The Story of High Standards and Low Expectations…
Years ago, my son tells me he didn’t get into AP US History. I ask him, “why not?” He says, “the numbers just didn’t add up.”
Me: Huh? What does that mean?
Son: I needed 21 points to get into AP US History.
Me: What!?
Son: They take your GPA and add it to the grade points you receive in World History. Then they add that to the entrance exam.
Me: That’s crazy. How many points did you get?
Son: 20.5…for the two A’s I received in World History over the summer they deducted two points because they said taking World History in the summer isn’t as hard as taking it during the regular school year.
Me: Unbelievable.
But that conversation is not even the interesting part….
…the interesting part is the conversation I had with the Principal.
Principal: We can’t have open access to AP classes because it wouldn’t be fair to the school’s top students.
Me: Why?
Principal: Because we would have to water down the curriculum.
Me: Why would the class be watered down?
Principal: Because these new students would not be able to handle the course and the teacher would be forced to slow down the class. We have a standard to uphold and we cannot let these new kids lower the standard.
WRONG!
What we need is high expectations NOT high standards. Having high standards is just setting a bar and hoping students jump over it. If you don’t reach it, oh well, you just aren’t good enough.
High expectations are quite another thing. When we have high expectations we “EXPECT” students to reach the goal or standard and do everything we can to help them reach it. We can push equity through access and then teach in the gaps by providing scaffolds to support students.
In my research from 2014-2020, students who earn at least a “C” in at least one AP/IB class are approximately 2.91 times more likely to have higher GPA compared to students who do not take an AP/IB class. This translates to a 191% increase in the chances of having a higher GPA. That is, higher expectations have the potential to considerably accelerate student achievement.
Let’s stop looking at the teaching and start focusing on the impact on learning.
BTW – 70% of my high school’s class of 2020 took at least one AP/IB class before they graduated. That is a 23% increase from the class of 2014. And their cumulative GPA increased during this same time frame from 3.16 to 3.28.
Categories: Teaching and Learning