Reply to AP exams free next year?

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "AP exams free next year?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Even putting $1000 on a credit card at 20%/yr s a better deal than any year of college. Financial aid for lower middle class isn't that generous.

The real risk is the wasted money from all the kids who will fail the AP tests. MoCo already has a 25% failure rate, sure to increase when tests are free. [/quote]

This is what happens when you let anyone sign up for AP classes. Students should have a proven track record of academic success in previous honors courses prior to being allowed in AP classes.[/quote]

Don't even need that. Just need to give legit quarterly exams to show progress and qualify for AP exam. Nothing wrong with exposing whoever wants to the material, so long as they aren't disruptive. [/quote]

When the teacher has to slow down the class because there are students in it who don't belong, it affects everyone. [/quote]

No one "has to" slow down. That's a bad teacher who needs to do their job properly. [/quote]

This is my neighbor’s biggest issue with teaching AP classes. She has students in some of her classes who cannot do the work because they read below grade level and have frequent absences. Because of the public school district’s obsession with equity, those students are allowed to sign up for her classes. She’s required to accommodate them which slows down the students who are prepared for the class. [/quote]

It shouldn’t.  Accommodation can take many forms.  PowerPoint outline notes (they provide this in college and med school).  Dedicated time to stop by during lunch or after school for assistance.  Referral to tutoring or support class.  Referral for reading evaluation services. Email reminder to entire class the week of exams and ensuring dates are correct and up to date in Canvas. Request if a conference w/ student and counselor.  Study guides. None of these  require slowing down the class.

AP classes are not on-level courses.  Kids should not be gate kept from them and should be encouraged to take challenges.  They should also be provided the expectations of taking such as class (ie you will need to devote 30-45 mins per night to this class).[/quote]

You are completely unrealistic about what happens in classrooms.  The teacher is not going to let the unprepared kids fail; the class will inevitably have to move slower. - AP teacher
[/quote]

We’re not unrealistic about what happens in some classes.  [b]What we’re saying is there is no reason to slow down a class unless the greater majority of the class is not prepared[/b]. This doesn’t mean “letting” the unprepared kids fail. Set expectations clearly set up front, document them, provide the necessary supports and resources for students.

Just like students are coached to choose challenging courses, they can be coached to put in the necessary effort to pass.

Additionally, what needs to be looked at is if kids have been provided the supports early on to ensure they are prepared for challenging courses.  That could be summer programs, tutoring, etc.[/quote]

When those students are minorities, you'd better believe the teacher is instructed to slow down the class if that's what is required for students to pass. Lots of reteaching, retakes, offering personal time (before/after, lunch breaks) is expected. I only wish the student's grade in the class was heavily based on their test score. But since students aren't required to take the test, that won't happen. [/quote]

Is it true that students are not required to take AP tests? I don't understand how it's okay to get the GPA boost from taking an AP, but not be required to take the test. [/quote]
This has been the case for eons. I've been out of HS for 35 years. I took two AP classes (HS only offered 3, and the AP calc class was at 7am which I wasn't going to do), but I only took one AP exam because that's all I could afford.[/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