How do high school students get involved in large ISD

[Big G]

Well, it sounds good, and the parents (most of them, at least) eat up the "our kids are all above average" Lake Wobegon thing.

The net result is that they DON'T offer differentiated classes - they just offer their one level of class and tell you it's advanced. Kinda like the time I checked into a hotel with a booking that included a free upgrade, only to be told, "ALL our rooms are upgrades". Uh huh, right.

Given the size of the district, and the demographics (which are such that probably the majority of the students can handle advanced coursework), it makes some sense. I just don't think the actual implementation will work that well.

[FarNorthDallas]

I saw a big sign on the counselor's door at open house last night:

NO AP or PRE-AP DROPS ARE ALLOWED UNTIL AFTER THE FIRST SIX WEEKS!!!!!!!

Guess some kids want to bail pretty early from these classes. I am in a school that has regular level classes and anyone can take them (unlike schools that either don't have them or restrict them to IEP/504 kids).

[Big G]

There's a similar dynamic at my son's school.

The sticky issue is that Pre-AP -> Regular is a one-way trip. If you start the year in a regular class, you can't switch into the honors track. (And you often can't get back on that track in later years, either.) So if you have some kid who could handle honors work, but wants to slack off in 9th grade by taking a regular class, that kid is shooting himself in the foot and doesn't even realize it.

Because of that, the advisors err on the side of shoehorning kids into these classes who maybe shouldn't be there, and might not even WANT to be there. Thus, the massive drops after the first grading period.

I've even heard of schools that need to rejigger the classes after 6 or 12 weeks, with fewer honors sections and more regular sections.