Advanced classes worth it?

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Feb 19, 2007 | by Joanne Levy-Prewitt

College-bound high school students believe that the courses they take in high school will not only prepare them for college but often will determine the colleges to which they apply. And for that reason, smart students will have a long-term plan of classes to take in high school. For some, that will mean taking college-level courses while in high school.

High schools offer college-level courses, typically Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or honors courses, so that students can challenge themselves and prepare for the rigors of college. Students can take community college courses while in high school, too.

Colleges admissions officers tell me that they like to see high school students challenge themselves by taking community college, AP, IB or honors classes, and they also like to see students do well in those classes. Yet those classes are more demanding than typical high school courses. They often move at a faster pace and require more outside reading, as well as numerous responsive essays or research papers and weekly quizzes. These exercises are meant to prepare students for college courses.

However, one study shows that so-called college-level courses don't necessarily prepare students for college, especially in the sciences. The study was conducted by Philip M. Sadler, director of science education at the Harvard University-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and a senior lecturer in astronomy at Harvard, and Robert H. Tai, assistant professor of science education at the University of Virginia. Sadler and Tai found that even with the highest possible score on AP exams in science (5 is the highest score), once in college, students averaged only 90 points on the same material, even after they had studied for an additional year in college.

To me, this begs a larger question: What is the exact goal of an AP or IB class? Are AP and IB courses meant to replace college courses and provide college credit? Are they trying to form a foundation for subsequent college learning? Are they designed to cover more material than a typical high school course, with a standardized test as the marker of success? Or is it the goal of advanced coursework to ask students to think deeper and more analytically about the subject?

I've heard students and parents complain that college-level courses emphasize facts and data, and that ambitious syllabi leave little time to teach critical thinking skills such as reasoning, analyzing, comparing or critiquing. If that's true, especially in light of Sadler and Tai's research into AP science classes, other than impressing admissions offices, I wonder about the benefits of AP and IB classes.

Students who take AP or IB classes, whenever they are available, send a message to colleges that they aren't afraid of hard work. Strong grades, along with good scores on the standardized exams, validate that message. Some colleges will allow entering high school students to receive college credit for AP or IB courses taken in high school, and sometimes students can use those courses as prerequisites for other classes or even graduate earlier.

High school students should be clear about their reasons and goals when enrolling in college-level work. Primarily, students should be interested in the subject matter. Additionally, students should be sure that the advanced course offers a deeper exploration of the subject than the standard course and that it emphasizes critical thinking skills over memorization.

Finally, students should ask themselves whether they are taking the class to boost their GPA, impress colleges or provide college credit for early graduation; or because they are passionate about the material and believe it will be a foundation for, but not take the place of, more challenging college work.

Joanne Levy-Prewitt is an independent college admissions adviser who works with students in the San Francisco area. E-mail her at jklprewitt@gmail.com.

(c) Joanne Levy-Prewitt