With Pre-AP English 9 being a new class this year that all freshmen take, it is hard to know how it will run its course. As we are halfway through the school year, it is to be expected that most people feel a certain way about it. Pre-AP English focuses on reading, writing, and language skills relevant to students’ needs. This specific course dives deep into reading and analyzing texts closely, validating and incorporating evidence effectively, and noticing authors’ language choices. Barlow mandating this course has helped align what the teachers are teaching.
Here at Barlow, all freshmen take Pre-AP English rather than having it split into regular English and Honors English. This was meant to allow more students to be able to take a higher level course to prepare them for future AP classes. However, putting all students in the same level class might not work for all, causing the class to be less helpful. Not all students are motivated the same and don’t want to put in as much work as others. By mixing these two types of students in one class, the class becomes hard to teach, hard to focus, and hard to learn.
Most teachers say that having everyone in the same class is difficult because there are kids being left behind, and they feel like it’s going too fast, and for the kids who would be in an honors class, the curriculum is going too slow. Another problem is that teachers don’t know or have control over what they are teaching. Mr. Nelson, a Pre-AP English 9 teacher, says, “One of the most challenging things about teaching is that one’s teaching assignment gets changed (surprise!) so frequently by higher levels of authority.”
However, this class is beneficial in many ways. “This class is supposed to cater to AP-bound/college-bound students as well as challenge students who have a difficult time with English courses,” said Mr. Stewart, a Pre-AP English 10 teacher. This can be good for students who are trying to further their learning and even for those who aren’t, this course provides students with tools to help them succeed in classes later on. By teaching this course, Mr. Nelson has liked that he knows what concepts to emphasize, such as analyzing text and discussing the effects of specific words and phrases.
Overall, there is no sure answer to whether this course will be kept, and because it is so new, it’s hard to tell how this affects students. Overall, this new class benefits from getting all teachers to teach the same material, giving students opportunities to advance their learning, and giving them essential skills. However, it may not be as helpful to students who aren’t ready to take fast-paced classes. Only time will tell how beneficial this course is to students.
