The Permission Dilemma

Every school year at about this time many teachers in our school are charged with the responsibility of signing students into classes for next year. Many courses, especially Honors and Advanced Placement, have requirements that must be met before a student can enroll. For example, in order to sign up for Advanced Placement Chemistry a student must have completed Honors Chemistry with a grade of at least A-, be enrolled in Honors math, and have a 3.8 minimum GPA. These requirements are not arbitrary. The requirements have been arrived at through years of experience dealing with students of different ability levels. They correlate to past success in the course, the most likely predictor of future success for new students. They are not always a perfect indicator of how well a student will do.

Every year there are students who meet all the qualifications, but do poorly. Every year some marginal students are allowed to take the course and succeed, most do not. Last year I allowed 5 students who did not meet the qualifications register for the class. Four of these had regular chemistry instead of Honors, but meet all other qualifications. The fifth student had Honors Chemistry, but only received a grade of B. The reason Honors Chemistry is required is because it covers the concepts needed for A.P. Chemistry. To check that A.P. students have the required skills to succeed they are assigned a set of “summer homework” questions to complete. On the third day of class they are tested on these concepts—their first grade of the new year.

Of the five marginal students I gave opportunities to last year, two dropped the class before the first day of school, apparently the summer homework convinced them of their mistake. Two of the three remaining marginal students failed the summer homework exam—one of these dropped immediately. The other stubbornly hung on until getting a D for first semester and then dropped. The last is doing well and has a B+ average.

I have spoken to all four students who dropped the class as well as our college counselor. Each one told me of their desire for a career in Science as a reason they should be given a chance to take my class, all four have given up their dream. If I had said no to them last year they would have been disappointed, but still held on to their dream in college.

It reminds me of people making their New Years resolutions. Be too aggressive at setting goals and you will fail, become discouraged, and give them up. Set reasonable goals and you will succeed, be encouraged, and find happiness and satisfaction.