<p>My kid is 11th grade and has received A for her Science in 10th grade, basically she fulfilled all requirements for AP (she is special needs, but high IQ, and Science is not her disability), the school refused to allow her to talk AP, hence she will not be able to graduate with any Honor or AP.... will it hurt the student? what do you do?</p>
<p>In some high schools, a parent can “waive” a student into an AP, but I guess you can’t do that. I would find out exactly why the school won’t allow it. If it sounds like discrimination, get a lawyer. Of course only do that if taking these classes is something your daughter really wants to do.</p>
<p>D’s HS allowed only 3 APs / year and starting only in junior year, not earlier. As D. discovered later, her HS was teaching regular classes at the higher level than other HSs were teaching AP, which landed her a Supplemental Instructor job at college for Chem. prof. for 3 years. She was hand picked by prof. after having only 100%+ on all tests and after prof. witnessed a line of students waiting to ask her questions after class. D. never had AP Chem. (was not offerred at D’s HS, science teacher did not believe in calling any class “AP”) and ended up instructing many who did.<br>
So, number of AP classes is not as important as the general level of instruction at specific HS, the fact that is recognized by colleges, they simply are aware of certain level at specific HSs.</p>
<p>If she has the pre-requisites in the college-prep level classes and earned the appropriate grades, I would request in writing why she is not allowed to take those classes. Does she have a one on one aide or in-class support? Maybe there is some prohibition about that in AP classes? Does she have a reading or math disability that may make those classes too challenging? Otherwise, I would research the law and find out if this is a violation. But as desie said make sure it is what your daughter wants to do and that she would be successful. At this point, it would be for senior year only since it is too later for this year. </p>
<p>Our school allows parents to over-ride the teacher recommendation, but there are some “consequences” if the kid does not do well related to having to stay for the entire first marking period and carrying that grade to the lower level class.</p>
<p>Many schools restrict all AP and Honors classes to those who are all-round honors students; certain GPA, an A in the prior course in that subject, teacher recommendation.</p>
<p>As to the ‘will it hurt her’ question, hurt her in what? One honors course or AP course is not going to get her into Harvard or any other school for that matter. In fact, getting an A in a non-honors course is probably more helpful than having just one AP course on the transcript.</p>
<p>She never has any honor or AP, this will be her only course, hence I think there is a difference between one and NONE, she is qualified for that course, they admitted it, however, I think the problem is because of her disabilities.
We are also hoping to get her two subject tests, one being Math and the second is Chem, it will be too late if she were to take it in the Senior year… this is the only subject besides Math that she can take the subject test and expect a decent result.
According to the teachers, she meets all the pre-requisites…</p>
<p>Is it possible that there is a classroom limit? At one of the high schools in our district not everyone that “qualifies” can take certainAP subjects because they don’t have enough AP teachers. Therefore they “rank” the kids based on other grades and such to figure out which kids have the best chance of doing well in the class. Also is it possible her science teacher or math teacher recommended to the school that she NOT take the AP class? </p>
<p>classroom size limit was never brought up, they told me that she was not recommended for the class even recommendation was not a requirement. I think it is discrimination, but just that I have to prove it.</p>
<p>If it doesn’t work out, she can take Chem (whatever the non-AP option is) and still take the subject test. You might work with her to study for it specifically (that’s a good idea even if she takes the AP course, the test doesn’t follow that curriculum exactly). </p>
<p>It is ILLEGAL for the school to exclude her from an advanced class because of her disability–here is a link to a letter from The Office of Civil Rights at the US DOE addressing this-</p>
<p><a href=“Dear Colleague letter from Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Stephanie Monroe”>http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-20071226.html</a></p>
<p>I suggest you give this letter to your school AND call your local office of civil rights–often returning to the school with the info that you spoke with that office will open doors that were previously shut. PM me if you need further ideas!</p>
<p>Our school has overcrowded ap spots of science…Like ap chemistry transition from honors chemistry…Kids didnt make it because there are 3 honors classes and only 1 ap chem teacher</p>
<p>Did you ask why she wasn’t recommended? And shouldn’t this have been a conversation to have last spring when the teacher recommendations were made? It seems a little late to try to do something about course scheduling several weeks into the school year.</p>
<p>In our school I think it would be pretty unusual for a student to jump into AP classes when they have never taken any honors classes at all, except perhaps in the case of languages for native speakers. An A in a regular class is generally considered equivalent to a B in an honors class. Was the requirement actually to get an A in an honors class? And was it barely an A or was it a high A?</p>
<p>From what I gather on this site, different schools seem to have radically different AP policies, so I don’t think comparing schools is going to get you any information that helps your case. For instance, our school doesn’t have any limits on the number of AP classes taken and they are good at having seats available. It’s not unusual for upperclassmen to be in 4 or more. But I doubt the poster who mentioned a strict cap of 3 AP classes would get anywhere by pointing out to their school that other schools don’t impose caps. </p>
<p>She could always self-study and take the AP exam. Nephew did that because his HS didn’t offer AP Chemistry. As he took honors chem, he studied AP guides to supplement his instruction, and got a 4!</p>
<p>Our hs leaves it up to the teachers to determine if the student is eligible to take the AP classes. B students were generally not allowed in the classes. If there was a doubt, the teachers would meet to discuss the student’s ability with former teachers. I know of at least one student who was shut out of all AP classes his senior year due to slacking off. His high SAT scores didn’t sway the teachers one bit. </p>
<p>Some high schools list a threshold grade in the prerequisite course (e.g. for honors/AP math, a B in the previous honors math course or an A in the previous non-honors math course is the prerequisite).</p>
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<p>My public magnet required a minimum of an -A in the previous course AND an -A average overall. Even high SAT scores(1400+ pre-1995) and scoring 4-5 on AP exams wouldn’t sway the HS admins. </p>
<p>The requirement of a high overall GPA means that students who are brilliant in some subjects but just ok in others would not be able to take the honors/AP (or otherwise most rigorous or advanced) courses in the subjects that they are brilliant in.</p>
<p>Agree with UCB. An overall A- average also does not allow for kids that show an improving overall GPA but may have slipped up in a few subjects. I am glad our HS has some leniency in this. All AP classes are not the same either. Some are not all that difficult, while others need a high bar to ensure success. </p>
<p>Both sons attend(ed) a private school that is fairly restrictive for AP course access (generally an A or A- in the preceding course is required), especially for Sophomore and Junior years…less restrictive for access as a Senior. The AP courses are very rigorous by design, with nearly everyone achieving either a 4 or 5 on the AP exam, which is required to be taken by every student in the course. Because my older son only got an A- in sophomore Western Culture class, to get into AP US History, he had to write an essay declaring why he wanted into the class, then had to briefly meet with the teacher. Ending up getting a 5 and an A- in the class. </p>
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<p>For many of us at our HS, it ultimately didn’t matter as most who wanted to prove their academic bona-fides self-studied from the non-AP courses & guidebooks for a few weeks/months and routinely scored 4-5s on the AP exam. </p>
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<p>Also, not all high schools…including reputable private ones cover the material enough to ensure an AP student has learned the material sufficiently even if he/she scored a 4-5. </p>
<p>One older college classmate ended up requiring a crash tutoring session from me in US history despite scoring a 5 on APUSH because he had so many knowledge gaps in that area it was having a detrimental effect on his coursework in a related major. </p>