“And they’re off!!”
The Kentucky Derby was this past weekend. Extravagant hats emitted airs of wealth and sophistication amid a spectacular party of bourbon and mint juleps. Horses, released from their stalls, sought admiration and accolades as they sprinted for a mile and a quarter. Money was spilled; money was made.
Truth be told, I have never been to the Derby, but in my mind, there are many parallels between this horse race at Churchill Downs and the horse race our children experience in high school Advanced Placement (AP) classes. Our still young colts and fillies literally race through a rigid training program at breakneck speed in preparation for a final, high stakes test that could well determine their futures. Coincidentally, the Kentucky Derby falls right in the middle of AP testing, a prescribed two-week period at the beginning of May.
The Racehorses
When we were high school students, high schools offered, at most, a handful of AP classes. Since then, though, the College Board has evolved into a moneymaking machine, broadening AP class offerings to exceed 35 and administering almost 4.5 million exams, at $91 a pop, to nearly 2.5 million students in 2015. The number of students taking AP exams has doubled in the last decade. Students know that they must demonstrate successful completion of a rigorous course load to vie for college admission slots at competitive schools, so they are signing up in increasing numbers for these AP “college level” classes, which also carry bonus quality points and ramp up a student’s weighted grade point average.
And AP classes are no longer just for the strongest college-bound high school students. Now, there are “hard” AP classes (e.g., Physics C) and “soft” AP classes (e.g., environmental science), and no doubt college admissions offices know the difference. In other words, AP classes come at different levels of difficulty, so at least one of them will fulfill your child’s aspiring needs.
If all of these students are signing up for AP classes in increasing numbers, then what does enrollment in an AP class really say about the students? The accessibility to AP classes has certainly diminished the positive impact of mere enrollment, and, accordingly, the pressure to perform well on AP exams has increased. Highly selective colleges expect more than mere passing scores (3+ on a scale of one to five) on AP exams. Students’ futures often lie in their testing results, as does the job security of their teachers.
The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports
The AP curriculum affects classroom instruction year round, not just in May. Classroom instruction in AP classes is severely regimented. Teachers race through topics to cover adequately all that a student is expected to know for the broad breadth of the final exam. There is little to no time for creative diversions, field trips, or additional exploration of topics. You may be surprised to learn that neither your school board nor your teacher is controlling your child’s curriculum; rather the College Board is.
Moreover, with less than one month of school to go, instruction in many high school classrooms has come to a virtual halt – the race is already over. May AP testing means that not only must all instruction within any AP classroom be complete by May 1, but also that students of all high school grade levels must miss significant time in other non-AP classrooms to take these lengthy tests. Teachers of non-AP classes often stop teaching while students come and go from their rooms for AP exams.
The Finish
I believe that it is time to call it quits with the AP curriculum. Imagine a secondary education where interesting seminar classes abound with teachers’ offering creative instruction and inventive (not standardized) testing that enables different types of learners to shine in their own right. Teachers could then aim to develop the “out-of-the-box” thinkers that we so desperately need. If your child’s school does not offer AP classes, then your child is at no disadvantage in the college admissions process by not having AP classes on his or her transcript. College admissions officers expect your child to challenge him or herself, but they never suggest that the only way to do so is through AP classes. Indeed, many of the best schools in the country have abandoned the AP curriculum. It might just be time to ask your school or school board to “scratch” the AP curriculum too.