Sunday’s New York Times had a very interesting article about Scarsdale High School dropping its Advanced Placement Courses, which many had complained were overly reliant on rote memorization, with something called Advanced Topics.
In addition, a handful of select private schools have abolished their Advanced Placement Courses, and paid $40,000 a piece to have Ivy League professors develop their Advanced Topics Courses.
Also mentioned in this article is a network of public and private high schools which do not “teach to the test.” The network can be found here: ExcellencewithoutAP.org
This is all rather extraordinary, in light of narrowed curriculum and kill and drill found in so many public high schools, not to mention middle and elementary schools too.
Of course, most if not all of these schools do not have to deal with NCLB, as they do not receive Title I money.
I think that the glaring discrepancy between say Millburn High School in Essex County, New Jersey, only 35 minutes from New York City, and practically all of the New York City public high schools, save the few exceptions that prove the rule, tells you quite a bit about what the equity issue is all about.
It’s exciting to see the educators in these schools expand opportunities for learning, essentially broadening the curriculum and approach in a way that on the surface appears to have a great richness in content. Most of what you hear from those pushing metrics in schools, is that the high expectations of testing is what will reform education. Here we have high expectations in terms of coursework and content. One can only hope that this is a trend that will reach the many public high schools were such an approach could really lift all boats.
Here’s a section from ExcellencewithAP.org:
Why Drop AP?
The reasons for moving beyond AP vary from school to school.
Only one belief is shared by all of the schools listed on this site:
that a locally designed curriculum better serves their students than a
curriculum leading to a nationally-administered standardized test. The
most common reasons why schools do not teach AP courses include the
desire to create:
A Mission-Driven Curriculum
When schools have a mission statement at the center of their
efforts, questions often arise as to whether the AP curriculum is the
best possible way to fulfill that mission. Haverford School’s decision
to move away from AP grew out of reflection on its mission to teach
students “to think critically and communicate effectively.” The school
established a partnership with the Decision Education Foundation and
revamped its curriculum to better reflect the link between critical
thinking and decision-making. (See “Better Decisions – Better Lives” in
Independent School magazine, Summer 2007. http://www.nais.org/publications/ismagazinearticle.cfm?Itemnumber=149995&sn.ItemNumber=145956&tn.ItemNumber=145958
A More Hands-On Curriculum
Preparation for an AP exam requires coverage of a large
amount of factual content. Such coverage often creates an imperative
for teacher-centered rather than student-centered learning. Courses
that cover fewer topics in greater depth are more compatible with
hands-on learning. At Beaver Country Day School, students in “Children
and Homelessness” do weekly work at a homeless shelter. In 2005-2006,
students at Germantown Friends School collaborated with those at Girard
College in a year-long research project examining evolutionary
relationships between different organisms by comparing gene and/or
protein sequences.
A More Inclusive Curriculum
In the humanities and social sciences, the AP curriculum is
limited to conventional surveys such as European History, U.S. History,
World History, Comparative Government, etc. Many schools want students
to pursue in-depth study of topics such as “Philosophies of the East”
(Sandia Preparatory School), “The Great Divide: Race and Ethnicity in
America (Scarsdale High School), “Voices from the Middle East”
(Phillips Exeter Academy), and “Ethics of the Twenty-First Century”
(Crossroads School).
A Thematic or Interdisciplinary Curriculum
AP courses and exams are organized around a body of
knowledge in traditional disciplines. Some schools would rather teach
courses organized around analytical themes that cross disciplinary
lines. Examples include “Digital Stories: Oral Traditions and
Interactive Fiction” (Concord Academy), “Myth, Psychology, and Film”
(St. Andrews-Sewanee School), “Global and Local Change: Critical
Environmental Issues” (Francis W. Parker School), and “Algorithmic Art”
(Beaver Country Day School).
Extended Off-Campus Projects
In most schools, early May is devoted to AP exams, and after
the exams are over, late May and early June are of dubious value. Many
non-AP schools devote the month of May to a hands-on project. At
Catlin Gabel School, graduating seniors complete a five-week-long
Senior Project, which in a recent year featured one student doing
glaucoma research at an eye institute and another studying shoe design
at a local firm. At Scarsdale High School, students complete the Senior
Options program, which consists of a month-long individual or group
project that culminates in a public presentation.
A Teacher-Designed Curriculum
Many non-AP schools see value in home-grown curriculum for
its own sake. Passion for learning begins with the teacher. When a
teacher designs a course, learning is a voyage of joint discovery
rather than an effort to cover topics ordained by an unseen authority.
In locally-designed courses, teacher and student can share ownership of
the learning process to an extent that is impossible with a
standardized curriculum.
