Advanced Classes Might Be at Risk in Some US High Schools

Advanced Classes Might Be at Risk in Some US High Schools

Since the beginning of 2021, at least 17 states have passed measures aimed at how public schools can teach highly debated subjects, says the publication EducationWeek.

These efforts, however, have caused concern among some teachers of Advanced Placement, or AP, classes. These are college-level classes taught to high school students. AP classes in U.S. History, for example, require discussion of subjects like slavery and European colonization¹.

Legislative² measures aimed at limiting disputed ideas in schools have been mainly led by Republican Party lawmakers. Some of the measures are aimed at preventing the teaching of Critical Race Theory, or CRT.

CRT is a way of understanding American society that places great importance on how race shaped its politics and culture. It is taught in universities. Some officials say there is little evidence that CRT is being taught a lot in American public schools.

EducationWeek says several other states have similar bills currently under consideration. It has been following efforts to pass these kinds of education measures around the country.

The measures are different depending on where they are being introduced. In Ohio, for example, a bill that was introduced last May would ban school districts from "teaching, advocating, or promoting divisive concepts." Divisive concepts are ideas that cause a lot of disagreement between people. A New Hampshire bill would ban teaching "a negative account or representation of the founding and history of the United States of America..."

But some teachers doubt it is possible to teach some subjects without raising questions that cause people to disagree. Tassie Zahner is an AP American history teacher in Montgomery County, Maryland. She told VOA last year that it would be very hard to teach her class without teaching America's history of racism³.

"In order to teach an AP U.S. history class correctly you have to talk about those things," she said. "You can't prepare students...if you're not teaching the truth about U.S. history."

AP is a nationwide program that provides high school students with college-level classes. Through the AP program, students can, in many cases, earn credit towards a college degree. Classes offered include history, English, math and art.

The College Board is the non-profit organization based in New York City that creates the curriculum for high school AP classes. AP classes are unlike other classes in American high schools. The curriculum of most classes is set by local school districts.

The College Board told EducationWeek in January that it does not know of any examples "in which state requirements conflict with the standards of college-level AP courses." But in March, the group sent teachers a reminder⁴ of AP's most important ideas and values, called principles. The principles suggest the organization could bar schools from offering AP classes in districts where teachers are limited in what they can teach.

Students are "expected to analyze⁵ different perspectives from their own," the principles state. The AP statement of principles also says: "if a school bans required topics from their AP courses, the AP Program removes the AP designation from that course and its inclusion in the AP Course Ledger⁶ provided to colleges and universities."

Most of the legislative measures are aimed at kindergarten through 12th grade schools. But the New York-based non-profit organization PEN America says it found 40 bills that target what can be taught at colleges and universities.

Some political officials have said they oppose the teaching of disputed ideas in colleges.

Texas Lieutenant⁷ Governor Dan Patrick said on Twitter in February: "I will not stand by and let looney Marxist (University of Texas) professors poison the minds of young students with Critical Race Theory." He added: "We banned it in publicly funded K-12 and we will ban it in publicly funded higher ed."

Some college professors oppose many of the bills. In a statement last year, the American Association of University Professors said that when "politicians mandate⁸ the academic content that faculty⁹ can and cannot teach ... they prevent colleges and universities from fulfilling their missions."

Frank Scott is an AP U.S. history teacher in Texas. He said discussing topics like racism and violence in the U.S. do not make students dislike the country.

He told EducationWeek that "When you're honest with the things that are not very pleasant...you have students that come around to loving this country even more, because of what it's been through."

Words in This Story

advocate — v. to support or argue for

negative — adj. harmful or bad

curriculum — n. the courses that are taught by a school, college, etc.

district — n. an area or section of a country, city, or town

standard — n. a level of quality, achievement, etc., that is considered acceptable or desirable

perspective — n. a level of quality, achievement, etc., that is considered acceptable or desirable

looney — adj. crazy or foolish

faculty — n. the group of teachers in a school or college

1 colonization   

殖民地的开拓，殖民，殖民地化； 移殖

参考例句：

• Colonization took place during the Habsburg dynasty. 开拓殖民地在哈布斯堡王朝就进行过。
• These countries took part in the colonization of Africa. 这些国家参与非洲殖民地的开发。

2 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

3 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

4 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

5 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

6 ledger   

n.总帐，分类帐；帐簿

参考例句：

• The young man bowed his head and bent over his ledger again.那个年轻人点头应诺，然后又埋头写起分类帐。
• She is a real accountant who even keeps a detailed household ledger.她不愧是搞财务的，家庭分类账记得清楚详细。

7 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

8 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

9 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。