Thursday, October 17, 2013

Who Should Get Into Crowded AP Classes?

Should the best academically-prepared students get in, or should there be an egalitarian process like a lottery to get those coveted slots?
The Los Angeles Times reported last week that some high schools have made advanced placement (AP) courses open to all students regardless of ability. If an AP class is oversubscribed, the schools use a random lottery to determine who gets in, meaning some of the best students can be shut out.

This is a really bad idea. An AP course is supposed to teach college-level material, and high-school students can earn college credits if they pass one or more AP tests at the end of the year. These classes should be reserved for students who have demonstrated their potential to do high-level work. And if there is a limit on how large the classes can be, priority should be given to the students who are most likely to benefit...
Schools increasingly pursue egalitarian outcomes rather than tailor instruction to students based on their individual needs. Kids at both ends of the ability spectrum are hurt in the process.
That there's any discussion at all shows how far removed are common sense and logic in K-12 education.

11 comments:

maxutils said...

AP classes should be open to all, and they should have enough sections to accommodate the demand ... however ... that doesn't mean that there shouldn't be prerequisites. For example, if you haven't passed PreCalculus, you shouldn't be able to sign up for AP Calculus. Likewise, I would want some history of honors, or a teacher recommendation for AP English or history; a minimum of Algebra 2 for AP Econ; some form of math for the sciences. or, a Chem/AP chem transition. If you meet the standard, you should be able to take the class. If not, you're out of luck. That probably fixes the problem, but if it doesn't ... you open more sections. Use GATE funds. The money will come from somewhere.

Ellen K said...

The concept is called "open enrollment" and it's used extensively to massage the ego of kids who underperform or those who because of disabilities cannot perform. We've been told, in theory, that we may end up with seriously disabled students in our AP classes. And for those classes that max out at over 45, this means that due to the way some students are placed, that kids who want AP classes will be displaced. We can't ask for prerequisites, we can't ask for signature or portfolio for entry. I truly hope that's just a hypothetical situation, but that's the way the rules in our district read. Right now there's a student who is in my class who is severely disabled-cannot read, cannot write, cannot reason, yet she is in my third year class and because by law we must educate her until she is 21 and because her parents will sue if any wish is denied, she may end up in my AP class. Will she do AP work? No, she can't and there's not anything I can do to change that because the criteria involves independent research to develop an individual portfolio. Such is the state of education now and I only see this trend getting worse. I have four years before I can retire. I am not sure I will make it.

Auntie Ann said...

Beyond limited access to such classes, there is a secondary problem. When kids aren't prepared for that level of work, they should end up with low grades; however, a lot of schools don't like to give low grades, and parents, too, get upset.

This leaves the teacher with three options:

1) Get in trouble by giving out low grades anyway. The teacher must take extra care to ensure that the low grades are distributed evenly with regard to race, gender, and socio-economic status of the students, because there'll be a firestorm of protest if they aren't.

2) Being a very easy grader so that anyone who can fog a mirror can get a decent grade. This has the benefit of at least presenting difficult material to the kids who can handle it.

3) Dumb down the content so much that anyone can do well--no one can learn anything or go on to pass the AP exam, but they all get a good grade on their transcript.

PeggyU said...

Can't ask for prerequisites? That seems very wrong.

Anonymous said...

Especially in math/science and some foreign languages, there simply aren't enough teachers capable of teaching a real AP-level class; therefore priorities are needed. At my older kids' HS, well-known for the excellence of its honors and AP classes, the same teachers taught both the honors prerequisite and the AP science (chem, physics and bio); the school had only one honors/AP bio teacher, one chem teacher and one physics - and this was in an affluent area that attracted top teachers. The AP sciences were all double-period every day and were limited to 36, because there were only 18 lab stations. The 36 kids had to have done very well in their honors-level prereqs. In what logical universe should kids who didn't do well in the prereqs be allowed to displace kids who did? The honors prereqs also applied to the various history classes; honors world before AP Euro, honors US before AP US etc. Entrance into APs should have to be earned, by prior performance.

KauaiMark said...

This was happening more that 20yrs ago.

My H.S. daughter's Math instructor practically forced every student to take the AP Calc test as there were "incentives" given to school who had increased numbers taking AP tests.

Not passing the test, just taking it.

...Mark

momof4 said...

In a real AP class, with students who have already mastered the HS-level coursework in the subject, everyone takes the AP exam and expects to get at least a 3. In that level class, expectations are fulfilled and often exceeded. Having kids who haven't had a real AP-level course, or who clearly haven't learned the content, take the test only stokes the AP-for-all ratings fire and enriches the College Board.

Anonymous said...

Open enrollment in AP classes is also driven by the diversity argument - as if it's academically sound to require prereqs for some groups of kids but not for others.

maxutils said...

Kauai Mark ... if you're taking an AP course, you should expect to be taking the test. Your daughter's math teacher was doing nothing wrong. If you aren'y going to take the test? Leave the spot for someone who will.

Jerry Doctor said...

I taught A.P. Chemistry for many years. Over 90% of my students took the exam. They weren't forced. They were told from the moment they first considered enrolling in the class that it was about preparing them for that exam and if they weren't planning to take the exam there was no reason to take the class.

A study done some time ago of A.P. Calculus classes showed students that simply took the class as an "introduction" to Calculus so they would have it easier when they "really" took calculus un college did WORSE in college than students that had not taken the A.P. course.

I have always maintained that to be allowed to teach an A.P. class a teacher should first be required to pass the exam himself.

momof4 said...

A Prince George's County (MD- DC suburb) teacher who often comments on WaPo ed articles says that PG requires ALL students to take an AP class in order to graduate. Many get dumped into his AP English, even though many read at 5th-7th grade levels and write worse. Because "everyone" knows that AP classes are the magic achievement pill! It's far from a high-performing county, but does anyone consider the kids who are prepared to take a REAL AP course? The ones who actually might pass the AP test if they were in a real AP class.