Exam Timeline
Item Writing
Putting It Together
Printing the Exam
Shipping
Administration at Schools
The AP Check-in
Reading Sites
The Final Stop

Item Writing
Most AP Exam questions (called "items") are created by Development Committee members at least two years before students see them. Before any question is included in an exam, it must be reviewed by the entire committee, ETS content experts, and the Chief Reader. In addition to the operational exam that most AP students take, several additional exams are created for late and alternate testing.

Putting It Together
After all exam items have been selected, any accompanying tables, graphs, maps, photographs, cartoons, illustrations, prose and poetry excerpts, and audio components must be incorporated. For those visual, audio, and text elements that are copyrighted, permissions are sought from the owners. With specifications and permissions in place, the items are prepared for printing as a paper-and-pencil test by Test Production Services (TPS) -- a specialized publishing department at ETS. Test Production Services is also responsible for printing nonstandard format exams (such as Braille and photo-enlarged exams) for students with disabilities. The production of all other exam components is coordinated by the ETS AP Operations Department. These components include the master speaking tapes for the foreign language exams, the CD of music excerpts for the AP Music Theory Exam, the slides of artworks that are projected on screens during the administration of the AP Art History Exam, and the AP Studio Art portfolios.

Printing the Exam
Because more and more schools are offering AP courses and more students are taking AP Exams, the number of AP Exams that are printed each year is growing. In 2005, 15,380 schools participated in the program -- a 12 percent increase from 2004 -- and 1,221,016 students took AP Exams -- up from 504,823 in 1995. Almost all AP Exams are printed three to six months prior to the exam administration, before being ordered by the schools, so the number of exams needed is estimated. Quantities are calculated based on the orders from the previous five years with a percentage added for Program growth. More than 2.2 million exams were printed in 2005, including alternate forms of the exams (for students who could not test on the scheduled date and for overseas testing) and nonstandard-format exams (such as Braille, photo-enlarged, and large-type).

Because of the volume involved, several printing vendors are contracted to produce the exams. Even though different printers are involved, all exams require the same specifications. The printers are carefully selected so that all aspects of production in their printing plants are quality controlled and compliant with all ETS test security procedures.

When the exams arrive at ETS from the printers, they are again quality checked before they are shipped to the schools that will administer them.

Shipping
In 2005, AP Exams were shipped to 15,380 schools in more than 100 countries around the world. Shipping begins at the end of March; overseas orders are processed first because of the extra time needed for the exams to reach their destinations. ETS ships the exams via UPS, Federal Express, and DHL, among other couriers. Cartons are specially made for shipping AP Exams to and from schools. These cartons are double walled and can hold up to 450 pounds of material.

Administration at Schools
Finally! The exam booklets, slides, answer sheets, speaking tapes, Music Theory CDs, AP Coordinator's Manuals, Studio Art portfolios, and other exam-related materials arrive at schools worldwide in April or early May. In 2005 a total of 2.1 million exams were taken by 1,221,016 AP students.

Within 24 hours of receiving the exams, the school's AP Coordinator checks the contents of the delivery against the Shipping and Remittance Form, reseals the cartons, and places them in secure, locked storage until the exams are administered.

At the end of the two-week exam administration period, the AP Coordinator packs up all the exam materials and returns them to ETS.

The AP Check-in
As these exam materials -- more than 35,000 boxes worth! -- make their way back to ETS, the check-in stage begins. Busy AP staff members have just a few days to count all the materials and then send the multiple-choice answer sheets to be scanned and the free-response booklets to several AP Reading sites across the United States. As discrepancies are found -- for example, the number of items that the AP Coordinator listed on the Shipping and Remittance Form is more than the number contained in a box -- schools are contacted so the problems can be resolved immediately. This operation's emphasis on speed is to ensure that as many students as possible are able to receive their AP grades at the beginning of July; in 2005 more than 98 percent of AP grade reports were sent on schedule.

Reading Sites
The Advanced Placement Reading is an educational phenomenon, as those who have participated can attest. In 2005, AP Exams were scored during two one-week scoring sessions in June hosted by colleges and universities throughout the country. More than 7,500 AP Readers selected from colleges and secondary schools worldwide use grade reliability measures and rigorous procedures to ensure the questions are scored in a consistent manner. These hard-working professionals are essential to the success of the Reading -- and to the AP Program overall -- because they ensure that students receive the AP grade that accurately reflects college-level achievement in each discipline.

The Final Stop
After being scored, the multiple-choice and free-response sections are combined to create a student's composite score, which is then used to determine the student's official AP Exam grade. Grade reports are sent to colleges, schools, and students. While the multiple-choice question booklets are shredded, students or schools may order their free-response answer booklets if they wish to review the work they submitted for evaluation. The AP Readers do not make any markings in these booklets, which are shredded after September.