________________________________________
From: A forum for independent school educators [ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On=
Behalf Of Baker Franke [bfranke@ucls.uchicago.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 7:35 PM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: The College Board's place in education
I assume that most people on this list know about this website:
http://excellencewithoutap.org
It's actually changed quite a bit - the old version just had a list of
really good schools that got rid of the AP - now it's gotten a bit
fancier and it's harder to find the arguments against the AP.
But the site does have a lot of information for schools wishing to
"reclaim" their independence, and it also has the following quote
(from very high up the food chain):
"We look at whether the applicant has taken the high school=92s most
demanding courses. But whether the classes are designated as A.P. or
not is irrelevant. Abolishing A.P. classes won=92t hurt the kids."
Marlyn McGrath Lewis
Director of Admissions
Harvard University
Our own research at the Laboratory Schools revealed similar thoughts
from all but one admissions office at roughly 100 colleges to which
our students most frequently matriculate....we still have APs.
It's too late for me to offer my own rant on this right now. It would
be long and circular anyway. Just wanted to throw this info onto the
heap.
-Baker
On Apr 29, 2009, at 9:14 PM, Ann Hamel wrote:
> I wonder if this discussion needs to take place higher up the food
> chain
> - colleges and universities - that drive the secondary schools to near
> madness with all the afore mentioned work and also with the whole high
> school curriculum being replaced with AP courses that TEACH TO THE
> TEST.
> As long as higher education gives the impression this is needed to
> enter
> their hallowed halls, secondary schools will be slaves to this
> craziness. My idealistic self would like to think that we could stand
> up and just say no. Then, of course, this discussion moves to the
> parents who are also mesmerized by the power of higher education.
> As a
> group, could we make a case (research-loaded, well-written,
> persuasive,
> etc.) against teaching "AP" classes and instead teaching the knowledge
> that we feel our students need, much of which might be identified and
> quantified by an AP exam, but could perhaps be more eloquently learned
> by our students in a way that enters into their lifelong knowledge,
> not
> just what is need to know for the month of May?
>
> My $0.02 (just me, not speaking for my colleagues here at FVS).
> -Ann
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: A forum for independent school educators
> [mailto:ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Ross Lenet
> Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 5:49 PM
> To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> Subject: The College Board's place in education
>
> David, an AP Coordinator is essentially a logistical person. Somebody
> has
> to do the job, but I'm up for a good discussion about the College
> Board
> if
> everyone else is. In fact, in all my years on this list I don't
> remember
> a
> spirited discussion about the College Board.
>
> I'll get it going with my own rant. I wonder if everyone realizes the
> amount of (essentially) free labor the College Board extracts from
> schools. I think we'd be absolutely stunned at the megabucks that
> would
> be
> involved if schools could charge market rates for the labor needed to
> carry out the College Board's programs. I bet the dollars involved
> would
>
> be sufficient to keep General Motors afloat for a few years, and you
> can
>
> throw in Chrysler, too.
>
> Ross Lenet
> Sidwell Friends School
>
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