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There is something wrong when Alabama has a high school in the top 10 and RI cannot.
The problem, according to the article, is the lack of Advanced Placement (AP) courses available to RI students. As a graduate of EPHS in 1998, I can attest somewhat to this - we had AP Calculus, AP English, AP Economics, and AP History. That's it. Meanwhile, students at other schools in the country have a plethora of AP classes, including in languages, physics, biology, and US government.
But, more surprising from the article is not just the number of classes available but the passing rate for students who do take the test (much less than the national average).
The blame of course goes to improperly-trained teachers and a lack of funding to get the teachers properly trained, according to the article.
A bold headline is often misleading to get attention!
The article says:
Schools Offering More AP Course Work
According to Quinn, one of the reasons the state doesn't have more AP or IB courses is that it costs a lot of money to get teachers properly prepared to teach them. Other states appear more willing to invest in these programs.
But Gist said Rhode Island schools have increased participation when it comes to to advanced course work. Over the last decade, the number of seniors leaving high school that have taken at least one AP exam has increased from 903 in 2001 to 1,795 in 2010. The number of students passing has more than doubled in that time, from 530 to 1,095.
"Rhode Island schools have taken steps to expand participation in AP courses," she said. "Providence, for example, which used to offer AP courses in only one or two high schools, now offers AP courses in all high schools and has a district-wide participation rate above 10 percent. Newport has an AP participation rate above 30 percent."
"The goal wasn't to measure to overall quality of the schools, but simply to track how well they are preparing "average students" for college." (but how ? by counting number of "AP" classes ?)
"In other states, students are taking AP courses in tenth, eleventh and twelfth grade, sometimes even in ninth grade. Many schools aren't offering that in Rhode Island."
please.. college prep in the 9th Grade ? Let me see, so if a RI school calls the math class "Pre-Algebra",
and the other school calls it "9th Grade Advanced Placement Math", then, the other school "wins".
In 12th Grade, if the school offers Chemistry or Physics, but not "AP 12th Grade Science", then its
ranking suffers.
While he did not connect with every school in the state, he said that he reached out to many of the schools that appeared near the top of GoLocalProv's high school rankings last month, including Barrington High School, Classical High School, East Greenwich High School and Scituate High School.
Umm, these are 4 of the very best school districts in the state.
Why did they choose not to participate ?
Could it be that they do not agree with the approach or the validity of this list ?
What other top RI schools did not participate ?
this study appears to be all about pushing "AP" designation, and not about quality of education.
Last edited by Snowball7; 06-06-2011 at 04:29 PM..
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