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AP fight
Northern Valley
Fighting mandated AP tests
Students, parents continue to lobby district for new policy
By Catherine Wilde
Staff Writer
Published March 19, 2008
With fervent pleas from students matched by educators’ staunch resolve, the dispute over Northern Valley’s AP testing policy remains deadlocked.
Parents and students reminded the school board last week that they are still against the district’s policy, which mandates that students enrolled in AP courses take the required AP tests.
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STUDENTS’ ISSUES
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•Testing creates a burden
• Monetary expense of taking multiple test
• Lack of honors alternatives during senior year
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| DISTRICT’S POSITION |
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• Exam is necessary for course validation
• Requiring tests gives the district a favorable position to the college admission officials
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Those opposed to mandated testing cited the undue burden on students who take several AP courses, the monetary expense of taking multiple tests and the lack of honors alternatives senior year.
Students such as Anthony Morelli, a senior currently enrolled in five AP courses who will be attending MIT in the fall, argue that having to take all the tests is a disservice. Morelli said MIT only accepts a score of a 5 on the AP test so mandating that students take all the tests or else receive an F for the course, does not benefit them.
District administrators repeated their view that the exam is a necessary external validation of the rigor of the course and that requiring the test positions the district favorably in the eyes of college admissions officials.
According to President Dan Lacoff, the Board of Education asked Superintendent Jan Furman to report her recommendations and those of a committee examining the issues. Lacoff says the areas being examined include the "test or fail" grading system, the financial burden of testing and the lack of honors alternatives.
Furman said she "fully intends" to have a recommendation for the school board to consider at its March 24 meeting.
However, in addition to the students’ concerns, Furman said one consideration she will raise for the school board is the fact that the district spends "a little more than $1.1 million on the AP program." She said she and the school board have an obligation to the taxpayers as well as the students and their parents.
"I don’t know how we can ask taxpayers to continue to spend $1.1 million on a program and call it AP when we have a high of 49 percent of students taking the test."
Lacoff said, "I will work as hard with the superintendent as possible to have a response to as many of the issues raised on March 24."
E-mail: wilde@northjersey.com or call 201-894-6706
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