College Board Intends to Drop AP Programs in Four Subjects
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Officials overseeing the Advanced Placement program have announced that they intend to drop AP classes and exams in four subject areas, in a pullback expected to affect about 12,500 students and 2,500 teachers worldwide.
Following the end of the 2008-09 academic year, there will be no AP courses or exams in Italian, Latin literature, French literature, and computer science AB, said officials at the College Board, the New York City-based nonprofit organization that owns the AP brand.
The College Board has in past years withdrawn one undersubscribed AP course at a time, but has never taken so many courses off its table of offerings in the half-century since the program started as a way for students to take college-level courses and potentially earn college credit while still in high school.
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Resource Allocation
Mr. Packer said the decision was made principally because of demographic considerations.
Only a tiny fraction of the members of underrepresented minority groups who take AP exams take the tests in one of those four affected subject areas, he said.
The College Board has made it a priority to reach such students, including those who are African-American and Hispanic.
“For us, [the question is], are we able to achieve our mission of reaching a broader range of students?” Mr. Packer said.
{snip}
(Posted on April 7, 2008)
Comments
“Only a tiny fraction of the members of underrepresented minority groups…”
‘Minority’ groups (which are in actuality, ‘Majority’ groups) in the city’s public schools are always laughingly labeled as ‘underrepresented.’ In reality, their presence should be deemed as ‘overrepresented.’ What’s ‘underrepresented’ are the number of INTELLIGENT ‘minorities.’
…IQ plays no role in this of course. Why should it, when it’s so much easier to blame it on ‘us’?
Posted by Mike B. at 6:31 PM on April 7
As a former college teacher of French language and literature (and who used the AP French test [an outdated version] to test the knowledge of my students), I find this action deplorable but understandable: very few minority students take foreign language courses, except when required to do so. Whether this is due to a lack of linguistic ability or curiosity about foreign cultures among certain ethnic groups, it is difficult to say. This is another very sad example of how affirmative action reaches into the very heart of academic excellence in which results must be proportionate to the number of students enrolled in a given institution. The College Board representatives should be ashamed of their craven actions, but then this is no surprise to the readers of AR.
Posted by Tom at 6:36 PM on April 7
Terrific…the steady march toward utter mediocrity(and less) continues apace. And this from our “acedemics.”
Posted by HH at 6:39 PM on April 7
No Child Left Behind… .
No White Child to Advance Beyond the Diverse Herd… .
Equals: Monotonous and Enforced Conformity.
Totalitarian Mindset is the Enemy.
Oppose it.
Freedom is NOT FREE.
Excellence is WORTH FIGHTING FOR.
Posted by Garvin Alfred Schmaltz at 6:40 PM on April 7
At first, I thought the reason was racial, in that “the powers that be” were quietly discouraging white students from thinking of a CS/IT career track, thereby creating an artificial glut that (oh my) we need to expand the H-1-B visa program to fill.
Turns out it is racial, but in a more practical manner. What next? The College Board adding AP exams in Diversity Studies and Ebonics? The College Board is going the way of college itself, a cruel and expensive joke.
Posted by Question Diversity at 6:41 PM on April 7
Oh, so white kids don’t count?
Posted by kitty at 6:45 PM on April 7
Well I can only surmise that the logical sequitur to this will consist in the establishment of AP Black Studies, AP Multicultural Studies, and AP Transgendered-Alternative Lifestyle Studies. I assume that AP Spanish has been a long standing AP level course that is under no threat of elimination.
Posted by Flaxen-headed Strumpet at 6:47 PM on April 7
After reading the original article it seems to me that they are cutting the specified courses for sound business reasons, then cynically putting a pro-diversity spin on it to see if they can garner some pro-diversity fringe benefits, but in reality it’s just making them, and “the diversity” look stupid.
Posted by BW at 6:54 PM on April 7
With this same illogic ; all high school basketball programs should cease at the same time because this high school sport does not have the correct white representation either. What is good for the black is good for the original American.
