Imagine going into your IB or AP class on the first day of school and finding a student who has absolutely no idea what they are doing. The only reason they are there is to hang out with their friends, while you are there to get a good education
Would you really want to spend your whole semester with that kind of student in your class, dragging you down?
To get into AP and IB courses students should take a test to ensure that they are fully prepared for these courses. Otherwise , some students will come into classes unprepared, which would make it difficult for them to succeed in the courses.
Most students who take IB/AP courses take the class so that they can get college credit, or so they can look better on college applications. But this credit can be ruined if students who are unqualified and unprepared come into the class. Other schools, such as Richard Montgomery (RM) have students test into the class to make sure that the student is ready for the class.
If a student fails an AP/IB class, then it will have a negative effect on the student’s transcript. Therefore when a student requests to go to a certain college, the college can decline because the student failed an AP/IB course. If a student fails an AP or IB course, it is essentially a waste of a class.
Pre-IB teacher Brian Annear said, “RM does have a test and so you can’t get into IB without the test, [a��] we allow anybody who wants to [take the course] and our [test] scores the last couple of years were just behind RM’s.”
Even though the scores are close, the fact of the matter is that RM is beating us. They are our rival in everything. But now the rivalry has come to academics; the scores could be shifted in Rockville’s favor. If Rockville would have to test into IB/AP then Rockville would be in the lead in academics.
IB and AP testing would benefit Rockville students, staff and test scores. It would be favorable by improving RHS test scores and making sure that students are more prepared for AP/IB. Therefore if Rockville enforced testing, then all of the students who are not prepared or willing to work hard in the class would not be able to get into the class, and thus the scores would rise.
Freshman Henry Presman takes AP history and Pre-IB English. “Sometimes when I am in my classes I see students on their phone and not paying attention. If there was testing then some of those students would not be in the class,” Presman said.
Even if RHS continues to allow anyone to take IB or AP, it could better prepare students for these classes. Former AP teacher and current IB teacher Anne Ehlers suggests that RHS offer institutes in the summer so students can sample the AP/IB courses and enhance their skills before school even starts.
“I think a summer institute would be amazing, I think that would be really helpful especially before junior year when a lot of kids are making those big AP choices,” Ehlers said.
Teachers need to be able to lead their students through rigorous curriculum, so it is up to the students to make sure they are prepared and to the school to help prepare them. Though testing into these advanced courses or requiring students to take extra summer courses may seem harsh, in the end, it is going to benefit those students who want to push themselves academically.