If schools aren’t going to teach the AP course as it should be taught (as 1 semester v. 2 or 1 year v. 2), I think they shouldn’t offer it. Such a slow progression seems designed to allow students not ready for the AP course to still take an AP course, which is part of the problem.
220. I actually agree with that. Although at our school Calculus is offered as a 1 period class and a 1.5 period class.
Slow calculus in high school (two or even three years to cover through BC after completing precalculus) really does not make sense, since students who have the time to take slow calculus are at least two grade levels ahead in math (+2 track). Such students should be the top students in math, who would find a one year BC course to be an easy A in the course and an easy 5 on the AP test.
The only real explanation for the existence of slow calculus in high school is that too many students are inappropriately pushed ahead in math to the +2 track, when they really should be on the +1 or +0 track in math, so the slow calculus sequence exists because they are not ready for college speed calculus like students who truly belong in the +2 track.
If that is Pennsylvania state policy, why would schools there have other sequences?
For example, Philadelphia public schools:
http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/schools/g/girlshigh/subjects-and-programs/mathematics
algebra 1 → algebra 2 → geometry → precalculus → calculus AB
algebra 1 → algebra 2 → geometry → IB math SL 1 → IB math SL 2
Or Pittsburgh public schools:
https://www.pghschools.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=2421&dataid=12414&FileName=2017_2018_Secondary_Course_Catalog_05112017.pdf#page=192
Both calculus AB and BC list their prerequisite as elementary functions, which is a precalculus course with prerequisites of geometry and algebra 2.
@ucbalumnus, slow maybe. But she is not stressed out because her regular Calc course or yearlong AP Macro Econ course is too slow. She doesn’t feel them slow at all. She still gets plenty stress from other AP courses.
I mean, isn’t this thread titled, “hs kids are stressed out…”? So that’s that. Her AP courses are not compacted and she is not stressed. Actually she loves both of the “slow” classes. She has also been taking one less course per year so she can have a study hall. What more can I possibly ask? Compact the AP classes and remove the study hall so she can take few more AP courses? 
I am also glad that College Board split AP Physics B so that she can take it in two years. From what I heard from her, her AP Physics 1 goes beyond requirements and covers plenty of calculus based topics, and is way more challenging than her previously taken semester long community college course for the same subject.
Didn’t College Board has more authority on how it should be taught, and design those Econ courses as yearlong each?
Beside, it’s all about how the courses are taught really. DD once aced 18 UC transferable college units in one semester, yet doesn’t find her current yearlong AP courses slow or boring at all.
We do want the students to be less stressed, and maybe even have some time for pleasure reading and long chats with friends, don’t we? I feel guilty for high school students these days working so much harder than I did 30 years ago.
“We do want the students to be less stressed, and maybe even have some time for pleasure reading and long chats with friends”
If not that, then at least six hours of sleep and unmissed lunch.
@SculptorDad The answer to stress is not to make semester-long courses a full year, its to make non-AP courses available for those who need that slower speed and allow only those who can handle the normal AP speed without stress take them. That’s how it was back in the day. Too many high schools now, including my D’s, allow open enrollment for AP courses.
224. The AP econ classes final exam are an hour shorter than all the other AP social studies exam. Saying that though it appears you are correct in that they are supposed to be a year long. At our school the government and macro can be a full year and fill a graduation requirement instead of taking a full year survey course. In regards to stress my daughter has 2 honors 2 AP's and 2 regular classes (Spanish and Band). The one that stresses out the most by far is Spanish.
College Board did not intend the economics courses to be a year long course each. Eg. http://media.college-board.com/digitalServices/pdf/ap/ap-economics-course-description.pdf
@SculptorDad regarding lunch–my S has always scheduled it. Kids who opt out of it are permitted to eat lunch in one of their classes; no one is starving. But I doubt that was your point. I had a discussion with my S as he was planning his soph schedule about it. He said he needs the lunch period to decompress. He is also a 3 season varsity athlete, so he routinely doesn’t get home until 5:30 or 6, later if there is a meet. He also uses lunch to get some homework done, and meet tutoring obligations for NHS. He said the kids that skip lunch often only do it for one year, they find it’s too much. Goes back to the title of this thread. How many of us don’t take lunch at work? Even if you eat at your desk, you’re taking a mental break. These kids need it.
