People treating the news that schools are cancelling AP classes as if it’s completely normal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody is canceling AP classes in DC. Wilson is requiring all kids in 11th grade take AP English and AP US History and people are freaking out about it because they assume (without evidence) that this means it won't be a "real" AP class. Of course, it will, because the College Board has to approve the curriculum/syllabus in order for it to be an AP class.

It's an effort to deal with a substantial segregation issue at Wilson with regard to which kids take AP classes and which don't. If it is to be successful, Wilson will have to devote a lot of resources to supporting some of these kids and it's not clear that they have a plan for doing so but time will tell. But MANY people are assuming it will be a disaster without giving it a chance.

If anything at all, not matter what, Wilson will have to devote a lot of resources to support the kids who are several grades behind. That has absolutely nothing to do with the whiteness of a certain classroom and whether advanced classes are racist.
Wilson should be held accountable for catching up its weakest students.
"AP for all" after what this forum has reported on "Honors for all" is just an enormous cruel trick on everyone. It sidesteps entirely the system's primary responsibility. You want more disadvantaged youth in AP? Tutor hothouse them until they can figuratively beat the shit out of that AP class. Come on, you can do it!

At the very least, if you're gonna have "varsity basketball for all," there should be a mini-trampoline next to the basket to accommodate the short, fat kids. You know, some kind of supports for them so they are able to keep up with the rest of the team. If you don't have that, then the team...kind of sucks.

Ugh, why do you have to destroy my images?? Tutor hothousing, 80ies movie style, is not like a mini-trampoline for fat kids. It's like the sensei in karate kids. We need a bunch of karate kids senseis aka awesome interventionists to make AP less white. Unless you just don't want AP in your school, then cancel it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody is canceling AP classes in DC. Wilson is requiring all kids in 11th grade take AP English and AP US History and people are freaking out about it because they assume (without evidence) that this means it won't be a "real" AP class. Of course, it will, because the College Board has to approve the curriculum/syllabus in order for it to be an AP class.

It's an effort to deal with a substantial segregation issue at Wilson with regard to which kids take AP classes and which don't. If it is to be successful, Wilson will have to devote a lot of resources to supporting some of these kids and it's not clear that they have a plan for doing so but time will tell. But MANY people are assuming it will be a disaster without giving it a chance.

If anything at all, not matter what, Wilson will have to devote a lot of resources to support the kids who are several grades behind. That has absolutely nothing to do with the whiteness of a certain classroom and whether advanced classes are racist.
Wilson should be held accountable for catching up its weakest students.
"AP for all" after what this forum has reported on "Honors for all" is just an enormous cruel trick on everyone. It sidesteps entirely the system's primary responsibility. You want more disadvantaged youth in AP? Tutor hothouse them until they can figuratively beat the shit out of that AP class. Come on, you can do it!

At the very least, if you're gonna have "varsity basketball for all," there should be a mini-trampoline next to the basket to accommodate the short, fat kids. You know, some kind of supports for them so they are able to keep up with the rest of the team. If you don't have that, then the team...kind of sucks.

Ugh, why do you have to destroy my images?? Tutor hothousing, 80ies movie style, is not like a mini-trampoline for fat kids. It's like the sensei in karate kids. We need a bunch of karate kids senseis aka awesome interventionists to make AP less white. Unless you just don't want AP in your school, then cancel it.

I agree that cancelling AP would make better sense than requiring AP for all. Because requiring AP for all will not be AP. Alternatively, making AP an opt-in class without any supports would at least allow for it to remain an accelerated, college level-class: because the students who are feeling too much pressure could just drop out and go to the mainstream class. But Principal Martin has no fall-back. I suspect this is at least partially because she simply does not have enough square footage in an already over-crowded building to roll out a new idea the right way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Link to canceling AP classes in DC?

Hi, look it up yourself, thanks.

You can’t provide a link because it’s not happening.

You’re FOS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I found the reasoning in this article illuminating: https://www.baconsrebellion.com/wp/formal-recommendations-for-equity-in-virginia-public-schools-will-destroy-them/

I skew liberal, but am becoming concerned by well-intentioned, but poorly developed educational policy proposals of late.

That’s not DC.

OP is a liar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of my kids' best elementary & middle school teachers differentiated their lessons to the kids at the lowest and highest levels and everyone advanced...why can't this work at the AP level?

Because then it's not an AP class. The AP curriculum is supposed to be the minimum taught. That is frankly not compatible with meeting the needs of the lowest performers, some of whom read 5 grade levels behind. It's insane.

Exactly. At a certain point, kids who can do more advanced work should be given the opportunity to do more advanced work, without the teacher being distracted by having to accommodate other kids. That’s what tracking is for, and by the time kids get to high school, tracking is entirely appropriate.

Arguably, it's entirely appropriate in middle school as well. Attending a public MS with academic tracking in most academic subjects was a godsend to me and my siblings. Our HS school was ranked in the bottom third in the state, yet we were able to attend Ivies on a lot of financial aid eventually. Both of my siblings went to Harvard.

