This week the DC Council's Committee of the Whole had a public hearing on B24-0665 - Access to Advanced Placement Exams Amendment Act of 2022, as written this bill would allow homeschool students to sit for AP exams. The student would take the exam at the DC Public School they would have attended if they were not homeschooled.
Years ago, the College Board, the nonprofit responsible for administering AP exams along with other standardized tests, allowed DCPS to purchase AP tests in bulk. Tests not utilized by DCPS students could be utilized by homeschooled students. Unfortunately, the College Board's policy changed. Currently, a student registering for an AP exam complete everything at the time of exam purchase, which in effect mandates DCPS to link a student’s name to each exam locking out many homeschooled students. If DCPS wants to get exams for homeschooled students, they need to identify these students and ensure they were properly registered with the College Board before their annual bulk exam purchase.
As a result of this policy change, DCPS is no longer administering AP tests at their testing sites.
If enacted, this bill would address these issues. It would require DCPS to permit homeschooled students to sit for AP Exams at the school that the student could "attend of-right" or a reasonable alternate location, where the student’s of-right school will not be offering that particular AP exams." Attend of right, or as it is referred to in the bill, Right-to-attend schools refers to DCPS neighborhood school the student would have attended if they were not homeschooled. The bill also authorizes DCPS to provide information to homeschooled students (referred to as "nonenrollee" in the legislation) on the date, time, and location of the exam, day of logistics, and other important information. B24-0665 also requires the Office of the State Superintendent of Education(OSSE) legislation to confirm that the student requesting an AP Exam is participating in a homeschool program, has received a request to register for an AP exam, and meets all other eligibility requirements.
The Access to Advanced Placement Exams Amendment Act of 2022 had its public hearing this week. The next step in the process will be for this bill if it is ready to have a vote to report it out of the Committee of the Whole. If there are any questions about this bill the primary sponsors, Councilmember Cheh and Chairman Mendelson, request that you contact Michael Porcello, at mporcello@dccouncil.us or (202) 724-8062.
Text of B24-0665, Access to Advanced Placement Exams Amendment Act of 2022
