[quote=flu][quote=outtamojo][quote=ocrenter]I agree with flu. something’s off.
I’ve always been an advocate that San Marcos High is up and coming and I am happy to see the improvement.
But I really wonder about the number.
How in the world do they get 100% of the kids to take the AP test. someone has been tweeking their policies to maximize their ranking.[/quote]
100% participation? Hard to imagine ANY high school without a few stoners lol. That school ranked #8 in La Jolla has a 100% participation rate also, but with a 32% pass rate. I think if they SMHS were to do some culling the pass rate would be higher, but then again, shouldn’t your public schools make every possible attempt to at least expose the less gifted/disadvantaged kids to the higher echelons of academia?[/quote]
No it shouldn’t because AP is not a prerequisite for getting into college. It’s more like a “GATE” program than a required curriculum….At least that was when I went through the public education system.
In our AP classes..People that took AP classes passed with 3 or better near 90%… And it was simple why. The teacher of AP clases basically flunked everyone first (ok gave everyone a C based on the teaching program), and if you did a 4 or better would go back and retroactively update your grade based on how you did on your exam…That way, the first two weeks of class, people who couldn’t make the cut opted not to do the AP class.
But folks that didn’t take AP didn’t mean they didn’t get into college…
AP classes are just that….. “Advanced Placement”…
A school that reports 100% participation in an “Advanced Placement” is just ridiculous… Because not everyone is “advanced”…
and it’s funny that U.S. News and World Report forgot about this key concept..[/quote]
I guess you and Flu both agree that AP classes should not be taught to everyone but I think it is better to find out how gifted you are while school is free than flame out in college. I know of more than a few high school classmates who never took AP classes, got into places like Berkely and Yale on what must have been, ahem, ethnic quota fulfillment, and then flunked out after 1 year. Which is more of a waste?
