Bill in Legislature -
This will affect several hundred Seattle High School students.
There
are two bills currently moving through the legislature that would
require 4 year colleges and universities in the state to grant credit
for AP exam scores of 3 or better.
SB 5234 and HB1333
If
you have a feeling about this, please call or email your legislative
team about this. On their webpages there is a place where you can
send a message – 1000 character limit.
Things are moving fast – please let them know your feelings about this.
If you need more info, you might want to reference that there are 23 IB high schools in Washington,
and 19 of them are public schools.
Many of the public schools are in very diverse/high poverty areas
communities, like South Seattle/S. King County, Tukwila, Tacoma, and
Kennewick.
(School
list from the IB website. I looked up some of the schools’ websites to
determine what their FRL numbers looked like. Kennewick is 70%
FRL, Thomas Jefferson in Fed Way is 55% FRL for example.)
To find your district
Comments
I have no particular view on this, but I will say based on what I see from students who've taken running start classes that WILL get college credit allocation, IB classes are every bit as stringent if not more.
The elite Harvey Mudd College (average entering frosh SAT math score 790) prefers that nearly all students take Calculus I.
If you wish to skip it. Take the BC Calculus Test and get a 5 score, otherwise take Calc I. If a kid can score the 5 on the BC test, then the college will evaluate the student's knowledge and place the student appropriately.
My thought is that a 3 is inadequate and mandating course credit for a 3 may misplace the student and make life difficult for a student in math or hard sciences.
25 Years ago my oldest son entered NYU. He had 6 credits in acting from Yale University the previous summer. NYU said they would accept the 6 credits but only as a general elective. In other words my son still had to take all NYU courses required for a BFA without counting his 6 credits. He did get to use the 6 credits to get 128 credits for graduation.
I would like to see universities make reasoned determinations about AP credit vs having the legislature mandate specific action.
-- Dan Dempsey
HP
For cost savings purposes some universities offer credits for AP or IB but allow the student the option of declining the credit (in total or for each individual exam), for example if accepting the credit would damage their scholarship eligibility, or exclude them from a desirable course. So I might support a requirement for universities to OFFER credit but not a requirement to GIVE credit.
Irene
As for AP versus IB, that's a straight-up social justice issue, and the bill is hypocritical. The current bill's legislative findings refer to under-represented minorities and low-income students taking AP. The truth is, statewide, 56% of IB students are persons of color versus 38% of AP students; 36% of IB participants are eligible for subsidized lunches, as opposed to 28% of AP enrollees.
There is one public university in Washington (WGU) that doesn't offer credit for any IB scores, and as far as I know, none offer credit for subsidiary level IB tests (which as noted elsewhere are the rough equivalent of a one-year AP class.) Treating IB and AP equally is a matter of fairness.
https://admission.wsu.edu/apply/as/freshmen/ap-ib-and-running-start/ap-credit-chart/
http://admit.washington.edu/apply/freshman/policies/advanced-placement
I also teach IB Math Studies and I want it to be known that students who get the IB diploma have worked harder, dug deeper, analyzed more, thought more critically, and wrote more research papers (including a 4,000 word essay) than any AP student.
Notice the credit policy is not nearly as generous, even though IB is a much more demanding program.
https://admission.wsu.edu/apply/as/freshmen/ap-ib-and-running-start/ib-credit-chart/
http://admit.washington.edu/apply/freshman/policies/international-baccalaureate
I want to say that I am not here ripping on AP. I love teaching AP Statistics. I want IB to be recognized for the demanding program that it is and to be rewarded accordingly.
For math, only students who take AP Calc and AP Stats can earn any college math credits. If a student gets a 3 on an AP Calc test, then I say yeah to you kiddo---you probably don't need to take any beginning level college math.
On the other hand: Any 11th/12th grader can enroll in an AP English class and based on what I have seen in AP LA, I do not think a 3 on a test should earn a student a pass on college English. In doing so, it does them a huge disservice.
Can't comment on Science, History, or Art AP exams as none of my students took them.
"Requirements for graduating from high school are decoupled from statewide high school assessments by discontinuing the CAA, the earning of which is currently required as proof that a student has successfully met standard on statewide assessments required for graduation.'
This bill passed in the House and was heard in the Senate, today.
http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2017-18/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/House/1046-S%20HBR%20APH%2017.pdf
All that suffering. For nothing.
parent
LEV and Stand for Children stood in opposition to HB 1046.
Tina Orwall, of the 33rd,is trying to work with someone on the Higher Ed Ctm to amend the bill to include IB.