Posted by Michigan patriot at 6:59 PM on April 7
Two things: this articles highlights that the term “Latin” must be dropped as a description of a people who are non-European. If Mexicans were Latins, they’d have some interest in the language - Latin! They are Indo-Americans or some such thing. Descendents of Rome they are not!
But really, these little stories that fall below the radar screen (and make AmRen so valuable for featuring them) are like thousands of holes punctured in the hull of civilization. If the standard for AP courses (which I fondly remember) is the passing whim of blacks and hispanics, looks for AP courses on rap music and the Reconquista. Whatever happened to the idea that education was here to elevate students and open horizons to unfamiliar things - like basic history and maths.
White students are barated into taking course that “expose” them to third world cultures through Leftist propaganda. They are told they must ready themselves for the multicultural future (present). But blacks can’t be bothered to learn Latin and giving Mexican children a few novels by Flaubert and Balzac is, well - mon Dieu! - cultural imperialism.
Posted by An Ally in NYC at 7:10 PM on April 7
Add the need to be able to Read, Comprehend and Exersize the tenents of ANY subject and the blacks won’t have an interest.
Posted by Potts at 7:43 PM on April 7
Wow, this is outrageous. Another sacrifice for diversity. Perhaps an insignificant one but one nonetheless.
Posted by Joe at 7:46 PM on April 7
As opposed to those students who are INTERESTED?
Posted by NorthAmericanWhiteMan at 7:51 PM on April 7
They only cater to the hispanics, asians, and blacks in colleges and in schools…the whites are pushed aside and have to do all the work…the others I have mentions are passed , not because they know anything but to make things look good for them…plus those so called minorities dont have to pay a dime for a “so called education” but our white children do …we get no help…period!!
Posted by lydia at 8:01 PM on April 7
They dropped Computer Science because minorities can’t hack it? I’ll bet they’re are going to replace it with “Ebonics Studies” and call it progress.
Let me give you and idea of what kind of opportunities they are spitting on: My husband went to an inexpensive 3rd-tier public university for a bachelors in Computer Science, then immediately completed a Masters at the same school. He was wise enough to pursue jobs in classified projects that required security clearance elligibility because this put him out of competition with H1-B visa’d foreigners and outsourcing.
He immediately had so many job offers that employers were literally knocking on his apartment door unannounced at night to beg him to work for their company!! His first job started at $75,000 salary and flexible hours. Two years later he found another job at $105,000 after a 3 week job search that consisted of posting his resume online and waiting for offers to pour in. That’s a 40% raise, plus bonuses, three weeks paid vacation and all benefits entirely paid by the company. Not bad for two years out of Party-U!
So why would The College Board cut Computer Science out of the AP pool rather than work hard to get more blacks and Hispanics interesting this promising field? It’s an open admission that “underrepresented minorities” are just plain dumber than whites and Asians, and everyone knows it. Computer Science is more about higher mathematics than about fooling around with computers. Many kids who plan to major in it end up transferring to an IT degree when they realize that calculus will have to be their best friend if they want to go into CS.
FYI: My husband has NEVER seen a black or mestizo computer scientist on the job and he says most Indian/Paki computer scientists are considerably less able than their white colleagues. To excel at higher level CS research, you must be gifted in math, excellent with programming, creative, and able to innovate under pressure. He says that most foreign programmers (read Asian) are good at math and programming but unable to think outside the box and create solutions to problems.
You can’t fake competency in this field and the best researchers in computer science are white! And that, folks, is why the College Board dumped AP Computer Science.
Posted by DC suburban wife at 8:15 PM on April 7
Mr. Packer, if you want a “broader range of students,” why not have a broader range of exams? Closing down programs actually reduces the opportunities for young people to earn college credit, thereby making college a little more expensive.
The College Board has forgotten about the minority students (as well as anyone else) who might enjoy or who may be uniquely qualified to excel in computer science, Latin, Italian or French. Everybody has different likes and strengths.
Our corporations keep telling us that we don’t have enough qualified American workers to work in high tech, so we “need” H1B visas. Discouraging students from studying computing science and other fields will not help America’s competitiveness.
Posted by at 8:38 PM on April 7
No surprise here. Classical cultural education has not been respected for years.
