At Burke High School's much-touted AP Academy, only one of 103 AP exams resulted in success last year. Very sad for the students, but hardly surprising.
Preparation for Advanced Placement classes starts in middle school if students have a hope of being successful in gaining college credits. Say what you like about the faults of Advanced Placement, the fact remains that no amount of bluster and spin by local superintendents can sway the results: either the students qualify according to this national standard, or they don't.
Why the Charleston County School District's efforts at creating the AP Academy at Burke High School should have cost $200,000 is something of a mystery. Are these expenses for additional teachers, new books and materials, or training for teachers? Thanks to CCSD's lack of transparency, we'll never know. However, it is not a mystery why only one out of 103 tests were passed.
The number of dollars dedicated to AP will not guarantee success. No amount of money will compensate for poorly prepared students facing the rigors of such courses. Not the most inspired teaching and/or dedicated studying will compensate if students are too poorly prepared entering the course. No books or materials will make up the gap between what should have been learned prior to the course and the actual AP course content.
Poorly prepared students will learn in the AP course, just not enough to qualify on a college level. Success on the AP exam does not require brilliance; it requires a certain level of competence entering the course and rigor and student dedication during the course. With more than a dozen years of AP teaching under my belt, I speak from experience.
CCSD for its own propaganda purposes started at the wrong end of the horse with Burke High School's AP Academy. At the latest AP prep should begin in the seventh-grade at Burke's feeder schools. Such preparation will require a Pre-AP track (gasp!), an anathema to the politically correct like Superintendent McGinley.
Then the question becomes, does she want a successful program at Burke or one just for show?
Sunday, December 19, 2010
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16 comments:
Excellent post.
1 student passing out of 103 is shocking and it has to feel humiliating to those students.
This kind of educational debacle usually gets national attention. It's a sad shame.
I don't know that I want to absolutely rule out the possibility of poorly-prepared teachers as a contributing factor.
Poorly prepared teachers? Do you even know what preparation is needed, Clisby?
Having taught AP in inner city schools for more years than our illustrious Babbie, the gamut has run from 50% passing rates to 0% passing rates.
You may wish to note that the percentage of gifted and talented populations (typically, the top 6% of Americans) of Burke,St. Johns, Stall, North Charleston High School and Baptist Hill has been significantly reduced by the existence of the magnet schools.
That 103 students took the AP courses/exams is commendable. That the Burke teachers forged ahead, knowing that the students' preparation was minimal is also commendable--these teachers must have been well aware that the readership of the Post and Courier/this blog would crucify them for that number.
Your blog might be better served if you brought some of the insight and independent thinking that years of AP teaching should have brought you, Babbie.
I am no lover of CCSD administration (in fact, I think the head honcho and most of her minions are focused on the white, money-ed pockets of Charleston County), but as a former private school teacher Babbie, you don't really have a clue of what is happening in the public schools.
You really should take the time to research, and get a fairer perspective of the schools than you have hitherto shown.
To 7:28, I don't believe you disagree with what I actually wrote. Maybe you should reread it with a bit more critical thinking and less prejudice.
Anonymous 7:28:
I haven't seen anyone (here or in the P-C comments on the story) crucifying teachers over this issue.
However, in the P-C article, the Burke HS principal was quoted as saying, "And as time passes, teachers will become more familiar with the curriculum and better able to teach it."
When a principal publicly implies his teachers aren't familiar enough with the curriculum they're teaching, it would be foolish not to wonder whether their teaching might play some part in the students' outcomes.
103 AP tests were taken by a number of students...not 103 students. The AP Academy at Burke has attracted far less than the original number of students that was touted for the program by the superintendent when this public relations stunt began. I agree with Babbie. If the educrats were serious about this, they would have started this with AP prep and even pre-AP prep programs in the feeder schools. Before this becomes another one of Nancy McGinley's abandoned programs, they should account for the money and begin immediately to lay a foundation for AP prep courses in the lower grades at every school downtown.
1:12 is correct - 57 Burke students took 103 exams.
One thing I find interesting (the P-C article didn't elaborate) was what a small percentage of Wando's students took AP exams last year. I'm not sure of Burke's current high school enrollment, but it looks to me like Burke had about the same percentage of students taking AP tests as Wando did.
I know Wando doesn't require AP courses - but still, it's not a high-poverty, inner-city school.
I'm surprised that only about 10% of the students took an AP test last year. I suppose one factor might be that Wando also offers on-campus dual-credit classes in cooperation with Trident Tech; I'm sure some students who want to get a jump on college credits opt for that instead.
Babbie, you are right that I don't disagree with some of the central parts of your argument...the factors that led to poor performance...the need for a feeder program...the need to identify more gifted students early, etc...
