How is the elimination of APs going for your DC
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Anonymous
We are intimately familiar with the AP program and are glad to have better options. It is pretty much the lowest level curriculum you can find. |
Anonymous
Why have the Cathedral schools (STA, NCS) not chosen to eliminate APs? They are rigorous and have the power to do whatever is in the students' best interest, over parental objections. |
Anonymous
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If I wanted my kid to primarily be taking AP classes and competing in high school based on number of AP classes, then I would go public. The hard part of public school is taking a large number of APs. Taking the most AP classes is how you win. It is quantity over quality. That is the AP system.
If you want quality, in depth exploration of subjects at a college level, you cannot get that from AP classes. If you want quality courses, then you look beyond APs. |
Anonymous
| You can think of AP exams as a reasonable expectation for HS students. It is neither the lowest or highest bar. APs are important because it hold teachers accountable. Who knows what teachers may be teaching if they are left to just do their own thing, especially in private schools. I'm all for the AP curriculum and teachers who can aligning in-depth learning objectives and assignments in addition to the what's required for the test. |
Anonymous
Public school districts all have standard curriculum maps that teachers must cover at different levels. It's never "just do what you like" even at private schools if they are remotely organized. Teachers are accountable to their deans or directors, who should be checking every syllabus. The difference is that teachers can stop and take the time to explore a topic in more depth instead of racing to make sure the kids have memorized 215 key terms for the test, most of which they will forget afterward anyway. The last 30-40 terms they cram in are not fundamental to their understanding the field like they will see it in college. Seeing it taught that way in high school puts them ahead. |
Anonymous
Checking on syllabi is not the same as implementation and the actual teaching itself. There is a wide range of quality teaching, even in the best private schools. |
Anonymous
They were even part of the original 8 that put out a statement saying they would be dropping APs, but then walked it back. They do offer a much more limited selection of them, however, only some science and math ones. |
Anonymous
They offer math, all science and foreign language. |
Anonymous
So…you think a school like Harvard Westlake or Andover or STA or NCS are offering “lowest level” curriculum? |
Anonymous
Andover does not offer AP courses. You appear to have no idea what you are talking about. Yes, AP courses are the lowest level curriculum which is why it is available at every public school including below average and low achieving ones. |
Anonymous
One minute APs are the lowest of the low, the next minute APs ask too much and the teachers need the freedom to slow down and skip topics. But it’s definitely not a marketing move to extract money from foolish, snobby parents who are willing to pay for the opportunity to sniff at public school students. Definitely not. |
Anonymous
The APs in the Humanities do NOT ask TOO MUCH. They ask for the WRONG kind of learning and require teachers to cover an absurdly long list of terms instead of spending time having students explore and understand material. I know that you will never, ever, ever grasp that distinction, but I'll make it again for the benefit of other readers. Put it this way - good grades at a private's humanities courses pretty much assure passing an AP exam. AP students, however, will not learn the actual college-level skills that good teachers can impart in that same classroom time allotment. A large proportion of people will never grasp that memorization and learning are often not the same thing, often drastically not. |
Anonymous
Which AP program from which school? They are not all the same (despite what some are told). |
Anonymous
There are more than 60 private high schools in the DMV. |
Anonymous
What do you mean by "elite"? Schools with the wealthiest parents? |