Students admitted to Georgia Tech this year took an average of 10 college-level courses, most often in the form of Advanced Placement or AP classes. High school students aiming for top tier colleges like Tech are now being advised to take the most rigorous curriculum possible, which often means a demanding schedule of time-consuming, test-driven AP classes.
But there is a small rebellion underway as some parents and schools question the stress on kids from taking too many college-level courses in high school.
Writing today in the AJC Get Schooled blog, former Gwinnett Schools psychologist Allyson Gevertz says she did what some parents might consider the unthinkable — she let her 15-year-old drop her one AP course at her DeKalb high school.
Gevertz writes: “My daughter almost immediately told me that she didn’t like it. She found the material uninspiring, she didn’t like regurgitating what she memorized from the book, and she craved the opportunity to connect what she was learning to today’s reality.”
So, after much inner turmoil about whether getting off the AP track would derail her daughter’s college options, Gevertz let her drop the class, saying, ”My daughter’s choice has given her breathing room to enjoy high school, maintain outside-of-school activities that have nothing to do with academics, read books for pleasure, and get a good night’s sleep.”
To read more about the debate over AP classes, go to AJC Get Schooled blog on MyAJC.com.
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