In the next two months, AP testing, the EAP, CAHSEE, and newly introduced Smarter Balance will sweep into schedules.

According assistant principal Anne Dolid, it is a challenge to get all the scheduling for AP testing done properly in the two crazy weeks which the College Board sets the dates and the times for.

“The schedule stays consistent from year to year to avoid having two tests on the same day that the same kid would take,” Dolid said. “What I think is confusing for people about the scheduling is that the state hasn’t given us a testing window until very recently for the new assessment. So in terms of schedules, everything has been really up in the air.”

While AP testing is optional for many students, The CAHSEE (California High School Exit Exam) is a mandatory test for sophomores or any juniors or seniors who either did not pass it or did not take it.

According to the California Department of Education website, the CAHSEE is administered as early as July 23, and at the latest May 14.

The EAP, or Early Assessment Program, is a program run through the California State University (CSU).

According to the EAP website, “California State University…has long accommodated large numbers of incoming students who need remedial education in English and mathematics.”

“EAP, or the Early Assessment program, is embedded in the STAR Test for 11 grade in Math and English, and we administer the essay part in classrooms,” Dolid said. “But because of the relationship with the EAP, juniors still have to do the STAR testing in Math and English so that they cover all of those questions for placement.”

There is also a new version of the STAR Test, called the Smarter Balance Test, that will be taking place April 28 through 30.

“What’s different is that they are field testing the new balance testing system, which is all computer-based,” Dolid said.

Assistant Principal Eric Mapes said that the new version of the STAR Test now includes performance tests, in which multiple step problems get increasingly more challenging.

“The questions on the Smarter Balance test are definitely more challenging, but I think that kids will be more active and they will eventually be able to see the results,” Mapes said.

Although questions are more challenging, Mapes said that students should not be discouraged from trying their best.

“[Smarter Balance] has a baseline to go by, so we won’t see the scores, but it’s important that we do the best we can on them,” Mapes said. “It’s also helpful to see where our glitches are, because it will be all on computers, and we want to find out where our struggles are.”

Mapes said that the school was supposed to have the juniors also take the new test, but they were able to eliminate that from the juniors’ plate, so the juniors will no longer be taking the new version of the STAR Test.

“The old STAR Test will still be somewhat in place, because the sophomores will take science and the juniors will take English language arts and math, based on what level they are in their math course,” counselor Amanda Carlson said.

Carlson also said that Common Core is a significant reason for changing the STAR test.

“Common Core came about as a result of colleges and universities and businesses basically saying that kids aren’t prepared,” Mapes said.

Dolid said that with the adoption of Common Core standards, there was a need to revamp the testing system.

“So Common Core is hopefully going to address some of those concerns and because of that, the STAR Test is different,” Dolid said.