Advanced Placement courses are a challenge many students face when junior and senior years roll around. In total, there are 40 AP classes listed on college board.
However, Bellwood-Antis only offers two – AP Literature & Composition and AP Chemistry.
AP Literature & Composition is now taught by former eighth and seventh grade English teacher Mr. Partner while AP Chemistry is taught by chemistry teacher Mr. Carr.
Advanced Placement is the preparation for high school students to get familiar with college and university classes.higher education classes.
These classes allow students to improve their strategies and reach their potential. Taking the AP exam gives students a chance to earn college credit.
In my perspective, I think there should be more AP classes offered to BA students. This gives an opportunity to honors or any student to take a new level of education.
CHS Courses are one counter argument against offering more AP classes because they offer a more tangible approach to advanced classes.
CHS stands for College in High School. This course level is a college introductory that is taught by a high school teacher, but with a college curriculum.
The classes are offered by many college/universities. At Bellwood, there are some like Penn Highlands, Saint Francis, etc.
To get this credit you must obtain a passing grade of a C or higher to enroll towards your degree.
Mr. Naylor, who teaches CHS Debate, says that in a CHS class “you know you’ll be rewarded,” whereas in an AP course if you don’t get above a 3 on the exam you won’t get the college credit.
Students tend to lean more towards a CHS class because of the immediate satisfaction. An AP student is more likely to stress over the exam rather than learning the curriculum.
Studies state that between 25-40% of students in an Advanced Placement course feel test anxiety. These measures can impact the students’ overall performance on the exam.
Test anxiety symptoms can either incline or decline the score a student receives. Some are driven by the adrenaline but others may forget lesson preparation.
Teachers are required to support students leading to the exam. “I prepare lesson plans that I know will give my students more support on the exam- like units from their honors class, and from the beginning of the year,” Mr. Carr says how he helps his AP chem class.
Although there are other stress inducing factors regarding AP level classes; college acceptance, parent satisfaction, and other levels of validation.
With that, schools should ensure that a student is not overloading their schedule with AP classes. However, having an AP course on a transcript does not guarantee acceptance into a college/university.
So AP classes are a great opportunity to predict your advancement in a specific class, but at Bellwood-Antis the offers are limited.
Collectively, students agree that there should be an equal amount of CHS and AP classes at Bellwood.
