AP Classes Need Full Blocks: Here's Why
Photo from Walpole Student Media Network.
Sarah Kidd
It’s that time of year again: Students are choosing classes for the upcoming school year. As a current senior, I am not choosing classes right now, but I distinctly remember the issues that came up last year. Aside from the regular drama of who is taking what class and which teachers are teaching what, one of the biggest issues concerning my schedule was that of AP Literature.
In years prior, AP Literature functioned much like most other AP classes at Hamilton. It was a full 83 minute block over the course of the entire school year, most recently taught as a dual effort between Mr. Nysse and Mr. Holloway in order to give differing perspectives and teaching styles. However, this year the class was drastically cut down for no particular reason. It is now a “skinny” block opposite from another class during 3rd block, or only 45 minutes of class time each day over the entire school year. This essentially slashes the class in half, forcing content to be cut and more homework outside of class time. Through the experiences of myself, my classmates, and my teacher, I strongly believe that no AP class should ever be run as a skinny block during 3rd period, and changes need to be made for next year.
The reasoning behind the decision to cut down AP Literature was because “not many students signed up for the class initially.” In my opinion, this is not nearly enough basis to cut an AP class in half, and is unfair to the students currently taking it. The AP Literature class has always been small, only 2-3 additional kids signed up after the scheduling change, and the reduced class time affects all of us negatively. According to Aniha Nagammanavar, a current AP Literature student, “The biggest challenges for me are how rushed the class feels sometimes, and how we get such minimal time with our teacher to ask clarifying questions. Also, we never really get the full testing experience since it’s such a short class, so tests are always split into two periods.”
Pranav Karra, another AP Literature student, commented, “Sometimes it feels like we are rushing through the stories and the meanings so it's hard to pick up the skills to properly analyze them. Also, I didn’t take AP Lang so it’s hard for me to write FRQs and it takes me a really long time figuring out what to say. I feel like if we had the full 83 minutes I would have more practice to compensate for that, and we also would have more time to work with the teacher. Right now I feel like I’m out on a limb.”
Mr. Nysse confirmed our experiences by stating, “I concer that sometimes I feel like I have to rush to the point during class. I would love to get into long discussions about the piece, but it isn’t possible in 45 minutes. Testing endurance is also a concern of mine. I can only give a 30 minute multiple choice practice test maximum, and I can only give one FRQ instead of three.” Personally, I completely agree that 45 minutes just isn’t enough time to fully stimulate a deep discussion going about the stories we read, and I think all of us would agree that we wished we could get more time with the teacher to understand the material more intimately.
Mr. Holloway also gave some perspective as to how the reduced class time has affected how the class ran this past year. In response to my inquiries about dropped class time, Mr. Holloway stated, “From a teacher perspective, we took a class that didn't exist at Hamilton and doubled it's enrollment after just one year, so it's hard to see that work rewarded with cuts. Not only is content cut, but so is the amount of in-class practice opportunities. Especially since the 45-minute class period doesn't cover the time needed to complete either a full MCQ or an FRQ. Really this is the biggest problem with honors classes in the music block format, and I've had concerns about this for Honors European Literature as well, is that you lose the depth of study in those short periods. By the time everyone gets settled into the meaningful part of discussion, the lunch bell rings.”
Also, although not officially teaching the class this year, there has still been a collaboration behind the scenes with Mr. Nysse and Mr. Holloway to figure out how to manage the class. Mr. Holloway commented, “Mr. Nysse is great at helping students navigate complex literature, and my strengths were in my ability to prepare students for the actual test. We've tried to work together to share notes and mitigate the problems of not having that second semester with me doing test prep. Certainly there will be some expected growing pains.”
An additional perspective worth noting are the students that were unable to take this class due to conflicts with other music classes. Shannon O’Dwyer, a current senior, commented: “I was looking to take AP Lit this year before it was turned into a skinny block. I was unfortunately unable to take this class once it was turned into a skinny because A Capella is only offered at that time. As a four year choir member, taking A Capella has sentimental value for me as opposed to AP Lit. However, after taking AP Lang my junior year, I was thrilled to take AP Lit as the next level in communication arts education, especially considering I intend to pursue writing as a career. In place of AP Lit, I was forced to shift around my entire schedule, adding three classes I did not intend to take. I ended up taking CRAW, which although helpful, did not provide a challenge to me as AP Lit would have.”
As noted by Shannon, the current system limits the flexibility of the class for those who would have liked to take it this year. Being in Shannon’s AP Language class last year, I remember how disappointed she was about not being able to take AP Literature. In contrast to her, I personally would have liked to take A Capella this year, as that has been my plan for a number of years now. I chose the opposite path as Shannon, but we both experienced disappointment from the scheduling decision of AP Literature this year.
Ultimately, the decision to cut AP Literature in half was a drastic mistake. Last year, the AP Literature College Board exam’s pass rate was only 43.9% globally, with a mean score of 2.47. This is PASS rate, not 5 rate. More than half of kids failed the exam last year, making AP Literature the second hardest AP class to pass. According to Mr. Nysse, Hamilton’s pass rate last year with the full block period was 70% of kids. That is significantly higher than the global average, but that was with double the time current students are given now. I am very nervous to take the AP Literature exam in May, more so than AP Calculus which has been informally dubbed the “hardest class at Hamilton.”
Mr. Holloway’s perspective sums it up perfectly: “AP Lit and AP Calculus are considered the hardest AP exams. This school offers students four semesters of Calculus to prepare for that exam and now just one for the AP Lit exam. That will certainly have an impact on student achievement on the AP Lit exam. It is part of a greater trend of emphasizing STEM at Hamilton, which is another discussion entirely and one being grappled with by other districts across the country.”
I think it is a shame AP Literature has been faced with this hardship this year. I find it extremely difficult to believe the same thing would have been done with AP classes such as Chemistry, Physics, or Calculus had it come down to the same situation, which brings up the question, what defining factor is used to make one AP class a skinny while letting others continue as normal? I implore the Hamilton administration to give second thoughts to the scheduling of AP Literature for next year, and for all AP classes in the future. Please give future students a better chance of fully understanding content, passing College Board exams, and ultimately receiving college credit and saving thousands of dollars. It is a necessary change, and it needs to be made as soon as possible.
