Recommending Students into Upper Level Classes
Developing a Sane Policy of High School Course Recommendations
Apr 21, 2009
The end of the school year practice of recommending students into advanced classes for the next term can be the most contentious activity for a learning community, pitting teachers, administrators, and counseling staff against parents that view this one policy as the most crucial in affecting the long terms goals of college admissions.
Recommendation battles are most keenly seen among top-tier students and in schools that send graduates to flagship public universities and elite private institutions, although parents of students in lower percentiles are rapidly exercising clout in the face of stiff competition for college acceptances.
The Stakes are High at any Grade Level
Virtually every parent of a “college prep” high school student views his child as an honors student that should be given the opportunity to enroll in the most challenging classes. Often, parents' rationale is flawed, especially when grade point averages are weighted. While an “A” may receive five points, a “C” still gets three points. This is usually true of Advanced Placement classes.
At the same time, however, colleges look at grades as well as grade point averages. An “A” or a “B” in a non-AP or honors level course may not contribute as much to the GPA, but stand out on a transcript more significantly.
Nevertheless, parents and students will attempt to maximize scores, even if the student is not up to the challenge of an AP, IB, or honors-level class. Further, placing such students into upper level classes frequently slows the direction and scope of the class, doing a disservice to those students that truly belong in the class.
Freshmen Honors Might not Lead to Senior Honors
High school students go through many changes as they meander through the four years of study that culminate with senior year. A student entering high school as an “honors” student may, for a variety of reasons, fail to maintain the discipline and rigor necessary to achieve high honors all four years. Should these students be recommended into honors classes only because they started as honors students or have been perceived as such?
Conversely, non-honors students may significantly grow in the freshman and sophomore years, enabling successful performances in more challenging courses. Simply put, it is entirely wrong for teachers and school staff to compartmentalize students or “track” them solely on the basis of past reputation and perception.
Finally, it must be recognized that grading falls back on the individual teacher. A teacher with a reputation for grade inflation may enable ill-prepared students to advance into upper level classes and ultimately be unsuccessful. The process of recommendation needs to account for all relevant factors.
Developing a Sane Recommendation Policy
It has been said that no policy detailing student recommendations into advanced classes is infallible. Yearly, schools discard old models and seek ways to fairly judge student ability to function in upper level classes. Some use teacher recommendations, standardized test scores like the PSAT, GPAs, entrance examinations, or any combination thereof.
Perhaps the best advice is to keep the process simple and, once established, make no exceptions to the rule. Some school officials take the “case by case” approach, seeking to treat each parent and or student complaint on its own merits. Although this is an approach that serves some measure of due process, it is all too often characterized by political considerations.
The most successful recommendation programs seem to hinge on two vital factors: a recommendation by a teacher, and the final grade obtained in the subject area before the recommendation process commences. There can be little room for quibbling or negotiating. Not all parents will like the policy, especially if it affects their child, but if the rules are clearly published, there is little room for debate.
All student recommendations are, ultimately, subjective, and the sooner school staff recognizes this fact the easier it will be to implement a policy that will, in some token, accommodate for subjectivity.
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