To the Editor:
Re “Demoting Advanced Placement,” by Joe Berger (On Education column, Oct. 4):
As a college history professor, I see the demotion of Advanced Placement courses as a step toward (not away from) the “frenzied” race toward college and the dumbing down of American education.
In my classes, students who have taken A.P. history are consistently better prepared for intensive college-level work. They know how to read maps and analyze primary sources. They understand that “huffing and puffing through chronological parades of facts and documents” is indeed necessary for any serious understanding of “The Grapes of Wrath,” Montesquieu or Freud.
They understand that history is about change over time, and that yes, the most lively discussion of Reconstruction should give way to study of women’s suffrage, and to the connections between the two topics.
Eliminating rigorous survey courses at the high school level means that colleges have to do remedial work with even the most “elite” students.
Atina Grossmann
New York, Oct. 4, 2006
The writer is a professor of history at Cooper Union.
To the Editor:
Advanced Placement courses are rigorous, but they are not just rote memorization. Students are challenged by the structure, pace and demands of these courses and need that challenge before college.
Many universities award course credit for A.P. scores. Early graduation is possible at some colleges. My daughter graduated early from college using A.P. credit, saving $16,000 in tuition.
Some argue that equally rigorous courses would replace A.P.’s. I’m not convinced. Even the best teachers could lack the time and resources to develop equally challenging replacement curriculums.
Taking Advanced Placement courses as a résumé builder for college can put undue pressure on students not ready for college-level work. Avoiding that pitfall falls to vigilant staff members who limit admission to A.P. courses, parents who are willing to face their child’s true ability level and college admissions policies that penalize students with poor performance in A.P.’s.
Janet Berger
Livingston, N.J., Oct. 5, 2006
The writer is a private college counselor.
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To the Editor:
Joe Berger’s Oct. 4 column about the possible discontinuation of Advanced Placement courses at Scarsdale High School saddened me.
As a 1987 graduate of another well-regarded public school (Millburn High School, in Millburn, N.J.), I count my A.P. classes among the best aspects of my high school experience, as well as important influences on my undergraduate and graduate paths at Harvard.
Mr. Berger suggests that some schools may discard A.P. classes because it may be too challenging to mix novel reading, debate and discussion with the teaching of the people, places and events essential to survey courses. He also notes that the College Board acknowledges that it does need “to do a better job” explaining how flexible such courses really can be.
Here’s my suggestion: Ask for guidance from my former A.P. teachers at Millburn. They fostered the freedom and creativity — by teaching with primary documents, historical re-enactments, creative writing exercises and discussions of novels and nonfiction books not necessarily on the A.P. syllabuses — that Mr. Berger’s article suggests may be lacking elsewhere.
And they simultaneously covered the “basics,” which simply cannot be neglected.
Erika Dreifus
Westport Island, Me., Oct. 4, 2006
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To the Editor:
As a teacher of the Advanced Placement language and composition course for many years, I found the A.P. curriculum not only intellectually challenging, but also adaptable to all kinds of creative classroom activities and assignments geared to the analysis of rhetorical devices and logical fallacies.
Rather than insisting on a prescribed reading list of authors and sources, the curriculum focuses on the development of critical thinking, reading and writing skills.
The purpose is to instill in youngsters more awareness of language whose purpose is to manipulate and perhaps exploit, whether in politics, literature, advertising, journalism or any other form of written or spoken communication.
Rather than eliminating such a course, schools should recognize its value for all students. There is nothing esoteric or elite about it, and taking the A.P. test can be optional.
Carol Lefelt
Highland Park, N.J., Oct. 4, 2006
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To the Editor:
I am a senior in high school, and I take three Advanced Placement courses. I received a 1,250 on my SAT. I have a 3.6 grade point average. It’s not good enough, not by a long shot.
The intense pressure in nearly every school across America to become a success is wearing us down. Four or five A.P. classes is the average for an academically competitive student at my school, and taking seven (out of a seven-period class schedule) is not unusual.
Colleges, parents, teachers, strangers — all want more from us than we can give. A 17-year-old should not have to spend a week in the hospital for exhaustion. Students shouldn’t have to drag themselves through each and every school week on 28 hours of sleep or take a handful of Advil to get through soccer practice or calculus class.
It may not seem like it, but we’re tired.
Molly Lehmuller
Charlotte, N.C., Oct. 4, 2006
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