Any High School teachers out there?

[wdwgirl03]

Hi, I am writing a paper for my English class about tracking in schools, and am looking for some teachers' opinions on this issue. If anybody on the board is a teacher, would you be willing to answer a couple questions about this? I'd really appreciate any help!!

1. Does your school have a tracking system (i.e. Advanced Placement/honors classes, "regular" classes, etc.)?

2. Do you think that these classes are a disadvantage to students (i.e. students in "lower" classes don't work as hard because they are "lower", etc.)?

If you have any questions about this (I hope I am making sense in my questions!), feel free to PM me or post on here. Once again, I'd really appreciate any help and thanks in advance!!

 

[Kallison]

I work as an aide in a middle school. I know our high school has ap/honors courses that are NOT weighted. They put a small disclaimer on transcripts that states such, however I don't believe most admissions officers take that into account. I've had several parents say they felt their child was actually at a disadvantage for taking ap/honors classes and may not have gotten into their first choice of colleges because they got an A- or B+ in those courses.

 

[sharbear]

I'm not a HS teacher but I have kids in HS and I can try to answer your question.

Our HS has Honors, AP, AC(accelerated), and CP (college prep). The majority of students are in the AC track. Grades are not weighted for grade point, but are for class rank.

Are kids at a disadvantage by not being in the Honors track. Yes and no. I think that it is easier to concentate in the Honors track (all the kids want to be there and they work harder). You have lab partners in the Honors classes that don't mess around and work better in a group setting. Sometimes I think that it's harder for the kids in the AC classes to succeed because they have unmotivated students in group projects and if they are good students they have to work harder than the kids in the Honors class to acheive the same results. I think that it's a big disadvantage in Math tracking to not be in the Honors track, it's very hard to get into the Honors track because the Honors kids are one class ahead of the AC kids. It can be done but it's not easy and the administration is not as helpful as I think they could be. It's easier in History and English because students can move in to the Honors classes every year (and things do change every year).

Personally I think it's crazy for parents to think that their children are not getting into the college of their choice because they got lower grades in Honors classes. Colleges want to see that you have taken the hardest course of study and take that into account. Colleges also like to see that students are challenging themselves and love to see kids that are taking a harder course of study. But that is jmo .02

 

[Sonya]

We have AP and college classes, in fact I teach French 110 through a local college here in high school. They pay a reduced fee and get credit through this college and sometimes it transfers depending on the university.

I think there is so much of a diversity of students that there isn't much of a disadvantage, we don't weight the classes. I think what sharbear said about kids getting into college is right, that they look at what you took and not how well you did, within reason.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Thanks so much for your help!!

Anybody else?

 

[sharbear]

I am posting a link to a forum that you might get better results with your question.

http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/

 

[wdwgirl03]

Originally posted by sharbear
I am posting a link to a forum that you might get better results with your question.

http://www.collegeconfidential.com/discus/

Ok, thanks for your help! I'll have to check it out.