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Restoring rigor in high schools
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Anonymous
DP. But working harder doesn’t mean they are learning more. I teach AP classes. Yes, the students are always working hard; however, it takes much longer to for students to complete tasks than it used to. Students today often lack resilience. When an assignment gets burdensome or challenging, they tend to shut down. I coax far more than I did 20 years ago. I also receive 3-4 times the extension requests than I used to because there’s often an excuse why work can’t get done: I’m too busy, I have sports, I wasn’t in a good mood. |
Anonymous
They always have-they're kids and we aren't in war for christ's sake. If you are seriously dealing with this issue, it sounds more like an indictment of your ability to teach. I went to an extremely stressful competitive high school that is known for being one of the most rigorous in the country...but that was three decades ago; my children currently run laps around me, have many more responsibilities and things they have to do in order to get into college and are now learning content I didn't learn until my second year of college. They go to a pretty average public school. Maybe put yourself in the perspective of a kid today, who needs to compete at a high level in order to get into even a decent school, while in my time, Harvard was boasting an acceptance rate 4x its current. You are suffering from recency bias. |
Anonymous
That honestly makes a lot of sense. If we are overburdening our students and they're constantly working, they will eventually perform worse and will not be able to turn things in. Have you considered that there is no proof that homework is actually beneficial to one's education? It makes sense In lower ages where we treat school as a way to form discipline, but there is no reason we have to work a high schooler to death to provide them a good education. |
Anonymous
+1, I've noticed that teachers have deeply inflated egos about their own abilities, and sometimes have nearly inane understandings or expectations of children, driven by their own adoration for themself. From the teacher subreddit:
These are all things I remember seeing and experiencing with other students throughout elementary school. If you don't want to deal with irresponsible, hectic children, don't work at an elementary school! |
Anonymous
… and now a personal attack on a teacher. This is always where I exit a thread. I’m that strong teacher. You know, the one with the reputation among parents: “Make sure your child gets Mrs. X!” But I say one thing you don’t like, and you say it’s an “indictment on [my] ability to teach.” What a ridiculous statement. And as you resorted to personal attack, you’ve proven to be someone who can’t reasonably debate. I was also taking all-AP classes in high school. I played on two varsity teams and I held down a part-time job. I know what it’s like to be a strong, busy student. I also work with about 130 of them a day. I suspect my sample size is a bit larger a than yours, especially as it spans two decades. Your personal anecdote doesn’t change my opinion. I’ve been at this a long time. |
Anonymous
Didn’t bulldoze comments just pointed out the fact that the material across the board despite the AP moniker continues to be watered down. Kids may be working harder, but are achieving less and receiving universally higher grades. |
Anonymous
Doesn't it prove more that the education system is imbalanced and unjust? That low income neighborhoods have crappy schools? |
Anonymous
Colleges want that money and connection. Full pay private school kids, no APs with good enough EC will get in. |
Anonymous
I am so stunned when I hear these comments. Maybe these stories vary widely family to family? My husband went to a decent public school in a relatively affluent area and I went to a prep school in the Northeast. My kids attend (or have attended) a public school system by reputation stronger than my husband's. We both worked so much harder than our college sophomore (who got accepted to multiple top 25s) or our high school junior (5 APs) or our middle schooler (straight As, never has a lick of homework). I am a humanities person and got farther in math during high school than my mathy kids. The block system results in kids doing so much less homework, it is outrageous. Our school system does not teach kids how to write in elementary or middle school and, by the time they get to AP classes, the teachers don't have time to teach the basics. The language standards are shockingly low. Maybe science classes are better now? All I know is that I was consistently studying for 2-4 hours ever single weeknight of high school, without fail, after varsity sports practice, plus for long hours on weekends. My kids occasionally do what I did daily and almost never study weekends. Even AP classes use largely multiple choice tests. Even AP English and History classes require very little writing. For what it's worth: I am a college professor in a humanities discipline and not only have students' writing skills fallen in the last three decades, so has their ability to read long books. As for acceptance rates... they don't indicate a higher standard or stronger students, only more applicants. |
Anonymous
| Kids need to read more. Schools should teach whole books. That will solve lots of problems. |
Anonymous
| Sorry, but my kid works plenty hard and I wouldn't want it any more challenging. She has 3 hours a night at least of homework and works most of the weeked. She's a straight A student, but that is not easily achieved. She needs a 93 to get an A and in AP classes she managed to eek out an A minus. But she's in a private school, where grade inflation doesn't exist. The public schools are the problem. MCPS is finally figuring out that colleges are very aware of the grade inflation problem and have revamped their system, where until this year, you could get an 89.5 for one quarter, a 79.5 for second quarter and end up with an A for the semester. Now they are using numerical grades to calculate semester grade. That's how they do it at our school, which only has semester grade. |
Anonymous
| It seems that kids were reading more whole books (the classics) for English class at so-so average public schools in non-affluent areas than than they are at many affluent private day schools today. And there was significant required summer reading of similar-type books. I remember having to read Treasure Island as summer reading in middle school. My kid went to an affluent private day school and and summer reading consisted of books by modern authors. I’m all for exposing kids to a variety of literature by authors from different backgrounds, but they need to read the classics too (and before anyone jumps on me for being racist/misogynist, I would include books/material by Toni Morrison, Pearl Buck, Edith Wharton, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, etc. in the classics mix ). |
Anonymous
| The kids at the top are being pushed too hard with the AP arms race and the expectation that everyone has to have. 1550+ SAT to get into a top school. The kids who are not at the very top are often ignored or allowed to fall through the cracks. The kids who need the most help also get a lot of attention. We have a two-tiered system that caters to the very top and the ones struggling the most and sort of neglects a lot of people in the middle. |
Anonymous
With ridiculous posts like this, this country is doomed. |
Anonymous
It isn’t just that we are overburdening our kids, they are also being preyed upon by digital content providers. It’s encouraging that they are beginning to stand up for themselves. Agree, the PP is exhibiting bias. Seems far too many teachers stay in the profession out of a sadistic drive to mock kids. AP teacher just means you’ve churned through freshman level content on repeat for twenty years. The students have a mental hurdle to engage, your life is menial, so you lash out. Unfortunately, you are exactly like teachers of the past. |