For students who intend to take honors or AP level courses in high school next year (2012-’13) changes to the district’s selection process are coming into focus. On December 13 the West Windsor-Plainsboro Board of Education voted 8-0 to consider controversial changes to the Program of Studies, though the new proposal is milder than what led to a barrage of complaints from parents and students at a board meeting just before Thanksgiving. (See text, page 9),
The new criteria were outlined in a public forum Wednesday, December 7, at High School South, in a much more subdued dialogue with fewer than 70 attendees discussing the revised criteria for admission into high school honors and AP courses.
The consideration of parental overrides, viewed as a prerogative by nearly every WW-P parent who showed up at the November 22 meeting, was not the focal point of the assembly. Instead the forum considered seven key qualifiers or requirements and the review process for students to meet if they are to be placed in honors and AP courses.
Reiterating the need for changes, High School North principal Michael Zapicchi reviewed the current selection process as well as data and first marking period grades from students who overrode teacher recommendations in 2010-’11. “There were 1,764 overrides of teacher recommendations during the 2011-’12 course selection process: 897 at North and 867 at South. That’s approximately nine percent of the total number of classes elected by our students,” he said.
Zapicchi said there has been relatively little impact to students who got As and Bs before their requested overrides. However, issues arose with students who had a C and overrode into honors or AP.
“Out of 311 students who did that, 160 are earning As and Bs in honors or AP. But the other 141 are earing Cs, Ds, Fs, or they dropped the course. There were 50 students who had a D at the time of course selections and they elected to override the teacher recommendations, and of those 50 students 13 are getting As and Bs and 35 are getting Cs, Ds, Fs, or they drop the courses,” he said.
Zapicchi said this key concern was “change in students’ achievements at the C range.” He also explained the broader problems that the school board recognized in review of past data.
“In our current course selection process many students are not encouraged to take AP and honors courses despite their performance in classes. We also find that the integrity of some of our AP and honors courses are compromised when students can’t handle the rigor of the course work. One of the saddest things we find are students in a class that they really don’t have the skills to master and they are struggling. When that happens sometimes their experience in other classes becomes negative as well,” he said.
High School South principal Roseann Bonino presented the proposed criteria for 2012-’13, which would take into account each student’s grades from the January, 2012, semester.
She said that it was important to clarify the criteria as only for eligibility, not as a required progression if students achieve grades of A or B. The decision for students in strong academic standing to go into honors or AP ultimately lies with families only.
Bonino said that using first semester grade averages in pre-requisite courses will continue to be required as described in the program of studies. She explained that grade-point and grade averages come after a student has met the required pre-requisite for a course.
Bonino also spoke about the multiple-measure review process that the district will have in place for next year, set to provide a more comprehensive picture of each student’s abilities in consideration for honors or AP. That review includes the decision to look at a student’s overall GPA “for parents who were concerned that one particular teacher’s grading could hurt their son or daughter’s chance at going into AP or honors.
“Outside of any particular class or subject area, how are they doing in other subjects — for example math could give us a better idea of how successful they’ll be in science,” she said.
As part of the review process students’ third marking period grades will be considered. Using this period instead of just the first semester would allow for an adjustment period, particularly for students who enter high school, have PSAT exams in the fall, or participate in sports — all factors that may create a more complicated transition to the next grade than in their previous school years.
Board member Richard Kaye noted that the outcome clearly shows that “no one measure would prevent a student from qualifying for an honors or AP course. The review process was very clear that a broad range of data-based information would be looked at. Never will one particular moment or bad day, which we all can have, would prevent anyone from entering into the programs that they would require or request to take,” Kaye said.
Curriculum committee member Rachelle Feldman Hurwitz said there was a concerted effort by the board to include parents in the process. “I can not be emphatic enough to state that we, the board members and administrators, understand that parents know their children and they should be part of the process. The most important thing the board can do is take your concerns and apply them,” she said.
At the December 13 meeting just a handful of parents spoke. Two women raised questions about the inherent inconsistency of taking science in high school. Course content may not have much carryover from one year to the next as most kids progress from biology in ninth grade to chemistry in 10th grade and physics in 11th grade with an option of classes for their senior year. Yet grades in biology may not indicate aptitude for honors level chemistry, and as Assistant Superintendent David Aderhold pointed out the main prerequisite for physics remains calculus.
Theresa Chao Bergman of West Windsor told the board she had to sign an override for her daughter to enter an AP science class.
“If you take a science class out of sequence you have to do an override. The classes year-to-year have very little to do with each other and many kids do double-up on sciences. There are many inconsistencies to look at, and my biggest point is that I don’t believe you should take the parental override away. It will probably lead to a long process and I think you will find a lot of people who will go through the appeals, and I’d like you to leave the override system in place until you’re sure that you have the correct appeals process,” Bergman said.