Posted by Whiteplight at 8:39 PM on April 7
That’s great! Reward mediocrity, deprive excellence.
Our educational system in this country is a joke……thanks to liberalism, multi-cultism, affirmative action, etal.
Posted by at 8:46 PM on April 7
“Following the end of the 2008-09 academic year, there will be no AP courses or exams in Italian, Latin literature, French literature, and computer science..”
What’s the complaint? Three virtually dead languages (from virtually dead nations), and an outsourced skill there is no domestic demand for at all, all for advanced placement in institutions of higher learning that graduate students into a moribund job market with no marketable skills, but fully indoctrinated in witless marxist propaganda, and tens of thousands of dollars into debt slavery.
Rebuild America, send your kids to trade schools and apprenticeships so they can learn to actually do something and not have to rely on anyone giving them an insecure job, but rather be fully capable of self employment anywhere they wish to live. Skilled labor is what made us great, not learning to be slavish, toadying drones pushing digits on a screen.
Posted by at 8:57 PM on April 7
Yup, now that we have these people we have to serve them.
That’s why Congressman Barney Frank is against the renewal of
the space program that would put a man on Mars. We have so much
more “pressing” needs here on Earth. And oh how they press. It’s
sometimes called the Iron Age and sometimes just decadence, but
it comes to the same thing: the higher sacrifice for the lower
rather than vice versa-as it should be.
Posted by Leif the Lucky at 11:46 PM on April 7
What’s the complaint? …an outsourced skill there is no domestic demand for at all…
Posted by at 8:57 PM on April 7
That couldn’t be more incorrect! PLEASE see my earlier post: Posted by DC suburban wife at 8:15 PM on April 7. After observing my husband’s prospects I’m KICKING myself for not majoring in CS. He’s recession-proof given the national security/defense projects he is working on and he can take his pick from job openings all over the country.
Like I said - he can totally insulate himself from non-citizen programmers by working on jobs that require security clearances. There are a LOT more of these jobs in the private sector than people realize and they pay a lot more than the non-cleared jobs.
Computer Science work with national security implications will not be outsourced or given to foreign workers, even if the projects have little to do with the military. There are lots of developing CS applications that the govt just doesn’t want other countries getting a hold of in: areas like commercial satellite software, encryption and code breaking, banking security, artificial intelligence and robotics, etc.
I’ll bet that burns up liberals - how unfair to the foreigners! Well, tough. America stabs ourselves in the back a lot, but the NSA and CIA don’t bow down before diversity when it comes to technological security!!
I’m beginning to think that the MSM doesn’t want white males to know about jobs like my husband’s because they provide a stable way for white families to pull ahead of the slouching brown masses. They don’t want us taking advantage of brains and functional families to improve our lives! They want us all trapped together with the browns in declining neighborhoods and collapsing public schools.
Posted by DC suburban wife at 12:01 AM on April 8
“Mr. Packer said the decision was made principally because of demographic considerations.
Only a tiny fraction of the members of underrepresented minority groups who take AP exams take the tests in one of those four affected subject areas, he said.
The College Board has made it a priority to reach such students, including those who are African-American and Hispanic.”
We (the sane adults at the time & us young white students) foresaw this type of outcome way back around 1970 when forced bussing was started in cities throughout the south. Although, no one foresaw the “hispanics”.
Posted by Cousin Charlie from TN at 6:18 AM on April 8
These so-called Educators work so hard at dumbing down white society. Just think if all this diversity effort went into educating.
Posted by Kellie at 10:54 AM on April 8
You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
Posted by The old sage at 11:37 AM on April 8
The most important course they are cutting there is Latin. Latin’s important tot he confluence of Western Culture has been heavily under-rated for the last 50 years, it gives the educated man the benefit of 2000 years of learning and development as well as the understand of who we are and why we are.
The study of Latin is more than simple translation as Ancient languages have different phrasology that once understood open the mind to a greater understanding of language. This is most useful in being able to see how people lie and obfuscate.
However in today’s world we are willing to sell out our heritage for the pragmatic approach of “what will get me the most money when I graduate!” Is it any wonder then that we are losing our identity, our heritage, and ultimately ourselves?
