At Schreiber, many students take honors and AP classes in subjects in which they excel. For many of these courses, students have to meet different requirements, maintain certain grades, or require teacher recommendations to qualify to take them. However, if these requirements are not met, a student can still take the class by waiving into it.
A major factor that determines if a student will proceed to an advanced track in a subject is the grade they previously earned the year before in that subject. As a result of this, the course selection process can become unfair, as grades received in previous years aren’t always a perfect indicator of whether a student has the capacity to take honors or AP classes for the rest of their high school career. If past grades and teacher recommendations are the only way for students to join advanced courses, it constricts them from challenging themselves with harder classes and material that they may want to take.
Furthermore, a single class taken in freshman year shouldn’t be able to dictate the rest of a student’s classes throughout high school. During the freshman and sophomore years, teachers choose whether or not they want to recommend a student for a more advanced honors or AP class in that subject. However, if a student didn’t have grades above a certain threshold – which varies from teacher to teacher – or if their teacher simply did not believe they were ready or capable, the student can be placed in a grade-level class by default. This can make it very difficult to transfer to the advanced path later in high school.
“If you put in the work, you should be able to waive into classes,” said freshman Sky Levine.
Even if a student doesn’t do well in a certain subject at first, if they can work hard and maintain focus, they can certainly improve throughout the year and after the recommendation period ends. Thus, waiving into classes should be allowed since, even if you take a test and do poorly, hard work can allow students to do better and should give them the ability to take more advanced classes, if they wish to do so.
Additionally, teacher recommendations can sometimes be inaccurate because a teacher may underestimate a student or not understand their full potential. This can be unfair to a student who wants to take a harder class because they likely know themselves better than a teacher might, who teaches a class of 20 or more students and has to split their attention between classes.
“I think students should be able to waive into classes because it allows students to have more choice and freedom in picking their schedules,” said sophomore Jacob Koppelman.
Teachers might not know the students as well as the students know themselves, and without the freedom to choose the classes that they are interested in, they can’t express themselves through academic rigor. Students should be able to personalize their own interests and choose their class rigor, as it affects their future the most and is especially important if they intend on applying to colleges after graduating high school.
“I think that teachers tell the students what level they think they are at, but if they know they can perform better, they should be able to have the chance to waive into a harder class,” said sophomore Chase Beckenstein.
Thus, students at Schrieber should be able to wave into classes for many reasons. Firstly, it allows students to personally manage their class options instead of relying solely on past exams and teacher recommendations. The ability to influence their own educational opportunities is a privilege that students should have, and giving students a greater voice would allow them to pursue their interests, stay more engaged in learning, and be better prepared to achieve their future goals.