@itsgettingreal17 I stand corrected that the AP Econ courses are indeed designed as semester courses. Although I don’t agree with you if schools shouldn’t offer them as year long courses.
My d’s school, at least, doesn’t have open enrollment for AP courses. That’s why my dd couldn’t take Calc AB this year and is instead taking regular Calc.
Well my d said, when she planned her soph schedule, she needs the lunch AND an empty slot. Just lunch period was not enough. She only does minimum required sports yet her daily homework finishes around 11~12 at night, which is a huge improvement from her freshman year thanks to her now being able to manage procrastination and maintain decent focus. This year she also dropped music lessons.
And how many of us didn’t have time for lunch break when we were in high school?
My understanding is that colleges see if the kids took challenging courses and did well on them. They don’t count how many courses the kids took right? What is the point of taking so many courses?
Same here. Her AP Enviro and Micro last year were fine but H. Spanish and H. World History were far more stressful. This year she is taking regular Spanish with far less homework, and is very happy with that.
My old high school now offers:
non-AP calculus (looks similar to a calculus for business majors course) with prerequisite of C or higher in precalculus
AP calculus AB with prerequisite of B or higher in precalculus honors or A in precalculus
AP calculus BC with prerequisite of B or higher in precalculus honors or A in precalculus
Seems like a student on the +3 math track would be one who got an easy A in precalculus honors and would be ready to jump right into AP calculus BC.
This thread is pretty focused on students at the 30+ ACT level, but that is the top 5% or so.
I think it would be great for the country if the 50% of students in the 15-23 ACT range were a bit more stressed out. These students are still missing some fairly basic, but valuable skills. I think that issue deserves more attention than it receives.There are 10x as many students in this group.
And majority of kids at your old high school are stressed, I presume.
She may be able to self study Calc BC this year and pass the AP exam. Still, she says non-AP Calc at her school is just right for her this year. And last year she didn’t get “an easy A in precalculus honors.” Instead she got a hard earned A in regular Trig as her school doesn’t offer Honors version of it. 
The whole point of this thread is though, reducing student stress instead of maximizing academic potential right? I used to believe in maximizing academic potential when she was younger. Now I believe in maximizing happiness instead.
Is it possible that the +3 track in math was too advanced for her?
My old high school had an entrance exam for AB and BC candidates - all were students who were recommended by their honors pre-calc teachers and had an A in pre-calc. All other APs required an application and teacher recommendation, and the AP English classes required an essay as part of the application. I don’t remember any stressed out kids, as the right students were in AP classes.
My D took BC Calc junior year and she got there by doubling up on math freshman year by petitioning. Only a handful of kids received permission to accelerate (as it requires busing between campuses). And as a result, those kids who took BC as a junior were top math students, and they all breezed through BC.
I think high schools really need to go back to ensuring that only those best prepared take AP classes. That would lessen any AP race and student stress.
Maybe. She had been homeschooled and Math was unconventionally self taught. She got the important concepts but is sorely lacking rote practice and skipped a lot of minor details. But it was at least enough to well prepare her for her high school’s Trig course last year, and pass math placement test to clear Geometry and Algebra II prereq for her community college’s science courses a year before that, even though it made her struggle with Algebra based Physics course then, which is why she wanted to retake it this year in high school (AP Physics 1)
When I attended, the high school offered only calculus BC, with a prerequisite of precalculus. Most students in calculus BC were in 12th grade (+1 math track). Every few years, there was a more advanced student on the +2 or higher math track (such a student was generally the top student in math). I do not recall math or other high school academics being particularly stressful, though at the time, there were only about 6 or 7 AP courses offered, and about a third of the graduates went to four year colleges.
The high school is presumably different now, but it looks like the increased calculus offerings are the “easier” ones (calculus AB and non-AP calculus for business majors), so it does not seem like it would be more stressful in math.
@SculptorDad I think some people missed the article that was the lead in to this thread. I think I see lots of their kids when I do my interviewing for Penn. It is always clear which kids are self directed and which one have helicopter parents driving their every move and thought.