AP Panic - what's going on with elimination of Ap's at Elite Privates

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not just the DC area top privates that are getting rid of AP courses. Andover, Exeter, and other well-known privates got rid of them a few years ago. And it isn't like kids are all taking AP tests on the side. AP courses aren't offered, and no one is encouraged to take AP tests. Particularly ironic, given that Andover faculty helped design the original AP program fifty-plus years ago.

Kind of like how Bill Gates funded the campaign that resulted in the scourge of constant testing and retesting in public schools, but then has his own kids in a nice progressive private school in Seattle that basically doesn't test at all. By the way, the private school where he and his kids went also doesn't have any AP classes. I'm guessing he and Melinda have a good laugh at how they have screwed up the education of tens of millions of public school students.

Are there different tracks at privates? Are there kids taking the hardest courses while others self-select a less ambitious program? And if so is there a correlation between those choices and where they gain admission?

Yes, there are different tracks and levels of courses.

I think privates are getting rid of APs because colleges say they want students to take the most rigorous classes their schools offer. If that's an AP class, over which the school has little control of the content and teaching, the private schools are not very different from public schools. the most rigorous class the private school kid is taking is also the most rigorous course the public school kid is taking.

So why pay tuition (and I say that as a private school parent)?

This strikes me as a sensible answer, thanks. I have public school kids and always thought the primary benefit of privates is that they have freedom to follow their own curriculum. Never understood why they’d let AP drive. Surely there are many other benefits that come with private schools but the curriculum is pretty important and I’d be annoyed if I was paying for the same program we could get for free down the street. My left eye twitches as I say free and think about my real estate taxes.