Posted by Horatius_Cocles at 1:19 PM on April 8
The most important course they are cutting there is Latin. Latin’s important tot he confluence of Western Culture has been heavily under-rated for the last 50 years, it gives the educated man the benefit of 2000 years of learning and development as well as the understand of who we are and why we are.
The study of Latin is more than simple translation as Ancient languages have different phrasology that once understood open the mind to a greater understanding of language. This is most useful in being able to see how people lie and obfuscate.
However in today’s world we are willing to sell out our heritage for the pragmatic approach of “what will get me the most money when I graduate!” Is it any wonder then that we are losing our identity, our heritage, and ultimately ourselves?
Posted by Horatius_Cocles at 1:20 PM on April 8
There’s no interest because these people aren’t smart enough for the comprehension of these subjects. Nothing racial intended, just the obvious proven fact.
Posted by at 1:57 PM on April 8
To excel at higher level CS research, you must be gifted in math, excellent with programming, creative, and able to innovate under pressure. He says that most foreign programmers (read Asian) are good at math and programming but unable to think outside the box and create solutions to problems.
DC suburban wife at 8:15 PM on April 7
I am trying to figure out if this is true or not because I feel it is true from my interaction with Asians but they are pulling ahead in many scientific creative endeavors so I don’t know what to think.
We need to forget about educating the majority of blacks & hispanics in serious subjects because they are not able and/or are not interested. If only they would do well in vocational training but you needs brains and work ethics to do this well too. Still trying to figure out where these people fit in in a civilized western society!?
Posted by at 2:10 PM on April 8
If you really think about it this isn’t much of a loss. Why should we care if non-white kids don’t want to learn Italian or any other European language. And if they don’t want to learn computer science - their loss.
Posted by RealityCheck at 4:36 PM on April 8
“DC suburban wife” shows that immigration is the main problem with the American economy in the tech arena. Bill Gates is a liar who has destroyed the lives of American IT workers and roped in innumerable DC politicians to support the Indian H-1B invasion. The American tech worker is DOOMED if Senator Hillary Clinton, the co-chair of the Senate India Caucus, is elected President.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/politics/memo1.pdf
Posted by at 5:01 PM on April 8
It seems as if having college credits or having a degree doesn’t mean as much as it used to. There are hundreds of online degree programs from accredited colleges that are ridiculously easy to take. Your only required to logon to class once a week and the homework assignment is due by the end of the weekend. An unmotivated person can post their homework on any number of websites and get answers to questions for as little as a $1.00 each. Some of these sites hire teachers to work on the problems! Need a 15 page research paper? No problem. Download one for $20.00 and just re-word it the way you speak.
Posted by at 7:06 PM on April 8
I took the course and exam for AP Chemistry, AP Biology, AP U.S. History, and AP Calculus. These courses; general, advanced or AP-level, are required courses in most high school core curriculums and college core curriculums.
Keep it simple.
-white kid in all white classes(no one else ever complained)
Posted by at 8:51 PM on April 8
“What’s the complaint? Three virtually dead languages (from virtually dead nations), and an outsourced skill there is no domestic demand for at all…”
Wrong.
Homeschoolers are having a growing impact on the learning of Latin. There are at least four astoundingly good programs for teaching Latin to your kids, even if you (as a parent, like me) were not ‘offered’ the study of Latin in H.S.
SAT scores are CONSISTENTLY HIGHER for those with two or three years Latin study, above German, French, OR Spanish. (which comes in pretty low on the totem pole!) Higher SAT scores means you get into the college of your choice….
This is CLEARLY a RACIAL BIGOTRY at work, against WHITE EUROPEANS.
And such an action bespeaks NOTHING of native intelligence, or a desire to learn. I am writing to every HS Parent I know, to protest this. My children (at ages all under 10) already study French, and know more than I did at the age of 15. I fully intend to teach them Latin, once they are done with their study of English Grammar. And I better damn well get AP credit when they are ready for their CLEP tests, or I’d like to know the reason why!
Posted by Fr. John at 9:28 AM on April 9