General Education in School and College: A Committee Report by Members of the Faculties of Andover, Exeter, Lawrenceville, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale
... The need for an exclusive program for exceptional students was accepted as necessary to reach their maximal potential (Angermann, 1961, p. 50) and to provide academic programs grounded in students' aspirations and competencies (Dudley, 1958, p. 2). As Rothschild (1999) points out, a goal was to increase the number of " strong college graduates " entering graduate school so as to better position the, the committee recommended that " narrative American history " be taught in secondary schools; the emphasis should be on " the continuity of our national development… political factors in that development… and (the) problem of interpreting (historical) evidence " (Blackmer et al., 1952, p. 70-72). Pedagogically, the committee recommended that students learn to take notes from books and lectures, to read maps, interpret and confront controversial issues, take exams based on reasoning and memorization and to have opportunities to explore topics of personal interest (Blackmer et al., 1952, p. 72-73). ...
... As Rothschild (1999) points out, a goal was to increase the number of " strong college graduates " entering graduate school so as to better position the, the committee recommended that " narrative American history " be taught in secondary schools; the emphasis should be on " the continuity of our national development… political factors in that development… and (the) problem of interpreting (historical) evidence " (Blackmer et al., 1952, p. 70-72). Pedagogically, the committee recommended that students learn to take notes from books and lectures, to read maps, interpret and confront controversial issues, take exams based on reasoning and memorization and to have opportunities to explore topics of personal interest (Blackmer et al., 1952, p. 72-73). Memorization and reliance on one textbook were considered inappropriate; workbooks, weekly quizzes and test review questions were equated with the dangers of " the older slavery to the text " (Blackmer et al., p. 73). ...
Since the passage of Public Law 107-110, the "No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) (2002)," public schools have been encouraged to increase the number of students participating in Advanced Placement courses, particularly "underrepresented" or "low-income and other disadvantaged students." This policy was seen as a means of increasing academic rigor and college preparation (Section 1702, 2002) for a broader spectrum of students than those who traditionally had access to these courses. More recently, the U.S. Department of Education's focus on "achievement" and closing the "achievement gaps" has included civic learning (Duncan, 2012). Simultaneously, changing U.S. demographics have increased the number of English Language Learners in schools, many with "multidimensional citizenship," (Parker, Ninomiya & Cogan, 2011). In order for "underrepresented" students to have access to college preparatory courses, these students need contact with and ownership of disciplinary and academic language and content (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2010; Shanahan & Shanahan, 2008; Walqui, & Lier, 2010). Students also benefit from a citizenship education that nurtures a blended cultural, national and global identity and allegiances (Banks, 2004, 2007). ^ This teacher practitioner inquiry examines the opportunities and challenges of preparing "underrepresented students," including immigrant students, for the Advanced Placement U.S. Government exam at an urban, neighborhood high school in an academically stratified school district. The intervention proposed in this study was to support students' disciplinary language and civic competency in an Advanced Placement United States Government course by incorporating civic deliberations and blog posts. Instructional and language strategies were scaffolded to build on the students' prior knowledge, points of view, and to build background knowledge. Interwoven are my observations and questions as a teacher practitioner reflecting on my preparation and response to the challenges and opportunities of working with students to prepare them for a high stakes exam and college / career and life. By using ethnographic methods, I analyzed students' responses in semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. Then, I analyzed my strategies to prepare for civic deliberations; as well, I studied students' participation in the deliberations and their subsequent blog postings. Lastly, I reflected on the changes I made to make the civic deliberations more accessible for students while encouraging students to include disciplinary evidence with their prior knowledge, identities and points of view.
... Beneath the Cold War rhetoric was a stream of reasoning rooted in elitism from private independent schools that began to shape advanced programming. The central idea motivating those in favor of advanced programing expressed "concern about the collegiate educational system offering the same level of courses to all students, when the reality was that all students do not transition from the same level of preparatory school" (Blackmer et al., 1952;Rothschild, 1999). By 1957, after piloting programs for several years, the Advanced Placement program was launched under the auspices of the College Board (College Board, 2014). ...
In schools throughout the United States the racial compositions of classrooms are undergoing a demographic shift consistent with national census data indicating increases in the numbers of racial minorities attending k -12 institutions. In schools however, historically marginalized populations remain significantly and disproportionately underrepresented within advanced academic environments. Research into the phenomenon of underrepresentation presents several limitations. First, a preponderance of the scholarship focuses exclusively on high school students, neglecting other grade bands. Secondly, a majority of the research narrowly examines statistical representations of underrepresented populations, in absence of other qualitative information. Third, a further gap exists in the scholarship around historically marginalized middle school students in advanced programs. This proposed dissertation seeks to understand the factors that attribute to underrepresentation among middle school students in predominantly white advanced environments. This qualitative phenomenological study seeks to document the experiences of historically marginalized middle school students participating in advanced programming and AVID, a teaching and learning program centered on academic and social/emotional support. Theories of Critical Race, adolescent racial and social identity development, and Relational Cultural Theory are evaluated to form a theoretical framework that examines the experiences of historically marginalized AVID students within predominantly white advanced programs. Qualitative methodologies involved interviews that sought to 1) privilege the experiences of students, 2) explore the complexities of adolescence and racial/ethnic identity development, 3) identify the extent to which the relational cultural framework (used within the AVID elective class) supports or fails to support historically marginalized students within advanced learning environments. Developing an understanding of prohibitive factors or positive assets in support of school achievement within the AVID program has the potential to inform practices and/or diminish barriers to student participation in advanced classes.
The Advanced Placement (AP) program has undergone two major reforms in recent decades: the first aimed at increasing access and the second at increasing relevance. Both initiatives are partially designed to increase the number of high school students from low-income backgrounds who have access to college-level coursework. Yet critics argue that schools in less-resourced communities are unable to implement AP at the level expected by its founders. We offer the first model of the components inherent in a well-implemented AP science course and the first evaluation of AP implementation with a focus on public schools newly offering the inquiry-based version of AP Biology and Chemistry courses. We find that these frontier schools were able to implement most, but not all, of the key components of an AP science course.
The Advanced Placement (AP) program offers an opportunity for students to earn college credit and develop college-ready skills in high school. The curriculum was initially designed for “superior” students at exclusive private schools. Recently, however, the AP program has expanded to serve more students from marginalized backgrounds, and equitable access has become one of its core objectives. Scholars have questioned whether AP can continue to offer effective college preparation while expanding beyond the populations it was initially designed to serve. This literature review summarizes existing research on whether the AP program has achieved its dual goals of equal access and effectiveness. The extant literature suggests that, despite impressive gains in access to AP, significant barriers remain to its becoming a program that ensures equal access for all students and effectively prepares them for college coursework. Assessing whether these barriers can be overcome, however, demands new approaches to AP research.
Using a data set exclusively prepared for and licensed to them by the College Board, the authors examined the growth of the Advanced Placement program in foreign languages and overall trends in regard to the number of candidates who sat for the foreign language exams, their gender, their scores, and their ethnicity over the 36-year period covering 1979 to 2014. Results indicated that while the number of candidates for all exams grew, the Spanish Language and Culture exam demonstrated exponential growth unparalleled by any other exam. While scores have varied based on the iteration of the exam, they have continued to improve overall. Females continued to make up the majority of foreign language test takers in every state and outperformed males on average. Data also revealed that white candidates were losing ground to ethnic and racial minority test takers overall, but particularly in the case of the Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese examinees. © 2016 by American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
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