<p>So our school sent out our schedules this week, and it seems everybody has honors english and science. I mean everyone.. even those who received low 80's and high 70's in the regular level courses. It seems like there are around 5 honors classes and one cp class for our junior year English classes. Since we also recently received an AP grant, everyone is being let into any ap class they want. This means that people who need a assistant to help them with their work are taking 3+ AP classes a year. Is it stupid to be a little concerned that the classes might be extremely watered down? Am I sounding like a elitist here? I really want to get the most out of these classes, not sit around while the teacher has to slow down to accommodate everyone.</p>
<p>Wait, so they are letting special-ed kids into AP CLASSES!?!?!?!?!
That’s really messed up.</p>
<p>At my school, all you need to enroll in the next honors/AP class is a C in your current class (if in honors) or a B (if in regular). So if you receive a 70% in Honors English II, you’re technically able to take AP English Language & Composition. And a lot of kids do… but I don’t think the teacher slows down to accommodate them. They either drop out, fail, or work their ass off.</p>
<p>Wait, is everyone getting their class schedule before school starts? Because at my school, in about 3 or 4 days, we get our class schedule. Which would be about 5 or 6 days before I start school. What is going on? We didn’t have this last year!!</p>
<p>We don’t even have grade requirements. You could get a 59.5 (D) in Regular English and still technically be allowed to take AP Lang. In fact, many people at my school do bad in regular classes but still go on to take AP and IB.</p>
<p>Wow, that’s crazy. At my school, I think you basically have to have an A in an honors course, departmental approval, teacher approval, a parent signature, and a counselor signature to be able to take an AP class (well, it sounds kinda tough, but I didn’t have any problem).</p>
<p>for some reason i got to take AP classes with B’s and C’s. and i didn’t even really want to take them. then i got more C’s in them. yeah, i think the administration made a mistake with me.</p>
<p>anyway i think the OP could just find something not watered down to learn with all the time they won’t be spending on the AP classes because they’re so easy. the only problem is the classes being more boring and them not preparing you for AP tests if you intend to take them. those don’t necessarily have to be big problems though.</p>
<p>mostly you just sound disappointed.</p>
<p>Wow, I’m glad we don’t have this problem. At our school, we have to have >90% in a regular class to be eligible for honors/AP. Then we have a placement exam for every honors/AP class, plus teacher recommendations and such. But still, so many people got into honors this year (almost twice as many as last year), especially for Honors English. Last year, I thought Honors Biology and Honors Algebra 2 were pretty watered down b/c a lot of kids were lazy and didn’t pay attention in class (this happened mostly in bio). Our bio teacher pretty much sucked (she’s the nicest person ever, but she can’t teach ****), so instead of disciplining us, she moved through the curriculum slower and basically told us the answers to most of her test questions the night before the test. And the same thing in HAlg2 - our teacher would outline every test for us so that we’d know exactly how many questions of what would be on each test and whether it would be MC or FRQ and on and on… I’m not asking for classes so challenging that everyone fails, but still, honors classes last year were not very hard at all (they were freshman courses, but still, everyone acted like they were such a big deal…). /end of teacher rant haha</p>
<p>at my school they make you take ap classes, and if you don’t want to or you think you can’t handle it, it sucks to suck.</p>
<p>I don’t think there’s a problem with kids wanting to challenge themselves - if they want to enroll in a class that they can’t handle then it should be their fault for bombing their GPA.</p>
<p>My only problem is when teachers try to accommodate those people. Teachers should go at the same pace regardless of student performance IMO. At the very least, curve the grades - don’t lower your teaching standards.</p>
<p>No APs in my school :/.</p>
<p>Yup, at my school, everybody is encouraged to take AP classes, even if you do terribly in the class/test.</p>
<p>that sounds so crazy!! anyone’s allowed to take any number of APs at our school (with the exception of freshmen, who aren’t allowed to take any.) I can’t imagine any other system! most people who don’t feel comfortable with the coursework drop out, and most people who are B students in regular still end up scraping B-'s in AP, because most teachers in my school are afraid of giving out C’s. doesn’t happen quite often. I think they’re afraid of lawsuits.</p>
<p>Frankly, this entire thread is fairly condescending and pompous. I have a relatively low GPA, primarily because I refuse to engage in busy work. However, I’m an active participant in class discussion and very much enjoy many of the topics that are discussed in class. As a general rule, I’m only able to find an intellectual stimulating conversation in Honors/AP courses. Should I not be able to take an AP course? </p>
<p>This thread is only perpetuating the “weeding-out” process, implemented by the capitalistic, American education system. Why is it that I have to have a “B average” in order to be enrolled in an intellectually stimulating course? Or, why do I have to be incredibly competitive in terms of my academic achievement and standardized test scores, in order to attend a school in which they have a vast selection of stimulating courses? These questions are rhetorical and I don’t expect you to answer them. Of course I know why. Without the stipulations that I previously listed, the capitalistic, education system would crumble…</p>
<p>@Bassoonpaus: You’re practically implying that a student with sub-par grades is “special-ed”. You honestly don’t see how ignorant that is?</p>
<p>^^Maybe because people think that if you don’t have a b average, they shouldn’t put you somewhere that will be to complex/difficult for you. If you haven’t proven otherwise, how are they supposed to know how intelligent you are? They supply you with work and tests to try your ability, if you do badly on these things, that tells them you may not be fit for this class that requires a certain level of intelligence. </p>
