Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion High achievers shut out of AP courses

At the same time, I was personally moved by this statement in the article
She is reaping the benefits of challenge, known to prevent development of what another poster recently termed habits of ennui. She is expressing a growth mindset. Not to say that she has ever believed one only needs to enroll or show up to be successful, but this may be her antelope... the thing which motivates her to run (reference to Stephanie Tolan's Is It A Cheetah?). While believing that she may need this opportunity, not every average student may benefit. So much depends upon one's mindset.

The practice of rationing seats and having too few seats may be an area to focus on in crafting a solution: Successful businesses are those which respond to changing consumer demand for goods and services. It seems schools could do this as well. There are many AP courses, and students may be interested in and well prepared for taking several. While scheduling logistics may preclude a student from taking every AP they may be prepared for, this ought to be the exception as supply of class sections could increase to meet demand.

... the problem, here, with open access. It necessarily waters down class discussion to the lowest common denominator, and at the same time, makes the learning environment increasingly worthless to those who NEED the higher level, deeper, richer content. Kids of higher LOG, speaking plainly.

... what, precisely, is she CONTRIBUTING to the learning environment...

This is a very fair question. Thank you for bringing this up. Colleges especially look for those who will contribute to the student body, campus life, and/or the positive reputation of the school... those who give back in some way. With athletes the anticipated contribution is clear (they will maintain winning teams and ticket sales), with intellectuals possibly less so therefore students are encouraged to develop their extracurricular skills and interests so they may present themselves well positioned to make a contribution to the student body. I elaborated on CONTRIBUTION because possibly some are unaware, and focused solely on what a course or educational institution can do for them.

at least originally, were NEVER intended to be for "all" high school students. Only for maybe the top 10% in terms of achievement-- at most.

The thing is-- there is already an appropriate class for such students (those for whom AP is a real "reach").

Those are called "honors" or "college prep" classes.

In addition to contributing to class discussions, gifted students contribute to the reputation a school has for having smart graduates, which draws employers and therefore students. Their higher SAT/ACT scores boost the schools' USN&WR rankings.
The higher a school's ranking, the more it can charge in tuition, which partially explains why non-top-tier schools offer full and partial merit scholarships.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Every year, more than 600,000 academically promising high school students — most of them poor, Latino or black — fail to enroll in Advanced Placement courses, often viewed as head starts for the college-bound.

Some of them do not know about these courses, which offer an accelerated curriculum and can lead to college credit. Others assume they will be too difficult. But many are held back by entrenched perceptions among administrators and teachers, whose referrals are often required for enrollment, about who belongs in what has long served as an elite preserve within public schools.

“Many teachers don’t truly believe that these programs are for all kids or that students of color or low-income kids can succeed in these classes,” said Christina Theokas, director of research at the Education Trust, a nonprofit group. Ms. Theokas said that if those underrepresented students had taken A.P. courses at the same rate as their white and more affluent peers in 2010, there would have been about 614,500 more students in those classes.

In an effort to overcome those obstacles, an increasing number of school districts, including Boston, Cincinnati and Washington, have recently begun initiatives to expand Advanced Placement course offerings and enroll more black and Hispanic students, children from low-income families and those who aspire to be the first in their generation to go to college. In the spring, lawmakers in Washington State passed legislation encouraging all districts to enroll in advanced courses any student who meets a minimum threshold on state standardized tests or the Preliminary SAT exam.

[...]

“In regular classes, people are trying to distract you with music videos or saying, ‘Hey, look at this cat playing a piano’ on their phones,” said Humberto, 17, who emigrated with his parents from Ecuador when he was an infant and hopes to be the first in his family to attend college. “Whereas in an A.P. class, they will show you something from the text and say, ‘Hey, this is fun.’ ”

Some teachers say students who come from more educated backgrounds can help the new A.P. students. During an advanced calculus class at Freedom High one morning, the teacher, Amanda Kraemer, circulated among student groups of four working together to solve quadratic equations. Most of them, she said, did not have college-educated parents. But peer grouping, she said, “gets kids who come in with a lot of skills to solidify them by helping other students.”

Ms. Kraemer’s approach seems to work: Last spring, more than 90 percent of her students received a passing score on the most rigorous A.P. calculus exam.

In the spring, lawmakers in Washington State passed legislation encouraging all districts to enroll in advanced courses any student who meets a minimum threshold on state standardized tests or the Preliminary SAT exam.