Is it true that starting from 2017-2018 Wilson HS won't offer honors classes in 9th grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Especially if they are trying to close the achievement gap, the research shows that when struggling kids are in class with high achievers it benefits the struggling kids and does no measurable harm to the high achievers.

+1. It's shameful what's happening at Wilson now. I give her credit for taking action, knowing full well that it's going to make the noisiest parents irate.

[Anonymous]

Please do show us the research showing that the high achieving students aren't impacted in a measurable way. Easy to say, hard to prove. So will Wilson honors classes now be considered a joke to college admissions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please do show us the research showing that the high achieving students aren't impacted in a measurable way. Easy to say, hard to prove. So will Wilson honors classes now be considered a joke to college admissions?

College admissions cares about AP classes, test scores and GPA. Changes to 2 9th grade honors classes are not going to keep your kid out of an elite college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please do show us the research showing that the high achieving students aren't impacted in a measurable way. Easy to say, hard to prove. So will Wilson honors classes now be considered a joke to college admissions?

+1.

iirc, the research that looks at mixing in struggling students with high-performing students -- and helping the former without harming the later -- assumes that the classes remain predominantly high-performing.

It depends on the numbers and the mix.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From the article, if anyone bothered to read it all the way through:
"Martin said the classes will continue to be officially designated as Honors courses and that the curriculum for the courses will be considered, “modified, adopted, Honors curriculum, but [still] Honors curriculum.”

I read that as there being different levels within the same curriculum. Some kids will take the full Honors curriculum while others will take a modified version.

OP, your kid will sit next to kids that are able to handle the full Honors curriculum.

-A Wilson parent

It is like dance competitons!!!

No longer is it gold, silver, bronze, honorable mention. It's all high gold, platinum, double platinum, diamond platinum.... everyone is a platinum something and no one is a.loser.

[Anonymous]

The point is, it's meaningless to call a class that's tailored to be accessible for every student an "Honors" class. Relative to what? If it's the only option available, it's not an Honors class. Debate all you want about whether it's a good thing or bad thing to have all the kids taking the same class, but to label it Honors is just doublespeak. And personally I expect a certain level of intellectual honesty and integrity from school leaders, so this kind of window dressing is disappointing.

[Anonymous]

What will stop her from pulling this for all classes. AP calc for all!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What will stop her from pulling this for all classes. AP calc for all!!!

Any student can take most AP classes already. In some ways the honors were more restrictive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The point is, it's meaningless to call a class that's tailored to be accessible for every student an "Honors" class. Relative to what? If it's the only option available, it's not an Honors class. Debate all you want about whether it's a good thing or bad thing to have all the kids taking the same class, but to label it Honors is just doublespeak. And personally I expect a certain level of intellectual honesty and integrity from school leaders, so this kind of window dressing is disappointing.

By keeping the class designated as HOnors, it means that the grade is weighted in every students GPA. It will effectively inflate everyone's GPA. I would be concerned that once colleges catch on to this, they would be somewhat skeptical of high GPAs from Wilson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The point is, it's meaningless to call a class that's tailored to be accessible for every student an "Honors" class. Relative to what? If it's the only option available, it's not an Honors class. Debate all you want about whether it's a good thing or bad thing to have all the kids taking the same class, but to label it Honors is just doublespeak. And personally I expect a certain level of intellectual honesty and integrity from school leaders, so this kind of window dressing is disappointing.

By keeping the class designated as HOnors, it means that the grade is weighted in every students GPA. It will effectively inflate everyone's GPA. I would be concerned that once colleges catch on to this, they would be somewhat skeptical of high GPAs from Wilson.

Most competitive colleges remove all the weightings and recalculate the GPAs anyway.

[Anonymous]

Regional and national universities and liberal arts colleges seem to be putting less and less stock in GPAs and rank in class as the years go by, and more and more emphasis on standardized test scores, interview reports, evidence of intellectual curiosity and maturity for age, and co-curricular and extra-curricular accomplishments. It's a rational trend, since earning an A average at one school can entail roughly the same amount of work of earning a B, or even a C, average at another school with higher standards (and higher-performing students).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regional and national universities and liberal arts colleges seem to be putting less and less stock in GPAs and rank in class as the years go by, and more and more emphasis on standardized test scores, interview reports, evidence of intellectual curiosity and maturity for age, and co-curricular and extra-curricular accomplishments. It's a rational trend, since earning an A average at one school can entail roughly the same amount of work of earning a B, or even a C, average at another school with higher standards (and higher-performing students).

And some of the greatest mind in history had notoriously bad grades in school because they just weren't cut out for the routines of the masses.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like it's an easy way for the school to make scheduling more flexible - another administration cop-out. Too hard to balance the honors classes offered only 1 or 2x a day with a particular language offering, humanities elective, etc. I agree that this does less to raise up the bottom than pull down the high performers who are ready to sit still, pay attention, ask intelligent (not distracting) questions, keep their hands to themselves, turn in assignments, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regional and national universities and liberal arts colleges seem to be putting less and less stock in GPAs and rank in class as the years go by, and more and more emphasis on standardized test scores, interview reports, evidence of intellectual curiosity and maturity for age, and co-curricular and extra-curricular accomplishments. It's a rational trend, since earning an A average at one school can entail roughly the same amount of work of earning a B, or even a C, average at another school with higher standards (and higher-performing students).

And some of the greatest mind in history had notoriously bad grades in school because they just weren't cut out for the routines of the masses.

Can you please cite some of these great minds that had notoriously bad grades?

[Anonymous]

This is a disgrace for the next generations of dedicated 9th grade students.

Honors for All. She set this nonsense to write it as a line on her CV , to be prepared for when they will invite her to leave.