WSJ - To Increase Equity, School Districts Eliminate Honors Classes

[Anonymous]

Article from WSJ today. Too bad for the schools doing this, it's much better to have all honors so all can have inflated grades.


https://www.wsj.com/articles/to-increase-equity-school-districts-eliminate-honors-classes-d5985dee

[Anonymous]

MCPS has pretty much done this, though rather than "eliminating" honors, they made it honors-for-all, which accomplishes the same thing. I'm with the critics on this approach. It's wrongheaded and doesn't work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Article from WSJ today. Too bad for the schools doing this, it's much better to have all honors so all can have inflated grades.


https://www.wsj.com/articles/to-increase-equity-school-districts-eliminate-honors-classes-d5985dee

Doesn't Fox News own the WSJ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS has pretty much done this, though rather than "eliminating" honors, they made it honors-for-all, which accomplishes the same thing. I'm with the critics on this approach. It's wrongheaded and doesn't work.

That's always been the case, though. Even when I was in HS 30 years ago, parents would force the school into admitting kids who didn't belong in these classes forcing them to be dumbed down. Nothing new here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Article from WSJ today. Too bad for the schools doing this, it's much better to have all honors so all can have inflated grades.


https://www.wsj.com/articles/to-increase-equity-school-districts-eliminate-honors-classes-d5985dee

Doesn't Fox News own the WSJ?

Yep. More Faux News propaganda

[Anonymous]

It's total crap. Straight out of Atlas Shrugged.

[Anonymous]

Why is this on MCPS forum? The right wingers are trying hard to create chaos and destroy public schools.

[Anonymous]

This seems like such a corruption of no child left behind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS has pretty much done this, though rather than "eliminating" honors, they made it honors-for-all, which accomplishes the same thing. I'm with the critics on this approach. It's wrongheaded and doesn't work.

The only thing I can personally point to which may fall under this heading is MS Advanced English is pretty terrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is this on MCPS forum? The right wingers are trying hard to create chaos and destroy public schools.

Yes, they're been pushing the tired narrative that society is in free-fall decline for a while, and unless we embrace their agenda of turning schools into prisons, it's only going to get worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS has pretty much done this, though rather than "eliminating" honors, they made it honors-for-all, which accomplishes the same thing. I'm with the critics on this approach. It's wrongheaded and doesn't work.

That's always been the case, though. Even when I was in HS 30 years ago, parents would force the school into admitting kids who didn't belong in these classes forcing them to be dumbed down. Nothing new here.

I think having a few kids who didn't belong forced into an honors class is wildly different from eliminating any qualifier for honors, which basically turns all classes into on-level classes without regard to student aptitude and performance.

In the former, those few students whose parents pushed them in suffer, but the rest of the class who is focuses and interested in learning doesn't. But in the latter, the kids who want to learn and be challenged suffer because now instead of 1 or 2 kids not being able to handle the class, now there's 10 or 15. Those are not the same issues at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is this on MCPS forum? The right wingers are trying hard to create chaos and destroy public schools.

Yes, they're been pushing the tired narrative that society is in free-fall decline for a while, and unless we embrace their agenda of turning schools into prisons, it's only going to get worse.

Allowing honors classes to be largely made up of kids who have displayed a propensity or interest in higher rigor work now and maintaining that distinction = prison?

Make it make sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS has pretty much done this, though rather than "eliminating" honors, they made it honors-for-all, which accomplishes the same thing. I'm with the critics on this approach. It's wrongheaded and doesn't work.

Maybe they just need to hire a Handicapper General for the Central Office to oversee these efforts better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is this on MCPS forum? The right wingers are trying hard to create chaos and destroy public schools.

Yes, they're been pushing the tired narrative that society is in free-fall decline for a while, and unless we embrace their agenda of turning schools into prisons, it's only going to get worse.

Allowing honors classes to be largely made up of kids who have displayed a propensity or interest in higher rigor work now and maintaining that distinction = prison?

Make it make sense.

Using funds allocated for teachers to hire SROs is sure is ... but maybe you haven't noticed the 1000x posts which they seem to start daily on this topic

[Anonymous]

Those who support cutting honors classes point out that the curriculum of honors courses often doesn’t differ substantially from regular classes. Honors classes often move at a faster pace and the students complete more assignments.

Why aren't we discussing making the distinction between honors and on-level more meaningful if the above is true? If honors has only ever been about pace, then I can somewhat see the argument.

I will say though, that even if it was just about pace, the effect the honors label had on the kind of student cohorts it pulled together (organized, motivated and high-performing learners) was beneficial to students.