Increased Interest in AP Classes Creates Cramming
Enrollment number of students in AP Lit and AP Statistics continues to grow from previous years.
By Sharon Kim
Enrollment number of students in AP Lit and AP Statistics continues to grow from previous years.
By Sharon Kim
When the school year started, Pioneer had already seen many noticeable differences. There was no mask mandate and school events were back, but numerous issues popped up. At the forefront of the differences was the increase in students opting to take AP Literature and Composition and AP Statistics.
Relative to two years ago, AP Lit classes saw an increase of 49.58%, while AP Stats classes saw an increase of 84.51%. In 2020 AP Lit had a student count of 119. A year later the number dropped to 108, but then this year increased to 178 students. AP Stats also saw an increase with 131 students taking the course this year, compared to 101 students last year, and only 71 in 2020.
English teacher Michelle Bowman, who currently teaches two class periods of AP Lit and three class periods of AP Language and Composition, dropped teaching an ERWC class to take on an extra AP class. In past years, she took extra classes to help fill the demand for the English department.
“It has been better, there’s a lot of grading. In the past I taught six classes, and this year I have only five, so it is very nice,” said Bowman.
Math teacher Nick Hoffman, who teaches AP Stats and Precalculus, believes the increase in the number of AP Stats classes being taught this year wasn’t necessarily caused by an increase in demand for AP Stats, but rather for an alternative non-algebra course offering.
“Unfortunately, for the numerous students who are tired of the constant bombardment of algebra-based courses, algebra 1, algebra 2, precalculus, calculus, and are looking for something different, AP Stats is the only alternative. I have been of the opinion that to meet the needs of our students, it would be beneficial to have a non-AP statistics class that students could take as a fourth-year math course after completing algebra 2, instead of taking precalculus, another algebra-based course. Our students want and need another option,” said Hoffman.
Bowman also mentions that another cause of the uptick of interest in her AP Lit classes may be because of the number of juniors and seniors that are looking to leave school earlier in the day. Currently, Bowman’s zero period AP Lit has 32 students, whereas last year it only had 15.
“Many of these juniors and seniors want to leave at lunch so they are going to squeeze themselves into any zero (period) and I’m the only English class for zero and (it) is an AP Lit class so they are going to jump in there regardless,” said Bowman.
English Department Chair Beth Stafford worries that students who are taking these AP classes do it because of outside pressure to have a good looking transcript.
“My hope is it is because students enjoy the class and want a challenge, but the reality is it may be pressure and college apps,” said Stafford.
Although Hoffman has an additional period of AP Stats compared to last year, it hasn’t had that big of a negative affect on his teaching style.
“I’m just putting on one more show each day, so to speak,” said Hoffman.
Relative to two years ago, AP Lit classes saw an increase of 49.58%, while AP Stats classes saw an increase of 84.51%. In 2020 AP Lit had a student count of 119. A year later the number dropped to 108, but then this year increased to 178 students. AP Stats also saw an increase with 131 students taking the course this year, compared to 101 students last year, and only 71 in 2020.
English teacher Michelle Bowman, who currently teaches two class periods of AP Lit and three class periods of AP Language and Composition, dropped teaching an ERWC class to take on an extra AP class. In past years, she took extra classes to help fill the demand for the English department.
“It has been better, there’s a lot of grading. In the past I taught six classes, and this year I have only five, so it is very nice,” said Bowman.
Math teacher Nick Hoffman, who teaches AP Stats and Precalculus, believes the increase in the number of AP Stats classes being taught this year wasn’t necessarily caused by an increase in demand for AP Stats, but rather for an alternative non-algebra course offering.
“Unfortunately, for the numerous students who are tired of the constant bombardment of algebra-based courses, algebra 1, algebra 2, precalculus, calculus, and are looking for something different, AP Stats is the only alternative. I have been of the opinion that to meet the needs of our students, it would be beneficial to have a non-AP statistics class that students could take as a fourth-year math course after completing algebra 2, instead of taking precalculus, another algebra-based course. Our students want and need another option,” said Hoffman.
Bowman also mentions that another cause of the uptick of interest in her AP Lit classes may be because of the number of juniors and seniors that are looking to leave school earlier in the day. Currently, Bowman’s zero period AP Lit has 32 students, whereas last year it only had 15.
“Many of these juniors and seniors want to leave at lunch so they are going to squeeze themselves into any zero (period) and I’m the only English class for zero and (it) is an AP Lit class so they are going to jump in there regardless,” said Bowman.
English Department Chair Beth Stafford worries that students who are taking these AP classes do it because of outside pressure to have a good looking transcript.
“My hope is it is because students enjoy the class and want a challenge, but the reality is it may be pressure and college apps,” said Stafford.
Although Hoffman has an additional period of AP Stats compared to last year, it hasn’t had that big of a negative affect on his teaching style.
“I’m just putting on one more show each day, so to speak,” said Hoffman.