In fact, I read your blog very carefully.
The problem is that I am not sure that you, yourself, realize how tinged and interlaced your blurb is with anti-CCSD commmentary and biases, even when you make valid points. I think you find it very difficult to write in a neutral manner about anything related to CCSD and its administration ("educrat"; "edublob", etc...). Perhaps you do not see your own prejudices...
And Clisby, a principal saying that his students are not prepared upon entering high school, or did not receive the proper upbringing and support (educationally) by parents would be political suicide in public school circles. Of course he must move toward another attributed reason....teachers.
And honestly, how do you expect to build an academic program when teacher transcience in these "inner city schools" is very high, and the incentive to stay at these schools very low. Often due to the low public opinion of public schools espoused and promoted on blogs/blurbs like some of the ones seen here.
One item further, this might surprise some here, but these "inner city schools" are less restrictive about who may be permitted to take AP courses as a challenge to prepare them for college.
If you dig reasonably deeply at the bigger-time schools, you might find a more rigid tracking system for the upper crust...
I'd think that should be a feather in the cap of these lower echelon schools, rather than another reason to pile on...
2:25 - I guess the Burke principal is willing to commit political suicide, then. He says he's "making adjustments to the program, such as taking students' abilities into account in deciding when they take AP courses."
That's saying, loud and clear, that students who did not have the ability to pass the tests took the courses. I'm not saying that's a bad thing - it depends. If students who can barely read are taking the courses, it's absurd. If students who are borderline in preparation take them, they probably do benefit from the more rigorous courses even if they don't pass the tests. After all, there was a 30% failure rate at Academic Magnet - I haven't heard any weeping and wailing over that.
And I don't think it would surprise too many people that inner-city schools are less restrictive on who can take AP courses. That's what I'd expect.
The most barbed criticisms seen here are directed toward the serial administrators and desk drivers who run the public school system. These are not broadsides fired against the public schools, teachers and students. These are complaints made by people who know and support public schools, unlike the vast majority of those who post on the PC blog. Most of those who post here know the schools, teachers and students are as much a victim of CCSD's corporate bias and institutional neglect as are the taxpayers and the community as a whole.
A key point to remember - "programs and courses available at Wando are usually unavailable elsewhere in Charleston County, let alone at Burke.
Thanks to Clisby for pointing this out. "Wando also offers on-campus dual-credit classes in cooperation with Trident Tech; I'm sure some students who want to get a jump on college credits opt for that instead."
So far this type of duel-credit or "middle college" program isn't being offered by CCSD to Burke students, and certainly not with the availability these courses might be found at East Cooper schools. Duel-credit at Burke is still an unfulfilled CCSD promise. It's not much better for those in North Charleston, on James Island or in West Ashley, either. Duel-credit is the way to go in most high schools yet CCSD is still putting most of its efforts in Wando. AP programs like this should be just one part of total high school picture. Previous posts are correct. CCSD isn't showing the complete picture. The lack of complete numbers will only raise additional questions.
The top brass is standing in the way of public school progress when they do nothing but spin their programs. That's why they are called educrats.
Like so much with this superintendent, it is all short term planning and usually just for show.
Well folks....let Bill Lewis fix it....his racism should add just the right touch....
1:24 - In all fairness, one reason Wando can offer so much more is the sheer size of the school. It's bigger than some small colleges.
West Ashley is probably the only school large enough to provide even close to an apples-to-apples comparison, and I admit to complete ignorance about what's available there (AP, dual-credit, or anything else.)
I think you can also safely say that Trident Tech is more likely to reach out to a Wando, thena North Charleston school. Let's be real here; the perceptions are likely to influence their decision-making.
The trouble is school district administrators have been in a position to change the perceptions for a long time. Unfortunately, they (past and present) seem to be the ones largely responsible for perpetuating them. Take Goodloe's retort to a meeting with MUSC doctors and administrators in 2006. A racially mixed crowd of medical professionals wanted to know why schools downtown were so segregated to the extent that most were 98% minority or higher. Goodloe's answer was simple "White people in downtown Charleston have always preferred to support private schools." McGinley is reading from the same textbook. She claimed in 2007 that downtown Charleston was 72% Black with a comparable rate of poverty. Sorry, but her numbers don't make sense when you check public stats against the local zip codes. Burke High School administrators are in line with the same backward thinking. They have quietly turned away white parents and ignore community requests for more diversity in the curriculum. Sure, school size makes it easier to offer more choices. But you have to ask what the district administration is doing to have such a negative impact on enrollments downtown. Don't tell me it's the just the racism of the parents or cyclical population shifts.
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