When AP testing week came, students found themselves sitting in the same room for two to three hours (or longer with extended time), trying to maintain focus. A testing space should allow students to maximize their concentration, pacing, and testing performance, but BSM students were not given this space this year.
At the start of each morning test, students sat down waiting for the clock to hit eight, so they could start answering questions. Junior Olivia Shiek waited for her AP United States History test to start when “Pump It Up” by Endor began playing over the loudspeakers. She found her attention pulled away from preparing herself from the test to listen to the interruption. “When you’re going into a test, you’re very nervous and trying to focus on what’s ahead of you. Then when a song like that comes on, it just, it kind of disrupts everything and your mindset before going into a test,” Shiek said.
While the song played prior to starting, the disruptions from the loudspeakers continued throughout the test. The five minute bell, meant to signal the transition between class periods, rang over the announcements throughout the testing weeks. Junior CC Bishop, taking her AP Spanish Language test, tried to hear the listening section of her test, which played off of a CD, when she heard the bell ring. “It felt unusually louder because everyone was quiet,” Bishop said.
The passing period further tore students’ focus from the assessment as their peers walked the halls. Junior Belén Ruiseñor took AP Biology, AP United States History, and AP Spanish Language this year and found students did not keep their noise levels down in the hall. “You could hear everyone walking by, and then, as most people do, when they hear about, or you see people in your side vision, you want to go look at them. It’s just a curiosity thing. So, I felt, during that one to two minutes when everyone’s walking the hallway, I felt very distracted,” said Ruiseñor.
Students found themselves diverted, not solely by noise disruptions, but by the uncomfortable testing setup itself. Shiek found herself in the great hall for her AP United States History exam. She found that the room’s temperature kept dropping. She has Raynaud’s syndrome, a medical condition that makes it hard for blood to flow for her fingers, which makes this temperature feel like a more extreme distraction. “When it’s really cold in certain places, especially when I’m taking the test, and I’m already nervous, and I’m trying to focus on something else, and then, there’s just so much going on, and it’s very stressful when that’s just an added factor,” Shiek said.
In the future, students think BSM should change the environment to cultivate focus and comfort. Shiek and Ruiseñor think administration should take out the five minute bell, make the rooms slightly warmer, find more comfortable chairs, and try to minimize disturbances. “I think that they should… prioritize giving the test in the library or the conference room rather than doing it in the theater or the great hall because there’s just more light, more warmth, and the chairs are a lot more comfortable,” Shiek said.