Reply to WSJ - To Increase Equity, School Districts Eliminate Honors Classes

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What gets me about this is that it hurts bright, motivated disadvantaged kids (and girls, in the context of STEM) the most. Advantaged kids will get tutoring and pushed into APs as soon as they are available. Bright kids without that won’t be prepared. I literally cannot - as in, cognitively do not understand - why schools are abandoning able, disadvantaged kids. I get that the radial composition of magnet/gifted programs etc was a problem. The answer to that is to create *more* gifted programs that scoop up every kid in Title 1 schools that shows academic ability and focus. It makes me tear my hair out to think about those kids. [/quote]

I don’t know that you should be tearing your hair out about kids at title I schools. My kids go to a title I elementary school, and they have smaller class sizes, great teachers, and a strong peer group of smart and motivated kids. [/quote]

Spare me. What happens to that “strong peer group” as time goes on? Your kids do fine (b/c you will get tutoring as needed and get them into good MS and HS programs.) The kids without that will not. [/quote]

I was responding to the overwrought hand-wringing about kids based on your classist assumptions and the implication that if kids from lower socioeconomic households are not pulled out of their schools to attend magnet programs at other (I guess maybe you think better?) schools, they are somehow being failed. I’m not sure what you mean by “good MS and HS programs,” but I’m assuming you mean magnet programs. Hopefully you’ll be pleased to know that the regular middle and high schools in MCPS still have strong peer groups, and all schools offer free tutoring.

I personally think all MCPS schools should offer the classes they have in magnets as well as real honors English classes. [/quote]
DP. you can personally think that, but it's clear that the only way some kids can get into "honors" is to slap that label on the regular classes and then have grade inflation.

This is reflected in the many colleges that have remedial courses for kids like this.

[b]Your definition of "strong peer group" might be a bit lower than other people's definition.[/b]

FWIW I went to a lower SES school. We had 3 AP classes in the HS (again lower income school) but the "honors" classes were a joke even back then.   I knew someone who was not the sharpest knife in the drawer, who took those honor classes, not AP classes. Because the honors classes have the same weight as AP classes this person's WGPA was on par with those who took the harder AP classes.

The way so many schools designate "honors" is just a way to inflate the grades for certain types groups.[/quote]

How could you possibly know that?[/quote]

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