[Anonymous]

[guardian]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody is canceling AP classes in DC. Wilson is requiring all kids in 11th grade take AP English and AP US History and people are freaking out about it because they assume (without evidence) that this means it won't be a "real" AP class. Of course, it will, because the College Board has to approve the curriculum/syllabus in order for it to be an AP class.

It's an effort to deal with a substantial segregation issue at Wilson with regard to which kids take AP classes and which don't. If it is to be successful, Wilson will have to devote a lot of resources to supporting some of these kids and it's not clear that they have a plan for doing so but time will tell. But MANY people are assuming it will be a disaster without giving it a chance.

If anything at all, not matter what, Wilson will have to devote a lot of resources to support the kids who are several grades behind. That has absolutely nothing to do with the whiteness of a certain classroom and whether advanced classes are racist.
Wilson should be held accountable for catching up its weakest students.
"AP for all" after what this forum has reported on "Honors for all" is just an enormous cruel trick on everyone. It sidesteps entirely the system's primary responsibility. You want more disadvantaged youth in AP? Tutor hothouse them until they can figuratively beat the shit out of that AP class. Come on, you can do it!

At the very least, if you're gonna have "varsity basketball for all," there should be a mini-trampoline next to the basket to accommodate the short, fat kids. You know, some kind of supports for them so they are able to keep up with the rest of the team. If you don't have that, then the team...kind of sucks.

Ugh, why do you have to destroy my images?? Tutor hothousing, 80ies movie style, is not like a mini-trampoline for fat kids. It's like the sensei in karate kids. We need a bunch of karate kids senseis aka awesome interventionists to make AP less white. Unless you just don't want AP in your school, then cancel it.

I agree that cancelling AP would make better sense than requiring AP for all. Because requiring AP for all will not be AP. Alternatively, making AP an opt-in class without any supports would at least allow for it to remain an accelerated, college level-class: because the students who are feeling too much pressure could just drop out and go to the mainstream class. But Principal Martin has no fall-back. I suspect this is at least partially because she simply does not have enough square footage in an already over-crowded building to roll out a new idea the right way.

If it were just a question of square footage and not of staff to teach it, they could make the AP class a virtual from home class? Keep the square footage for the intensive tutoring that they should have invested into in DC elementary and middle schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yet another thread for folks to freak out on. 🙄 Including all students in AP classes is not cancelling AP classes.

Yes, yes it is.

If everyone is in AP -- including students 3+ years below grade level who don't want to be there -- and teachers are discouraged from giving failing grades, then there is effectively no AP.

[Anonymous]

Somewhat off-topic, but PP is on the money when she says virtual classrooms could be set up to free up space for advanced classes (or any class!). The past year has shown us that virtual classes are very effective, under the right conditions. An excellent idea to relieve overcrowding in high schools!

[Anonymous]

A terrible idea!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Somewhat off-topic, but PP is on the money when she says virtual classrooms could be set up to free up space for advanced classes (or any class!). The past year has shown us that virtual classes are very effective, under the right conditions. An excellent idea to relieve overcrowding in high schools!

No.

[Anonymous]

Yes!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yet another thread for folks to freak out on. 🙄 Including all students in AP classes is not cancelling AP classes.

Yes, yes it is.

If everyone is in AP -- including students 3+ years below grade level who don't want to be there -- and teachers are discouraged from giving failing grades, then there is effectively no AP.

But this isn't the case for DC....OP is just stirring the pot with lies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Link to canceling AP classes in DC?

Hi, look it up yourself, thanks.

You can’t provide a link because it’s not happening.

You’re FOS.

Stay woke, bra.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yet another thread for folks to freak out on. 🙄 Including all students in AP classes is not cancelling AP classes.

Yes, yes it is.

If everyone is in AP -- including students 3+ years below grade level who don't want to be there -- and teachers are discouraged from giving failing grades, then there is effectively no AP.

But this isn't the case for DC....OP is just stirring the pot with lies.

This is the case for dc. It’s so cloying how you all you so excited to fall on your sword, and hold advanced children back from their potential, in some neo-communism style “we all fail together in ap for all” attempt at engineering social progress. It won’t help. It will fail in the long run and retard progress for our country. There are better ways to tackle racial inequity, but this ain’t it. This is basically racism and punishing certain demographics to try and raise others. It’s poorly reasoned. The scary part is anyone who criticizes it is somehow “racially insensitive”. Groupthink idiots. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yet another thread for folks to freak out on. 🙄 Including all students in AP classes is not cancelling AP classes.

Yes, yes it is.

If everyone is in AP -- including students 3+ years below grade level who don't want to be there -- and teachers are discouraged from giving failing grades, then there is effectively no AP.

But this isn't the case for DC....OP is just stirring the pot with lies.

This is the case for dc. It’s so cloying how you all you so excited to fall on your sword, and hold advanced children back from their potential, in some neo-communism style “we all fail together in ap for all” attempt at engineering social progress. It won’t help. It will fail in the long run and retard progress for our country. There are better ways to tackle racial inequity, but this ain’t it. This is basically racism and punishing certain demographics to try and raise others. It’s poorly reasoned. The scary part is anyone who criticizes it is somehow “racially insensitive”. Groupthink idiots. Sorry.

Still can't provide a link for DC public schools though, huh?

FOS