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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]High School teacher and High School parent here.
1. I hate that so many teachers feel they have to teach to a test.  That's not how real learning works.
2. The AP test scores do not get kids into college.  They give kids credit (and only at some schools).  In fact, more and more schools don't want kids to skip the general courses because an AP class simply isn't the same as a 100 level college course
3. Teach your classes in a way that sparks excitement, interest, joy, and love of learning.  Make sure the kids are learning more than just what's on the test. Depth is always better than breadth.
4. No way should 30% of your kids be earning a D or F.  Nor should they all be getting an A.

Curious how long you've been teaching.[/quote]

[b]Can you just point this teacher to the materials and standards for the course? I cannot believe FCPS does not have these for an AP course.[/b] Of course teach for interest but a lot of stuff is standardized. It doesn't follow that it's boring. One of my most interesting professors had 1000 kids in his class and taught much of the same information each year. He really enjoyed introducing students to the larger world of his field of study.[/quote]

AP courses are not designed by the county.  There is a standard course of study that AP teachers must follow that is outlined by the College Board.  The courses are designed for teacher to teach directly to the test.  However, a good AP teacher can get kids excited about this despite the CB oversight.  All that said, an AP course is still nowhere close to a good 100 level college course.
[/quote]

No, there is NO standard course of study.  There are objectives and skills that must be included, but the examples, assignments, tests and grades are all individual to a teacher.  [/quote]

100% agree. Also, to the author of the post above, what exactly would qualify as a “good 100 level college course”? Take Calculus. Is your golden standard for a good course the one from MIT and CalTech? Or VT would qualify? And then, would it be only Calc from engineering department or the one that accounting majors take is ok? Because, clearly, you would know.. [/quote]

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