La Vista

By Regan Estes
Staff Writer

The Mira Costa administration will be implementing slight changes to the 2011-12 Advanced Placement policy, including a day in which AP students are able to transfer out, in hopes of allowing more flexibility for students.

Students will still be required to sign a binding commitment form pledging that they will remain in their selected AP class. However, instead of semester-long commitments like this year, students will be forced to commit to the class for the entire year.

“We want to make sure that our students are 100% dedicated, just like the Costa staff and teachers are,” Mira Costa Principal Ben Dale said.

Most students will hand in their commitment forms to the student store during a newly added commitment week of April 11-15.

“We are constantly self-evaluating our policies,” Dale said. “We knew we were dealing with a new policy and new policies always need change. We will revise it again next year. It’s part of being a good school.”

Another change that will give students more freedom is the addition of “opt-out day.” This day, Aug. 11 students will be allowed one chance to drop or switch out of an AP or Honors class they signed up for that year.

“We know that a student’s life may change over the summer,” Dale said. “They may find out they’re team captain and realize they can’t handle such a heavy load anymore. We want them to be able to opt out. On August 12, they’re in it for the year.”

Previously, there was no need for a day such as this. However, with last year’s implementation of the commitment form policy, the administration believes that students should be allowed a chance out if they are unsure.

While this new rule is meant to help Mira Costa students if they change their mind, some students feel that opt-out day is still too early. Instead, these AP students believe that they should be able to experience the actual class and see how hard the work load is before they make a final decision on the class.

“AP European history is the first AP class that I’m taking,” sophomore Brady Stroyke. “I really had no idea how hard it was going to be before I took it. I feel like opt-out day would help students so much more if it were after school starts in September and we get to know the class and its workload. That way, we will really be able to get a sense of the work load the class will require.”

Counselors at Mira Costa are hopeful that improved communication with the students and set dates will increase the success of students in AP classes.

“It’s hard to tell how things will turn out,” counselor Corrine Lee-Iwai said. “Everything is pretty new so far. I’m hopeful that by having dates up front there will be more organization. The better communication will lead to student success.”

Keely Murphy/ La Vista

Last year, many students committed to year-long classes without knowing sufficient information about the curriculum, workload or the demands of each class. In addition, many students were unprepared for the classes due to the option to waiver preexisting conditions.

Because of these problems, the administration has thankfully taken the iniative to better inform students before they make the same commitment next year.

For each AP or honors class, there have been mandatory planned pre-course meetings for teachers and students to discuss the course. In these meetings, students can question teachers about each course’s workload, requirements and curriculum.

In addition, teachers will offer syllabi and course descriptions online. Giving students these documents before committing will afford them a preview of the experience in each course, but only a shallow one.

Though these meetings and documents will be somewhat beneficial to students in light of the current restrictive policies, they still do not provide adequate information about each class for students. Students will still lack the necessary experience and knowledge in each class to assess whether or not to enter the course.

An effective way for students to understand the class and curriculum is to experience the class first hand. Instead of focusing on curriculum and expectations, which are readily found online, the lunchtime meetings should be structured like a normal class day.

In hopes of providing students with a different perspective from that of the teachers, the administration also plans to conduct a study of AP and honors students. In the study, current students will be polled about the amount of time necessary to complete the work in each course.

However, surveys such as this may not always be completely useful as many students differ in both learning and work habits. Because of potential differences in opinion, not all students can effectively utilize other students’ experiences as a barometer for their own chances of success.

Although the idea to poll students and find the average amount of work is worth noting, the study does not account for many factors. The study cannot determine how a student responds to a teacher, whether he or she would enjoy studying the curriculum for an entire year or the type of work done in each class. Therefore, survey results should be accompanied by comments from students about their experience in each class.
The administration’s proposed changes are steps in the right direction, but need a more human approach in its current commitment policy.

According to the administration, they have been relatively lenient this year regarding drop-outs and transfers. Next year, the administration has expressed that they will strictly enforce the policy, allowing students to drop or transfer out only with a failing grade at the semester. If transfers and drops will no longer be evaluated on a case by case basis, the administration must take responsibility for ensuring that students are prepared for each class.

Like all schools, Mira Costa wishes to keep up its good academic standing. By mandating student attendance of course meetings, giving students the syllabi of each class and conducting a study of each course’s workload, Costa is taking steps toward better preparing students for advanced classes and also increasing their chances of success.

Nevertheless, by strictly enforcing the current commitment policy without informed students, the administration will have advanced classes with unprepared students.

Instead, students need to have realistic expectations about their future classes before they make the decision to commit. Conducting a comprehensive study about the workload and including current students’ comments along with giving students first hand experience in class will better prepare students for advanced classes.

The administration’s plan to educate students about AP and honors classes is a step towards improving the academic experience for all students. However, it is still unjust to keep the current commitment form policy without providing students experience in the classes to which they commit and insight to the type of work that will be required of them.