The girl who couldn't keep up with history may have been memorising instead of processing because she was out of her depth.
The course is based on memorization. Well, the one through CTY was, anyway. The AP US History test is also known
for it. They're changing the test this year, so maybe it will be different.
I hope so.
Yeah, well, I'll reserve my enthusiasm for when I've seen what those "revisions" will actually entail.
As it stands, I will say that my DD has completed two AP classes-- Physics B and Literature-- with flying colors, and she is currently enrolled in two others-- Stats and Composition.
She EMPHATICALLY
enjoyed the pacing and depth of both previous courses. She is a student who pretty much CANNOT memorize her way out of a paper bag. I have to say here, having seen both courses up close and personal, that the sheer VOLUME of content means that the pacing is the only thing that she's ever had (as a PG learner) that has even come CLOSE to being suitable for her.
But then again, as noted, she wasn't
memorizing, and it's probably not correct to move any high school course (outside of magnet schools) at that kind of pace, because any students at LOG less than HG+ are probably going to be stuck with memorizing or FAILING the material.
Her Physics course started with 20 students. Only 5 of them finished the year. The two juniors (of which my DD13 was one) are both headed into STEM fields, and are probably the top science students in their graduation year. Literature, similarly, there were about 25 of them at the start, and only 12 of THEM finished the year.
Honestly, if they're open-to-all, that's about the kind of attrition rate that seems suitable to me. Everyone is welcome to try, but the class is what it is, right?
I'm not too enthusiastic over "redesign" at College Board's hands-- not having seen what Common Core architect David Coleman seems to be implying about college "readiness" and suitability in other places.
I'm guessing that it MAY mean exactly the sort of watering down and focusing on "core skills and objectives" that have made a lot of secondary coursework fluffy and useless for GT kids. Oh, sure-- it's more accessible. But that does sort of miss the point that not everything in life IS easy enough for "everyone."
