Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

School districts move away from honors classes in favor of AP courses (to push minorities into AP's)
Washington Post ^ | May 21, 2011 | Kevin Sieff

Posted on 05/24/2011 7:25:45 AM PDT by reaganaut1

Not long ago, honors courses were considered a hallmark of student achievement, a designation that impressed colleges and made parents beam.

Now, those courses are vanishing from public schools nationwide as administrators move toward a more inclusive curriculum designed to encourage underrepresented minority students to join their high-achieving peers in college-level Advanced Placement classes.

Fairfax County’s public schools are at the forefront of the movement, nudging would-be honors students toward more-rigorous AP courses, despite criticism from some parents that eliminating honors will have the reverse effect and lead some students to choose less-demanding “standard education” classes instead of AP.

Honors courses are generally taught from the same lesson plan as regular classes but at a faster pace and in greater depth. An AP course contains altogether more-challenging material — charting a path that coheres to national standards, which are heavily endorsed by the Fairfax school system.

This fall, Fairfax will discontinue honors-level courses in subjects where an AP class is offered, drawing the ire of parents who want to restore what they call an academic middle ground. They have formed a group called Restore Honors Courses.

Prince William County took an even bolder stance about 10 years ago, doing away with the honors track. There has been resistance to that in other school systems — including Montgomery’s and Loudoun’s, where the honors option has been scaled back.

Considerable opposition from Fairfax parents has prompted the school board to review its decision to do away with high school honors courses that for years served as an alternative to basic and AP courses.

...

“We’ve found that traditionally underrepresented minorities do not access the most-rigorous track when three tracks are offered. But when two tracks are offered, they do,” said Peter Noonan, Fairfax’s assistant superintendent for instructional services.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: apcourses; education; fairfaxcounty; lowerstandards; quotas; racism
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-48 next last
To: reaganaut1

The government AP exams then.


21 posted on 05/24/2011 7:55:20 AM PDT by AppyPappy (If you aren't part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: RnMomof7

Depends on the college, I believe scores range from 1 to 5 with 5 receiving the most credit. 3 gets you maybe some credit. Below 3 you get nothing.


22 posted on 05/24/2011 7:56:09 AM PDT by Qwackertoo (New Day In America November 03, 2010)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Qwackertoo

They just said the exam was easier than what they did in school.


23 posted on 05/24/2011 7:56:32 AM PDT by AppyPappy (If you aren't part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1
WHITE AMERICA: Guess Who Feels They Face The Worst Racism?

"Here is a shocker: According to a study called "Whites See Racism as a Zero-Sum Game That They Are Now Losing" that appears in the May 2011 issues of Perspectives on Psychological Science, white people believe all-white racism is now a bigger problem than anti-black sentiment."

24 posted on 05/24/2011 7:59:23 AM PDT by blam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RnMomof7
The AP tests are scored on a 1 to 5 scale. At some colleges, you have to score a 4 or 5 to receive college credit. At others (including the local, state university), a score of 3 is enough to obtain credit. Princess riverdawg says that a score of 3 is pathetic if you stayed awake during class.
25 posted on 05/24/2011 7:59:55 AM PDT by riverdawg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1
I am a strong supporter of AP courses. They are the only classes where you can actually tell how your child is doing because they are compared with a national pool of students taking the exam. Grade inflation has made regular classes a joke with no way of knowing whether your child's "A" means he has mastered the curricula or just has a "nice" teacher.

I have encouraged my children, two of whom have graduated high school with two years of AP credits, to use this basis in knowledge not to make their college education shorter, but to take more challenging college courses.

In my opinion, most high school classes should match the rigor of AP courses.

26 posted on 05/24/2011 8:02:21 AM PDT by Prokopton
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cantfindagoodscreenname

By the nineteen seventies University schools of education had practically eliminated courses on teaching the exceptional child. Today, such a course might exist as an elective. It was always a difficult sell to interest the prospective teacher of mediocre aptitude to take an interest in the best of his or her students. It is always so much easier to teach to the mediocrities.


27 posted on 05/24/2011 8:05:44 AM PDT by Melchior
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: riverdawg
Princess riverdawg says that a score of 3 is pathetic if you stayed awake during class.

I don't know. My daughter, who is in medical school and has a BA in biology, said that AP biology was one of the hardest courses she has taken.

28 posted on 05/24/2011 8:06:51 AM PDT by Prokopton
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: cantfindagoodscreenname
I got an email yesterday from a high school senior girl who took AP English. There was not a single comma or period in her paragraph. Nothing was capitalized. Unbelievable.

Yeah, but I bet her self-esteem was AWESOME!/sarc

29 posted on 05/24/2011 8:07:27 AM PDT by Puppage (You may disagree with what I have to say, but I shall defend to your death my right to say it)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Lysandru
“AP courses now dominate kids lives. Add in all of the other resume building—and they don't have time for church or even just being a kid without becoming completely exhausted.”

