions of Chrome or Safari. The latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Edge,
IE, and Safari are supported.
Is there a mobile app for AP Registration and Ordering or AP Classroom?
No, but our applications are mobility accessible through phones and tablets through the standard URLs.
What device is recommended for users?
The recommended device varies, depending on the user.
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For Coordinators, AP Registration and Ordering is most readily engaged using a desktop or laptop computer,
as you’ll be working through course rosters and other information where a larger screen can be beneficial.
This could also be accomplished through a larger tablet, but it is not recommended that an AP coordinator’s
registration or ordering activities are done via a phone.
For Teachers, it’s recommended to use a desktop computer or a tablet.
For Students, the majority of your experience can be done using any number of devices, from phone to tablet
to desktop/laptop configurations. Assessments that include questions with long stimuli are best viewed on a
desktop or tablet. Foreign language and music courses have audio stimuli and require headphones or
speakers.
Do I need to download any software to use AP Classroom?
No, for the majority of interactions there are no additional downloads needed to access and use AP
Classroom. Additionally, there are no special browser requirements and the system should function properly
with the standard browser configuration.
Who do I contact if the site is blocked?
You should have your network administrator whitelist the following domains:
collegeboard.org domain for web applications
collegeboa[email protected]egeboard.org for emails
docusign.net so the AP coordinator can receive notifications about the AP participation form
academicmerit.com to access AP Classroom resources.
Can we load the assignments from AP Classroom into my school’s local LMS?
This is not currently supported, but we are looking at ways to facilitate making AP Classroom data available
to school LMSs.
Security
Are teachers permitted to assign “secure” question bank questions to students as homework? How do we
protect the integrity of secure items?
As a best practice, we recommend teachers only assign secure questions either in class or using the secure
LockDown browser to protect their security. One of the most common concerns we hear from AP teachers is
how quickly practice questions are exposed online, disrupting teachers’ ability to use them for graded
assignments. By making so many practice questions available to teachers, our philosophy becomes: even if a
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student does get access to them, any student motivated to learn all of the knowledge and practice the skills
measured by all of the past AP exam questions is probably not a student worth our collective handwringing.
Moreover, because teachers will be mixing and matching questions from many years of different exams, it is
highly unlikely that the disclosure of any one distillation of practice questions would negatively impact
teachers’ ability to make consistent, frequent use of the AP Question Bank. And teachers will be able to
modify questions to create AP Exam-like questions that students won’t see anywhere else.
Do teachers need to be concerned about copyright permissions for copying/printing multiple copies of
questions from the Question Bank?
So long as teachers use the question bank for registered students and instructional purposes only, they will
meet our guidelines for usage. The official guideline is: "Use or distribution of these materials online or in
print beyond your school’s participation in the program is prohibited."
