|
Jun 17, 2009
By John Winn
The recent article, "Is AP for everybody?" (Telegram & Gazette, June 4) raises a valuable question, but would have benefited from more views explaining that expanding AP is not the problem - it is the solution if the program is expanded appropriately.
The article cites the recent Fordham Foundation study, "Growing Pains in Advanced Placement: Do Tough Trade-offs Lie Ahead?" but only selectively, to reinforce the premise that open enrollment - allowing any student to take more challenging AP courses - might set them up for failure. The article mentions that 63 percent of the teachers surveyed in the Fordham study supported some form of screening.
But it should be noted that the study also showed teachers are extraordinarily positive about the AP program in the areas that are most important. The teachers said the quality and standards of the AP program have been kept high and that giving students more opportunity is a good thing. In fact, expanding access to AP is a crucial solution to a longstanding problem of over-restrictive enrollment policies that have shut out members of unrepresented groups. Opening the door wider to AP and providing stronger training for the AP students and their teachers is a much-needed remedy for modern-day discrimination in our public high schools.
Most people agree that students who are unprepared for rigorous coursework should not be pushed into courses they have no hope of passing. Although this may be occurring in some places, no evidence is presented in the Fordham study or your article that such practices are widespread. Good counseling and the use of the PSAT to identify potential AP students is already recommended by the College Board.
We know that a significant gap exists between the numbers of students who could succeed in AP courses and those who are actually taking the courses. For example, the Massachusetts Math & Science Initiative (MMSI), which is working in 10 schools across the state, including North High School in Worcester and Marlboro High School, has consistently identified students, using AP Potential, who are capable of taking AP courses, at a rate of five to six times current enrollment. In Marlboro High School alone, they increased AP science enrollment by 85 percent in the first year of their partnership program with MMSI.
Expansion of AP participation can serve as a "quality engine" for many of our high schools. The AP math, science and English students and their teachers at North and Marlboro have benefited from their participation in the program. Did quality in AP classes go down? No. Did teachers have to work harder? Yes. Did students have to spend extra time in study sessions? Yes. The outcome? Eighty more tests in math, science and English - a 40 percent increase that has provided more students with a college-level experience.
By expanding the number of AP teachers and providing them with content-rich training and effective classroom teaching strategies, instruction overall is improved. These teachers then are able to prepare other students in the pipeline for more challenging AP coursework. If we close the gates to allow only elite students - those with more financial resources or higher educational attainment in their families - into the AP program, this ripple effect will never happen.
While we are entering yet another decade of debate over how best to raise national standards, AP stands as a widely accepted standard. Eighty percent of the teachers surveyed in the Fordham report said that AP is the single most important way for high schools "to serve and challenge advanced students in key subjects." They also said student demand and quality is the most significant factor driving expansion (60 percent). Seventy-five percent said that their scores have stayed the same or improved and 69 percent agreed that quality has remained high.
As for the few teachers who said they worry about students being in over their heads, I say "Bravo!" All good teachers worry about their students succeeding. Concerns about struggling students should result in stronger preparation, not less participation in beneficial courses.
What makes AP an important quality benchmark for high schools is that it has enjoyed a very high reputation that has held up over many years. The College Board has done an excellent job of making sure that standards are kept high. Unfortunately, this reputation for rigor sometimes has been misused to limit access for students of color and economic disadvantage. Maybe we are seeing a long-overdue correction in this situation. I say it is about time.
John Winn is national program officer of the nonprofit National Math and Science Initiative, and former commissioner of education in Florida.
WORCESTER TELEGRAM
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed