Monday, January 28, 2013

Dartmouth’s unresearched swipes at AP - Class Struggle - The Washington Post

Dartmouth’s unresearched swipes at AP - Class Struggle - The Washington Post: Most college professors rightly consider themselves part of an elite. They have doctorates. They have tenure. They’re special.

Few professors objected when the College Board’s Advanced Placement program began in 1955. It granted college credit for good grades on college-level courses taught only at elite high schools such as Exeter, Bronx Science and New Trier. Many professors’ views of AP have diminished now that the program is in more than 60 percent of U.S. high schools, including many where most of the students are low-income and low-achieving.

College professors tell me they don’t believe AP teachers can match the erudition and depth of published experts in their fields, like themselves. When I point out that many of the high school teachers they are complaining about have more experience and more demonstrated success teaching introductory college courses to teenagers than they do, they change the subject.