<p>As many of you know, the NY Times has a yearly article that rates the highschools based on the number of AP and IB courses. Unfortunately, these ratings are now determining curriculum</p>
<p>Here in Maryland, honors and AP courses are given an extra point of weight for the grades. Thus an "A" in an honors or AP course gets 5 points, A "B" equals 4 points in an honors and AP course. The educational administration of Maryland has always maintained that their honors courses are equivalent to a college level course.</p>
<p>Starting this September, AP courses will be given an extra 2 points. This will surely drive an increase in participation of AP courses over that of honors courses. I am wondering if anyone has seen this in their county yet?</p>
<p>Don't blame the NY Times! They don't have anything to do with that index. In fact, they printed an article today raising questions about the validity of the index.</p>
<p>The index was devised by Jay Matthews, a writer for the Washington Post, and it is Newsweek Magazine that promotes and publicizes it. (I believe that Newsweek and the Post are in the same conglomerate. In yet another interesting twist, the Washington Post owns Kaplan, the test prep company.)</p>
<p>How is this a sad effect? Anything that motivates students into taking more difficult classes is definately a plus, it'll serve them well when college application time comes around.</p>
<p>It is sad because many kids that would rather take honors class will be pushed into AP. It is also sad that not all kids who will be in AP will be ready for these types of courses. The pressure to have AP courses thoughout the student's career will certainly increase.</p>
<p>The AP emphasis is beginning to be discouraged at some top schools led by Stanford. Stanford is adopting a policy of giving no added value for AP courses over others. They are saying there is just too much pressure on the kids, and the only way for it to decrease it is for admissions at top colleges to lighten-up. There was a discussion a while back about this and reference to a Stanford University iTunes podcast by a Stanford prof who does research on this topic.</p>
<p>Many colleges say to take the most rigorous classes. That said, when recalculating gpas, they count a regular class, honors class, and AP class equally. I am not stating this is fair, but it is a fact at some schools. They do not know what is actually taught in these classes. This is also why there is a need for standardized testing. I would not be concerned about it.</p>
<p>Colleges have a way of talking from both sides of their mouths and Stanford is no exception:</p>
<p>It encourages students to take APs:
[quote]
Pre-register for challenging 12th grade courses.
If your school requires that you pre-register during the spring of your 11th grade for your 12th grade classes, make sure that you seek out the courses that will challenge you and excite you the most. If you can fit Honors or Advanced Placement courses into your schedule, remember to sign up for them early. Also remember that colleges will want to see a full and demanding load throughout the entire year; do not think that once you submit your applications in December or January you no longer need college-prep courses. At all times, choose from among the most rigorous courses you can in English, math, foreign language, social studies, and science while remembering to satisfy all requirements for graduation.
<p>The learner still gets to decide how to spend the high school years. If more students in the United States start taking courses nearer to the level of courses in other countries, I would consider that a feature rather than a bug.</p>
<p>I'm not sure Stanford is really talking out of both sides of its mouth:
[quote]
At all times, choose from among the most rigorous courses you can
[/quote]
I think the there is a difference between "choose from among the most rigorous courses you can " and "take all of the most rigorous courses you can" -- and
[quote]
a full and demanding load throughout the entire year
[/quote]
is not the same as the fullest and most demanding load you can possibly manage. I think that's a small but significant difference.</p>
<p>
[quote]
If you can fit Honors or Advanced Placement courses into your schedule, remember to sign up for them early.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This sounds like a pretty powerful hint to me. Stanford would also have more credibility in its supposed campaign against APs if it stopped giving credit for those APs, up to Advanced Standing. Lots of schools do not grant AS.</p>
<p>Our school system has always awarded 1 extra point for honors classes and 2 extra points for AP classes. It seems very reasonable to me, considering that the workload outside class is much more challenging in AP classes than in honors. </p>
<p>Even with 2 points extra for AP classes, you would be surprised that most of our top students do not overload with APs, because they know that they cannot manage the extra work along with sports and other extra-curriculars. We are on 4 x 4 block scheduling, and AP classes are only offered in the spring semester. Therefore, they can only take a maximum of 4 APs per year, and very few have ever attempted 4 at the same time. One must sleep! If APs are not requiring much work at home, then they are not being taught properly.</p>
<p>Our school has always given 2 extra points for AP and 1 extra point for honors. I know some students who make sure every class they take is either AP or Honors so they can boost their gpa and class rank.</p>