Recently
The Atlantic
published a short piece titled,
AP
Classes Are a Scam.
As an Advanced
Placement teacher and test reader myself I had to bite at the provocative
title.
As one might expect, there’s been
some follow-up to the initial article, specifically an
NPR
piece and a response from the College Board defending the effectiveness of
the programs with all sorts of data.
Let’s first acknowledge a few things. The title is to get your attention. Tierney, the author himself, admits
this. As readers we ought to be compelled
to read further. He uses some pretty
strong language and makes some broad accusations that data likely cannot
support. His criticisms are not the sort
that have data-driven support.
So let’s just engage the ideas. In his NPR interview Tierney calls AP classes
a sacred cow. I think he has a
point. That’s precisely why such an
article and title get such attention.
How dare he criticize AP classes?
We need to get over that and take a look at his ideas. We need to always be engaged in
dialogue. That is what will make us
better – not throwing away someone’s ideas because we don’t like the hyperbole
used to rope us in.
First, are AP classes equivalent to introductory college
courses? There are all sorts of
viewpoints on this. The one thing I
know, based on my experience, is that the quality of instruction tailored to
students’ needs is far superior in the average AP course relative to the same
level course in college. How many
introductory psychology, history surveys or politics classes are taught in collegiate
lecture halls with 500 students? At the
high school, this won’t happen. The students
will be known by name and often taught according to their needs, even in an AP
class. There will be instruction on how
to be successful. Often in college it is
simply sink or swim. The academic
expectations may be greater in college, but the high school course will also
teach you how to be successful. There will
likely be more primary sources, readings, and more complex writing at the
college level, but in high school you will be taught how to do all this.
The monetary argument for taking AP classes may not hold in
a direct way. Many competitive schools
are not accepting AP credit any more.
But using AP courses as a “test-out” of basic-level courses saves time
and money. On the other hand, I
appreciate Tierney’s point suggesting the advantage of taking your college
department’s courses from the beginning.
They help build rapport with faculty and a chance to acclimate to the
department’s expectations. Don’t be so
eager to skip out of college experiences.
True, more students are taking the exams than ever. However, I need to see evidence that failure
rates are up. Furthermore, it is
contradictory to my educational philosophy to suggest that some kids don’t belong
in an AP class. If they want to be and
are willing to do the work, then it is my job to teach them how to be
successful. The College Board endorses
an open door policy for this reason. We are
TEACHERS. It is our job to TEACH. Don’t teach down…lift up!
Minority students are being left out. There are opportunity costs to schools
offering specialized and wide-ranging opportunities. Agreed.
We all need to do a better job getting top notch resources into all our
schools and that includes teachers and curricula. Then we need to make them available
to all students. Then we need to support
all students in reaching the potential – and then some. Again….lift
up!
Stultification of the curriculum? I cannot argue that we don’t have vast
amounts of material to cover in limited time and some very specific
essay-writing skills that can be specific to AP exam success. Yes, there’s too much material to cover too
quickly and too superficially. The spectre
of the test disallows the teachable moment and further, deeper exploration. However, changes are afoot in the name of greater
depth and critical thinking and away from rote memorization and coverage at the
speed of light.
Finally, Tierney is right, we don’t know what the magic
bullet is for admission to the top, most competitive schools (not necessarily
the same thing, nor the same for all students).
We have too many students and families trying the shot gun
approach. We need to provide everyone
better guidance and encourage greater depth, less competition, more authentic learning
and thought. But this is possible in the
realm of the AP courses, particularly with the changes coming.
The bottom line for me? Let's have an open and continuous dialogue about how to improve and maximize education and opportunity for all students.