<p>Um, okay, not really sure about all the things you’re saying here; I don’t know much about capitalistic education systems–but as a honors student/AP student, it can be increasingly annoying when students who aren’t on level with me are pushed into a class with me. In Honors geometry there were students who just couldn’t understand the material, and we had to constantly stop the class to allow a thorough explanation of every little detail. Just because you are one of a few exceptions to this system, doesn’t mean we should change it on your behalf.</p>
<p>To think this system was made for any other reason besides trying to do whats right for each student is ignorant starkali. And honestly, even if you didn’t do the ‘busy-work’ (most of which is participation grades and homework) then I’m positive you would be managing a B average since those two things don’t take up a large percent of anyone’s grades (in my school system the two only make up 10% of one’s grade) . </p>
<p>And also, you probably have to competitive to get into “a school in which they have a vast selection of stimulating courses” because no school wants to admit a student that will bring down their overall scores, and in the end make them look bad. And you don’t have to be super competitive academically to go to a school with stimulating courses. My school offers 26 APs, and a ton of classes like engineering, medical sciences, sports medicine, auto-tech, etc–and all you have to do is either be in the district or apply for a transfer! </p>
<p>Here’s an idea starkali, why don’t you try harder in school, and maybe you’ll be much happier with the courses you can take. Not to sound condesending but you said you’re self you refuse to do busy work (or work that the teachers give you to ensure you do well on later assignments and tests!).</p>
<p>@starkali: I agree with you, a lot of pretentious kids in this thread. Although then again, this is CC … what would you expect? =p</p>
<p>Like I said, I have no problem with kids taking AP classes even if they don’t get good grades - as long as the course as a whole isn’t slowed down.</p>
<p>I agree with Teaspoons. Although it is true that some kids really are very intelligent and can hold their own in AP courses (even though they don’t get top grades because they don’t do homework or whatever), how is the school supposed to know what kind of kid you are? For all they know, you could be taking the courses for stupid reasons like so you can be with your friends or because your parents want you to take the hardest courses available no matter what. If you haven’t gotten good grades in the past, that’s a red flag to the school, and they want to make sure you’re in an appropriate learning environment. Just from some personal experience, I took Geometry in 8th grade and got a C+. I was eligible for Algebra 2 in 9th grade, but I decided to retake Geometry so I fully understood it and so I wasn’t out of place in a class that was too hard for me. Unfortunately, that’s not how all students think, though.</p>
<p>I think the only solution to this is the teacher recommendation thing, which I do like. My school doesn’t do this, but it seems like a good way to distinguish from the kids like starkali and the kids who just have no idea what they’re in for. I do agree with starkali that if a student is active in class participation and likes intelligent discussion, he should be able take the AP class regardless of his grade.</p>
<p>In my school, you need parental approval and preferably an 86% or above for history and English courses where there is an alternative. For science courses, where AP Bio is the only bio course offered, if you want to take bio, you have to take AP. Same with Psych, Comp Sci, Econ, etc. Class requests are vetted by the faculty and previous year’s teacher first, but people know what they’re getting into, so the school usually lest them learn it the hard way.
But in my school, advanced foreign language placing is a DISASTER. They decided to make an honors course, and after ninth grade, in order to make the separation relatively equal (we only have 50 in our grade, and we all take the course), they split the class in half. Which means that prior grades of people in the honors class range from 100% to 71%. Now, we unlucky ones in the honors class get lessons and tests which are twice as difficult as the other class’s even though many of us are not in the least qualified to take an honors course in the subject. They told us in order to console us (because of course, they did this without our consent) that an honnors course looks good on the transcript, but I’d rather have a regular 95% than an honors 85% (which is what I’m averaging now, after a year in the system). And my grades weren’t even that good before they split it!</p>
<p>I completely agree with you FollowTheReaper.</p>
<p>Also, should point out that there’s nothing really stopping you from taking a class at my school unless you dont have the prerequisite or you didnt get a sufficient grade in a class (in Algebra 1 in eighth grade, if you get below an 80 you have to retake the course in highschool but that is literally the only course like that at my school). You generally have to make 3/4 or 4/4 on exams (sort of graded like AP exams, not sure if everyone else is on the same system) you qualify for honors, and if you are an honors kid and you botch a test, the teachers normally let you stay in honors because honors students are normally still above standard (at my school anyhow) even if they dont do so well on tests (standard classes have a lot of skippers, dropouts, and druggies, so most students who care and can hold their own are put into honors). The only thing the school system does is suggest courses for you, and suggest against certain ones. So they might suggest that you take Advance Functions and Modeling instead of Pre-cal but no one can stop you from taking pre-cal unless you failed the prereq.</p>
<p>My school is lax with entry requirements for AP classes. Teachers give recommendations for what classes students should take next year, but these are not binding and are easy to get out of. Personally, I like the flexibility of this system since it allows access to more advanced classes to stronger students. Some choose to take AP chem or AP bio without the corresponding honors class, or take AP stats as a freshman or sophomore. This is great for students who are strong in math and science. Of course, others take classes that they are not qualified for. One could take BC calc after barely passing pre-calc, for example, but teachers will not normally water down their classes for these students.</p>