Harlen Greenman of 29 Hartford Drive in Princeton Junction, who spoke at the November 22 meeting, returned on December 13 to caution the board about a consequence of the upcoming change.
“While the era of the parental override may be over the era of appeals needs to be in effect. I just finished interviewing a whole bunch of early decision candidates for an Ivy League college and the only ones who got in were from High Schools North or South. Luck of the draw — I don’t think so. Some of those kids had checkered early parts of their careers. Just because they are not cutting it as a freshman doesn’t mean they are not going to be able to achieve later. That has to be recognized in a material way, not a lip service way,” he said.
Board president Hemant Marathe attempted to address both the parents’ concerns.
“I still find that a lot of parents are confused about the policies and what can and cannot be done. This policy should not affect the sequence in which students take classes. There are a lot of people who take double sciences or skip ahead. A lot of those things are not touched by this policy,” he said.
Marathe does not accept the “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” argument. “This has allowed us to find several areas which we need to work on, such as the notion that different teachers go about grading entirely differently. Having this policy and moving forward will help us address those issues. Not doing anything is not an option. As they say, it’s one thing to be on the right path, but if you don’t keep moving forward then you will get run over,” he said.
Marathe added that as a result of implementing criteria changes he “fully expects” a lot of kids to get into honors biology and honors English next fall since many were not recommended this year, but with the policy change they would be promoted to such courses without an override.
In other Board of Education business on December 13:
— A change order was enacted with Drill Construction for exterior painting, canopy replacement, and masonry restoration at Grover Middle School. Exterior work has been postponed until June 1 due to weather conditions. The change order will not change the original contract amount of $57,000.
— A change order was also enacted for the general construction contract with Sodor’s Electric for lighting upgrades at 10 district schools. This would credit WW-P unused allowances of $2,000 per school for a total of $20,000.
— Janet Mariano was approved as a speech language consultant at Wicoff Elementary School from December 13 to December 23 at a rate of $400 per day.
— Funding of $2,500 was accepted from the state’s Highway Safety Project Grant for High School North Post Prom.
— Policy and Regulation was read and distributed concerning “Dating Violence at School.”
— The district submitted its NJQSAC Statement of Assurance for 2011-’12 to the NJ Department of Education.
— Alex Echievarra, a junior at High School South, presented a film, “Voices of South,” which showcases the school’s spirit and personalities. South principal Roseann Bonino, who was featured in the film, introduced the presentation and said the first time she viewed it she was brought to tears.
#b#Board Statement on Proposed Criteria and Review Process:#/b#
Charge. The Board of Education charged administrators to undertake a review of the current selection process for honors and accelerated courses, and begin the development of appropriate eligibility criteria/qualifications for such courses that are relevant, fair, and, to the greatest extent possible, objective; and to develop criteria, qualifications, and a review process to replace the current selection process for honors and accelerated courses.
Current Process. Students are recommended by teachers to select Honors or Advanced Placement courses. Additionally, students must meet required pre-requisites. Should a student not be recommended, students can elect to enroll in an Honors or Advanced Placement course with parent approval. The current process requires that parental override forms be submitted by April 1st.
New Criteria. Starting with the 2012-’13 school year, and using the first semester grade average:
Students who are currently in Advanced Placement and Honors courses can continue in that level as long as they are passing the course with a grade of 70 (C or better).
Students who are currently in Honors who achieve a grade of 80 (B) percent or higher can enroll in an Advanced Placement course.
Students who are in College Prep course, who achieve a grade of 80 percent or higher (A or B grade) are eligible to elect an Honors level course.
Students who are in College Prep course, who achieve a grade of 90 percent (A)) in a College Prep course are eligible to elect an Advanced Placement course.
Students enrolled in A&E Math and transitioning from 8th grade to 9th grade can continue in that level as long as they are passing the course with a grade of 70 (C or better).
Pre-requisite courses will continue to be required as described in the program of studies.
For students whose grades fall under these guidelines, there will be a review process. Any student, irrespective of their grade, can request a review of their request.
Review Process. If a student does not meet the new criteria, a review process is in place whereby a student, parent and administrator can review the following to help determine course placement:
Mid-year common assessments/Benchmark assessments; PSAT score/AAP potential; EERB results; NNJASK test results; Third Marking Period grade; and Overall GPA.
Also department specific measures, e.g. math grade in science courses, DBQ (Document Based Question) for Social Studies, holistic essay score for Language Arts, and last two Math grades.
Based on these criteria and taking parent input into account, the principal and/or designee, in consultation with the appropriate staff at each high school, will make the final decision on course placement.
The decision will be appealable under our appeals policy up to the superintendent level. In the case of students who are classified under the IDEA, the final decision shall rest with the IEP team (which includes the parents), and any decision as to course selection by a classified student shall be subject to the IEP dispute resolution procedures under the IDEA.
The review process must be initiated with the building principal by April 1st. The principal will complete all reviews by April 15th before the master schedule is generated.
