STAR Reading Scores Should Control AP Enrollment
Delayla Perez-Zepeda, 11th Grader, Guest Writes for the Talon
What are AP Classes? APs are college level classes students can take during high school to earn extra credit and strengthen their resumes. AP stands for advanced placement classes and rightfully so since these classes consist of rigorous workloads that are fast paced and dive deeper into subjects like language, history and math. Students who excel academically are encouraged to take these classes, but admission into certain APs requires meeting a certain Star Reading score which measures a student’s reading comprehension, vocabulary, and overall literacy.
This weeding out system benefits both teachers and the students by creating manageable class sizes, plus helps secure funding from overachieving district test scores. Although it seems unfair for those who aren't able to challenge themselves academically through AP’s, there are other options for students to receive that GPA boost or strengthen their college applications.
Taking a rigorous course is challenging enough for students, now take into account the teachers that instruct them. This could put one singular teacher to handle multiple classes with up to thirty students each just to meet the students interests. We all have that one teacher that takes ages to grade assignments or fix your grade, let's picture one singular teacher with one singular set of eyes and hands having to grade 50+ essays, tests, homework assignments and presentations, the class would take ages to progress. Who knows, to meet deadlines teachers would have to take shortcuts and not be able to fully prepare their students with the skill sets they need. Test scores would drop and the purpose of deeper understanding of the subject would too.
It is to no one's surprise that higher test scores in AP and state wide assessments like the SBAC provide school districts with more funding due to the fact the students are deemed worth investing in. Let's take Mr. Shelby, who teaches comp lit two and AP seminar. He is an amazing teacher who uses his AP skills to help prepare his sophomores, which are one of the highest reading test performing students in our district, while still managing to prepare his juniors for their AP exam. Due to this Mr Shelby receives grants to buy books for his class. An uneven influx of AP students in his seminar class would result in a shift of attention towards them and less attentiveness towards his regular classes. I bring this to your attention because both AP and regular class students are equally essential in bringing up test scores. An even balance would continue to maintain high test scores which surpass Corona Del Mar, Costa Mesa and Newport Harbor High school. Resulting in the district's ability to allocate funds into hiring new teachers and providing opportunities like on campus ROP classes.
Weeding out students based on Star Reading scores isn't rejection but redirection. Although AP’s are accessible on campus, there are alternatives like Coastline College classes that fulfill those same needs. Coastline classes don’t ask for your star reading scores, they meet once to twice a week similarly to APs, and are a more reliable way of obtaining college credit. There is rarely an extensive 3-4 hour final exam that compresses your year long hard work which determines your eligibility for college credit, the only requirement is that you earn a passing grade in the class. Some students might not perform well under stressful situations which AP exams are known for, but since most coastline classes are online, students are able to work at their own pace unlike AP, this would be highly beneficial to students who know they have the capability of taking a college class but don’t coincide with APs fast pace.
There is no excuse for those students who weren't able to take AP classes to not challenge themselves academically elsewhere. If their main concern was resume building for college, I’ll have you know AP classes are not the only things college recruitment looks for, you can still be a competitive pick if not have a higher chance with college course classes under your belt.
In conclusion, the star reading test is essential for preventing an overload of students in AP classes, securing higher test scores and leading their rejection to redirection.
