I got accepted by Princeton!
Made you look!
Actually, here's the truth: my AP English Literature curriculum/syllabus has been certified by the College Board, which is, after all, located in Princeton, NJ.
I wasn't worried that it wouldn't be, although we have heard some horror stories. Still waiting to hear if my colleague at our other high school has HERS (identical to mine) accepted. Don't laugh - it's isn't necessarily a slam dunk. We already know of instances where teachers at the same school submit the same paperwork and some are accepted and others sent back for more work. But I cannot imagine she would get someone reviewing hers who wouldn't pass it.
What it means is that we can keep calling our course AP - regardless of whether or not the kids take the test. And I don't have to do it again unless I switch schools or we drastically change the curriculum. I feel good because 19 of my 23 took the test. Now I just have to wait until July to find out how they did! I had to remind them (and myself) that the scorers are human beings and thus have human foibles and frailties, so this isn't the be-all, end-all assessment of their worth as people.
posted by BookBabe at
3:35 PM
3 Comments:
Congrats! Every year the Race for the Cure in Princeton would start at the ETS headquarters, so in high school we would all show up to run or volunteer and mutter not-so-silent curses at them.
I was pretty surprised to learn that there hadn't previously been standards for AP courses, and that a lot of students were taking AP courses but not taking the tests, and "using" their AP status to help them get into college, but thereby diluting the "worth" of the courses. I'm sure your syllabus passed with flying colors, by the way!
Oh yeah, and you managed to do something that neither Eric or I could!
I read an interesting article in a professional journal about how kids who take AP courses and don't take the test and/or don't do particularly well still benefit from the rigor of the course and tend to do better in college courses anyway. I'm a believer in letting anyone who wants to take the in - but then it makes us look bad if they get bad scores or don't take the test. I make it clear that they should be planning to take the test, since most of our writing is based on previous prompts - that if they want the rigor without taking the test, they should take Honors - he does more than I do, actually - and gives more tests and fewer writings. I don't mind being used - if they aren't prepared to take the course their grades will reflect it - I don't think it dilutes the worth of the course. I had four not take the test because they felt they wouldn't do well - two hadn't taken Honors last year and the other two just didn't feel confident. But I firmly believe they all benefited greatly from taking the course.
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