Class size - and good teachers
How many of us can look back and think that we may not have attained our full potential in life? What if we’d done better in school? What if we’d gone to a better college?
The predominant approach in our present-day public schools has created a culture wherein 16-year-olds are deciding they aren’t likely to attend college or university. They believe that the material will probably be much too challenging. They feel they do not have the essential skills. They lack confidence in their own ability to learn and grow in an academic environment. They are not qualified to make the right decisions!
Quite a bit is often said concerning the value of small class size and individual attention in our schools. But small class size is only the starting point. The very best high schools have not primarily smaller classes, which support far more personal attention–they employ highly qualified instructors who teach more challenging material.
AP courses, created by the College Board, have been around for five decades. They are certified college-level courses that are taught in high schools. Their reputation has grown over the years, and they have become an essential component of the high school portfolio for anyone wishing to apply to a four year university or college. A great number of parents feel that these particular classes and their exceptional expectations place an excessive amount stress on young kids, still in high school. But that isn’t the way it was intended to be.
When approached the appropriate way, these courses might in fact be a very good opportunity. The downside is that the majority of high schools that provide these courses still pack 20 to 30 students into each class. So rather than being a really good opportunity, most students only struggle with the work. On the other hand, whenever these courses are taught by skilled professionals in smaller classes — classes having only eight to ten students for each teacher, every student gets the opportunity to achieve success in a college level class.
A taste of this success is sometimes precisely what it takes to turn a student’s life around. Students at the best private high schools, such as Cambrian International Academy, have mentioned in many cases that the first class made them feel as though they could accomplish nearly anything. They take more of these classes in subsequent years, and then find themselves accepted to leading universities in advanced standing. The AP credit transfers, and they begin college as sophomores!
Right now, 16-year-olds have far more reason to make an informed decision about college. Parents need to start by making the right choices in high school.