Supporting Exam Only Students

AP coordinators are responsible for supporting students enrolled in exam only sections for AP Art and Design at their school (e.g., homeschooled and independent study students).

Just as AP teachers are encouraged to set their own deadline (before the AP Program deadline) for students to submit their portfolio components as final, AP coordinators are encouraged to follow this same best practice for their exam only students, so they have time to review students’ work for plagiarism and ensure all 3 portfolio components are submitted as final by the AP Program deadline.  

How to Review Exam Only Students’ Work

1. From the Progress page, select the arrow next to the student’s component you would like to view.
2. A new page will open showing the submitted work.

Returning a Portfolio Component to a Student

In the rare event of a technical error, the AP coordinator may return a portfolio component to an exam only student with recommendations on how to correct the submission. Students are responsible for their submission and unless a technical error is evident, teachers or AP coordinators should not return a portfolio solely for the purpose of attempting to improve the student’s exam score.

Please note that all students have agreed to abide by the Artistic Integrity Agreement. Even if a teacher or AP coordinator were to suspect that a student may have plagiarized aspects of the portfolio, the teacher or AP coordinator must not return the submission.

How to Return a Portfolio Component to a Student

1. From the Progress page, open the student’s submitted portfolio component.
2. From the portfolio component page, select Return File to Student if you’d like to recommend the student make changes to the component.
3. You’ll then see a screen that asks you to select your reason for returning the portfolio component.
4. After making your selection, click Return File.

Important: If you return a portfolio component to a student, you are responsible for alerting the student that they need to take action in the AP Digital Portfolio. The AP Digital Portfolio does not alert students if a portfolio component is returned to them. Even if a student decides not to make changes to their portfolio component, they must submit it as final again in the AP Digital Portfolio by the AP Program deadline for it to be sent to the AP Program for scoring.

Reporting Plagiarism

You have the option to confirm that the exam only student’s work is original, indicate that you’re unable to confirm the work is original, or select the Report Policy Violation button.

If you select Report Policy Violation, a screen will open prompting you to make a report to the Test Security Team. Even if you report plagiarism, the student’s portfolio component will be sent to the AP Program for scoring and further review (as long as an exam has been ordered).

Note: The AP Digital Portfolio doesn’t require you to select anything related to plagiarism. This step is optional. If you don’t take any action after an exam only student submits their portfolio component(s) as final, their portfolio component(s) will automatically be sent to the AP Program for scoring at the AP Program deadline.

Downloading Student Portfolios

Once a student has started any of their three portfolio components, you can select Download Portfolio to download and save a copy of your student’s portfolio components. This is an optional feature.