II. Straight Talk
This argument will also likely prove contentious. But I have found that with an AP class, avoiding eduspeak euphemism is essential.
When I first took over one of the AP courses at Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics, my first cohort of students had been selected through the simple process of teacher recommendations. They had not been vetted in any way, had not been required to take any entrance examination and had not been required to sign a commitment form of any kind.
You can imagine how overjoyed I was.
Regardless, the majority of the students were quite good (with some notable exceptions--there were failures and students had to be dropped from the course) but they exhibited varied talents and tendencies depending on who their freshman Global History instructor was.
One of those instructors is a cherished colleague and a good friend of mine, and we have talked about my thesis today on a number of occasions: I think he has moved a bit my way and I a bit his, but both of us remain firmly rooted in our beliefs in this issue. (Which is too bad for him, because he's wrong.)
TBC...
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