requirement in NJ is at least 37 years old. As a result, any school that
offered an AP alternative to US history most likely had to take two years to
do it - even though "a college student could've done it in one semester."
Not quite, though, since the six credits you'd get for successfully making
it through the AP exam was the equivalent of *two* semesters of college US
history.
But enough of that, let me explain how APUS worked at my old high school. It
wasn't done so much as to provide the coveted "AP" written on the
transcripts, than as a way of providing a more challenging course than the
regular one given. And you were *told* that you were taking it. You couldn't
ask to get in or out; you were placed in it based on recommendations of
previous teachers. I didn't want to be in APUS because I knew full well that
the work that would've gotten me an A in regular US would net me a C in AP.
seven Cs and one B later, I was proven correct. Fortunately, my parents
understood that an AP C was a regular A, and didn't get on my case about it
too much.
Now, since this was seen as simply a more challenging US History course, it
wasn't expected that everyone would take the exam. In fact, those who would
take the exam were selected by the teacher. After all, it was on the
school's dime, and they didn't want to put out the money for someone who was
just going to blow the whole thing. With this in mind, despite being in a
class that carried the AP name, probably no more than half of the class was
expected (or would be allowed) to take the exam. And, as such, even though
the exam was probably given some time in early May and the Jersey school
year ran through late June, our class kept going on with the regular
projects quizzes, and a final exam for the entire class.
There is, of course, a twist to this whole story. With my stellar track
record in the class, I was obviously not going to be among those allowed to
take the AP exam. But a visit from a guy from the AP Board, who explained
how the test worked, got me thinking that I might have a shot at it, and so
I badgered the teacher into letting me take it. His words were pretty much
along the lines of "In all the years I've taught this class, the lowest
score anyone has gotten on the test has been a 2. If you get a 1, I will
kill you with my bare hands." The pressure was on.
The day of the exam arrived and when I looked at the multiple choice
section, I saw trivia questions. I love trivia. Done. Next came the essay
questions, pick two out of ten. One of them I knew cold. Now I just had to
find another. By chance I had read the last chapter in the book, on the New
Deal, the night before. There was a New Deal question. Done. This was also
the first year of the DBQ. I read the documents, wrote my piece, and sat
back and relaxed while my other classmates continued to work.
A few weeks later the results came in. Most everyone else got 2s, as was
expected. The two girls fighting over valedictorian (by hundredths of a
point) choked, and amazingly got 1s. I, and I alone, got a 3. The guy who
got straight Cs and a B for two years was the only person to get college
credit for the class, and was almost prevented from taking it.
Has the world changed over the past 35 years so that people make such a big
deal over the APs, or was my little high school in North Jersey just
different from everyone else around them? Is there really such a problem
with a person taking the AP class just for a little more of a challenge, but
without even thinking about taking the exam or what the letters "AP" might
mean on their transcript?
On Sun, Feb 1, 2009 at 5:58 PM, Norman Constantine <
nconstantine@wakefieldschool.org> wrote:
> My issue is not with taking two years to teach history. My issue is with
> the need to pretend that we are teaching college level courses so as to
> allow our students to have AP written on their transcripts. It is insanity.
> I love history and have spent my time reading about it since I learned how
> to read. Who cares if it is AP. We are college preparatory schools not
> college credential factories. Students should spend four years reading about
> their history. Stop the craziness, let high school be high school. Develop a
> love for history, not for grades and credentials.
>
> Norman
>
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