That sums up the situation I have observed with princess riverdawg and many of her friends. There is an “arms race” among the college-bound kids to accumulate the most resume-building “weapons,” including taking the largest possible number of AP courses, being deeply involved in extracurricular activities (but not in an unfocused way), and building a personal “narrative” or “story” for your college application that will attract the attention of some admissions officer. It's really out of control ...

30 posted on 05/24/2011 8:09:52 AM PDT by riverdawg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Prokopton

Great, so let’s throw some kids into these harder AP courses that they have no business in so they can fail miserably and not learn half what they would have learned in a class that was to their level.


31 posted on 05/24/2011 8:10:40 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter knows whom he's working for)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: cantfindagoodscreenname

Homeschooling is inherently advanced placement because it’s teaching kids at the level they’re ready for instead of trying to fit 30-40 kids into the same rate of learning.


32 posted on 05/24/2011 8:13:01 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter knows whom he's working for)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1

You have to pay to take the AP exams, I think. And it’s not cheap. I think that could be why the poor kids didn’t sign up for the AP classes if there was a middle tier available.


33 posted on 05/24/2011 8:15:17 AM PDT by married21 (As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lysandru

There is an obsession, but it partly stems from the fact it’s much harder to make a living without a college degree. Now, it’s hard to make a living WITH one, due to oversaturation and a reduction in the overall value of a degree since kids who shouldn’t have one are able to get one.


34 posted on 05/24/2011 8:17:34 AM PDT by RockinRight (Cain/Bolton - the perfect ticket for America's future.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Prokopton

I took AP Biology in ‘95. I got a “3” which counted for a few elective credits in college.

It was exceedingly difficult.


35 posted on 05/24/2011 8:22:34 AM PDT by RockinRight (Cain/Bolton - the perfect ticket for America's future.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: Prokopton

Yes, the AP biology and AP chemistry courses were very difficult, but it’s not that hard to score a 3 on the AP exams, according to p.r.


36 posted on 05/24/2011 8:24:11 AM PDT by riverdawg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: riverdawg

Even in the 90s they had a lot of that.

I never did the “extra-curricular” thing much, I was kind of a dork, I didn’t get along with the “cool” kids, but didn’t have enough geek-cred to hang out with the geeks either...and my athletic ability is bested by Stephen Hawking. So I just - gasp! - focused on my studies! The horror!


37 posted on 05/24/2011 8:32:25 AM PDT by RockinRight (Cain/Bolton - the perfect ticket for America's future.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: riverdawg
"There is an “arms race” among the college-bound kids to accumulate the most resume-building “weapons,” including taking the largest possible number of AP courses, being deeply involved in extracurricular activities (but not in an unfocused way), and building a personal “narrative” or “story” for your college application that will attract the attention of some admissions officer. It's really out of control ... "

Our older son is a high school senior, and I completely agree with your observations. The bright kids in our community have been busting their shoes for years to accumulate resume builders of all sorts. We see it in our Boy Scout troop, where many of the boys knock themselves out to get to Eagle and then stop coming to meetings, because their primary motivation was to add to their resume. They're accomplished good kids who are learning a great deal, but some of them are becoming drones in the process. Our sons have never gone to summer 'nerd camp'. They've always gone to traditional outdoor summer camp or Scout camp, and engaged in summer swimming and other activities. They work hard all year, and we want them to be well rounded young men who still know how to dream and innovate and not just spit back rote learning.

Our older son has wrapped up the last of his AP classes, and what we've seen is that many schools do not accept AP credits. The primary function of the AP classes has been to learn more and to demonstrate that he is willing to challenge himself. They have made him a stronger candidate for college applications, but will not save us much money on college tuition. He has decided not to attempt to place out of his college calculus or physics classes, because he thinks they are so fundamental to engineering that he'd rather repeat some content than take a chance on having an incomplete foundation.

Each student will choose a different path, and I think that's a good thing. Our public schools should be offering a range of options and solid guidance to students to help them choose the best courses and levels for their goals and abilities.

38 posted on 05/24/2011 8:41:39 AM PDT by Think free or die
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: reaganaut1
traditionally underrepresented minorities

There's a phrase to trigger a gag reflex.

39 posted on 05/24/2011 8:43:10 AM PDT by newzjunkey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MrB
Great, so let’s throw some kids into these harder AP courses that they have no business in so they can fail miserably and not learn half what they would have learned in a class that was to their level.

If the kids were given a more rigorous curricula starting in first grade, by the time they got to high school the AP level courses would not be so daunting.

I am also a big supporter of rigorous occupational courses for juniors and seniors who choose to go that direction. I want a well trained car mechanic just like I want a well trained doctor.

40 posted on 05/24/2011 8:43:17 AM PDT by Prokopton
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-48 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson