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Why Is It Important To Have Ap Classes

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I’m going to be talking about the following piece ‘More schools opening Advanced Placement courses to all students’ by Teresa Watanabe. Her main stance is that increasing AP courses offered in school is allowing more access to low income students, however some students are taking the courses without fundamental, adequate academic skills needed in order to succeed. I will be focusing on the theme of cultural deficit views to explain the achievement gap. I’ll be critiquing the way AP classes are being offered in a widespread manner nationwide, and I’ll be looking at the concept of academic capital, deficit perceptions related to educational achievement, and the effects of AP courses as an intervening variable. I argue against allowing students …show more content…

However, some students reap more benefits than others. Students from higher socioeconomic status enroll in more AP courses compared to their lower socioeconomic peers, “To maintain their competitive edge, students from advantaged groups, such as high-SES families, will pursue an increasing number of distinctions, a dynamic that their schools facilitate. While opportunities to learn may increase among schools serving disadvantaged populations, they will increase at the same rate—or at a higher rate—at schools serving advantaged students.” (Klugman 1) The advantaged population will be further enforcing the EMI theory by enrolling in more classes at a higher rate to maintain their spot at the stop. The EMI theory, effectively maintaining inequality theory, explains how inequalities are effectively maintained and the ways equality of opportunity has not been achieved. As the numbers of AP courses rise, the students from the dominant culture will be quick to profit from the new …show more content…

In educational institutions they ignore certain students by being unaware of students’ funds of knowledge and their truth depth of knowledge. (Rios-Aguilar 164) Students have a wide understanding over a range of topics, but schools maintain a deficit perception of culture when it does not adhere to the dominant education system. If we were to bridge funds of knowledge and capital we would have the potential to have a better insight into students’ opportunities and experience in educational institutions. (Rios-Aguilar 163) Wolfram et a. clarifies how essential it is for students to attend a school that acknowledge distinct cultures and backgrounds, “When schools do not systematically accommodate different language varieties, some group of students do less well in the gate-keeping activates that determine program access, placement, and progress (Wolfram et a. 87) Program (such as AVID, honors, etc.) may have an essential role in college acceptance. Schools should allocate their resources and funding towards equipping teachers with imperative skills and knowledge to teach students from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Some of the qualities of a superior teacher are being academically prepared, knowledgeable about the subject they are teaching, and hold an interest in students’ needs. Having a good teacher is essential to a student’s success. (Watanabe

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