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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Private schools can and do still indicate high-level/added rigor courses on the transcript, and grades should be weighted accordingly. My understanding is that dropping AP is more about [b]choosing not to teach specifically to a test[/b]. Wish there were a private hs counselor in here, they could explain it better than I. [/quote]

That was the line they gave parents, but the truth is that there are many ways to teach an AP class (as evidenced by the kids who self teach and take tests). Some schools offer 15 different versions of AP Language and Literature, for example.  Either they didn't really understand what the college board required in a curriculum, they didn't know how to write a curriculum, or they were not being fully transparent.[/quote]

This is true for some AP courses, but teaching all of the required elements of some AP classes crowds out other valuable skills and content.  For example, if you want to teach kids how to do a research paper, it is difficult to squeeze in.  If you teach AP history, which are meant to mirror college survey courses, it can be difficult to slow down and teach some content more deeply, or to spend more time on strong historical writing.  In fact, many teachers are teaching kids not even to quote historical documents in their essays "because it doesn't get you any points" on the AP exam.

There are also certain expectations from the College Board that definitely drive how you spend your time.  For example, I taught AP Euro last year and spent maybe 5 minutes on the fact that Haiti revolted against France, focusing on the impacts on France.  Then the kids took the exam in May and the DBQ was based on the Haitian Revolution.  Now I might have to decide to spend a lot more time teaching about how the Europeans impacted people all over the world, in order to ensure that my students would do well on future tests.  But, personally, I think that belongs in World History and that our limited time in AP Euro should be spent learning the background/context of European (and therefore, American) culture and events.  After awhile, it gets irritating following the constant re-designs, etc.

Finally, there have been some real changes to the exams that degrade course expectations.  I have been teaching AP courses for 15 years and generally support the program, but I can see why some schools wouldn't want to bother.[/quote]

You could attempt to make the same argument for STEM classes, like the pace is so fast that you don’t have time to go deeper into some areas or do a larger project (lab, paper, research) as part of the class. While I agree to some extent, in the end you need to put the interest of the student first. These high school classes are meant to give a broad knowledge for introductory college level classes. If the student is interested in going deeper there is the route of seminar, research, elective extracurriculars etc. to me this argument always looks like a way to give up accountability.[/quote]

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