By: Lisbeth SeguraHere at Wilson High School, the students are privileged to be offered twenty-three different Advanced Placement (AP) courses, from AP Chinese to AP Government and Politics to AP Music Theory, students have a diverse pool of choices. What makes AP courses different from a College Prep and even an Honors course is that the content in the curriculum is created by College Board, and a final exam is given in May for college credit. The test takes a minimum of three hours (time can vary depending on the class and test), and for most students the price is between $94 and $142. Here at Wilson, students taking an AP course are required to sit for the exam if they choose not to take the exam, the weight drops from an AP weight to an Honors weight. An AP course is considered a college-level class that requires a lot of dedication and time, more so than an Honors and a CP course. The question is: if a student takes an AP Course, does all the required work and has a good grade in the class, is it fair to change the AP weight of the class, and make it an Honors class weight if the student decides to opt out of the test? There are a lot of opinions when it comes to the subject, some with missed views and others with firm opinions. Ms. Taylor, who teaches AP Literature and Composition, says “The curriculum of the class revolves around the AP Test, so students know what they might be asked on the test. However, a student should not get penalized because they decided not to take the test.”
Mr. Hughes, who teaches AP Psychology, firmly believes that it “is unfair to take away the weight if the student has put in the effort and has done all of the work.” On the other side of the spectrum, Mr. Wagner (AP U.S. Government and Politics; AP Microeconomics) and Mr. Peshler (AP World History), that just by offering the weight at all, is an incentive for the students to get out of their comfort zone, and see if they are dedicated and want to put an effort in the class. They also said that the AP test is a good way to test the students' knowledge of the class. As an AP student myself, I understand each educator’s point of view, but I do agree more with Mr. Wagner and Mr. Peshler. I do believe in recognizing the students' effort and dedication in the class, however, as Ms. Taylor said, the curriculum of the class is modeled by the AP test. Because of this, if the reason for a student to not take the test is that they feel underprepared, they should feel okay on the test in reality because everything is learned in class. I also understand that they’re students who take multiple AP classes, and sometimes the test for those AP classes, happened to be on the same day and at the same time, but if that’s the reason for not taking the test, Mrs. Andrieux, our high school's AP Coordinator, has a list of alternate test dates scheduled by the College Board in advance to resolve such conflicts. I get it, the test can be very pricey, but a student should not refrain from taking the exam because of the price. Here at Wilson, if a student has free or reduced lunch, they can take the exam for free. If a student doesn’t have free or reduced lunch, and the cost is still an issue for them, Mrs. Andrieux says various organizations have donated money to help offset the cost of the exams and to come to her for assistance. The student just has to let Mrs. Andrieux know, and she will resolve the issue.
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Elena Caputo
Hi! My name is Elena, and I'm a senior at Wilson and one of the Editors of the Editorial section. If you have any questions or ideas or if you want to write, email me at [email protected]! Olivia MonosHello! My name is Olivia and I'm a junior this year, and one of the editors of the Editorial section! I'm really excited to write for the Paw Print again this year!
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