Garrison Keillor’s fictional Lake Wobegon was famously a place where all the children were above average. In one large suburban school district, some high schools are trying to turn that dream into a reality by putting all students in honors classes.
. In one large suburban school district, some high schools are trying to turn that dream into a reality by putting all students in honors classes.doing away with
standard classes in subjects like health, social studies, science, and English. Instead, all students are being placed in honors classes. District-level officials say they’re not sure how many of the county’s 25 high schools have adopted this policy—and they’re neither encouraging nor discouraging the trend—but leaders of the local PTA estimate that more than half have gone the honors-only route in at least one core subject.
Those defending the all-honors idea say it raises teachers’ expectations—and most students, they contend, will rise to meet them. Besides, they say, the curriculum and tests are the same for honors and non-honors classes, with the only difference being that students in honors classes are able to get more credit, boosting their GPA and giving them a leg up in college applications.
This is only the latest twist in a decades-long effort to mold the American high school into an engine of economic justice and social mobility—an effort that has yet to bear fruit. High school used to be an elite institution: in the 19th century, relatively few students went past eighth grade. But between 1870 and 1940, the number attending high school increased byFaced with a massive influx of ill-prepared students, high schools introduced tracking.
Fortunately, it became politically unacceptable to openly advocate tracking beginning in the late 1960s. But de facto tracking has continued unabated, both between and within schools. The largest-scale form of tracking is socioeconomic school segregation: high schools in poor neighborhoods rarely provide the same quality of education as those in affluent areas. In pursuit of equity, high-poverty schools have started directing more of their students to AP classes.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Tear gas fired in Hong Kong with no end in sight to protestsPolice fired tear gas Sunday inside a train station and in several other Hong Kong neighborhoods where protesters occupied roads in another weekend of anti-government demonstrations. Protesters hurled bricks at officers and ignored warnings to leave before tear gas was deployed in the Sham Shui Po area
Read more »
Taliban say talks on US withdrawal from Afghanistan endAn agreement would allow President Donald Trump to achieve his aim of ending Washington's longest-running war, launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US.
Read more »
Houston Chronicle to Beto O'Rourke: End WH bid, run for Senate
Read more »
WGA West Board Candidate Nick Kazan Urges End To “Vitriol” That Threatens To “Destroy Our Union”Screenwriter Nicholas Kazan is warning WGA members that internal squabbling “could destroy our union.” In a passionate plea for civility during the guild’s ongoing election and showdown with Hollyw…
Read more »
Houston Chronicle to Beto O'Rourke: End WH bid, run for Senate
Read more »