Reply to Whatever happened to: "APs are a scam"

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Whatever happened to: "APs are a scam""

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think the answer to your question is pretty simple, MCPS doesn't base educational decisions on a handful of op-eds and articles. Lots of people disagree that AP classes are a scam, even if one AP teacher wrote that they were a decade ago. Even if he is right in his particular arguments, there's a good reason for MCPS to offer courses that college and parents think are valuable.

That said, I think the author of those pieces (John Tierney) is right in at least one respect. AP courses are not genuinely college level courses. They are advanced high school courses. Tierney is more qualified to say that than I am (he's taught at both the high school and college levels), but I say that pretty confidently based on my own school experience.

A kid who goes to college as a sophomore based on AP scores saves money (and I know why they'd make that choice!), but at the cost of education because they've substituted an accelerated high school level course for learning at the college level.

Obviously, advanced courses for high schoolers have their own value, but calling them "college level" is misrepresentation of the reality of what's happening.[/quote]

Mostly agree but it probably depends on the college, and on the course.  An AP level language course might be decently similar to an basic language class in any college.  And there are some colleges that are definitely operating more on the AP level of inquiry for classes.

IME, most kids don't use AP to shave a year off their schooling to get it down to 3.  They do use it to shave a year off to get it from 5 to 4 in schools where it's hard to finish in 4.  They also use it to get "sophomore" standing in order to be able to register for classes prior to freshman, or other benefits like that.  At some schools, that's hugely important in being able to get the classes you want.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics