School Information System: East High School to Follow West's One Size Fit's All 9/10 Curriculum?

November 13, 2006

East High School to Follow West's One Size Fit's All 9/10 Curriculum?

From a reader involved in these issues:

The plan for East HS is to have only regular classes (that is, no Advanced (formerly AcaMo) and no TAG classes) and AP classes (which, presumably, only juniors and seniors will be able to take). East currently offers 9 AP classes. This means there will be a core curriculum delivered in completely heterogeneous classes (except for the special ed and ESL classes) across the boards in 9th and 10th grades. Our source did not specify if this means the end of Paul DuVair's renowned TAG Biology class. There also is no word on embedded honors options, like West now offers (though we have heard many reports about how profoundly uneven implementation is -- aside from the fact that embedded honors options rarely give students the critical opportunity to learn together at a high level).

The only exception to this plan will be math, largely because the kids enter East already ability grouped (i.e., some into Algebra, some into Geometry, etc.).

Additional info --

-- the official word is that this plan is coming from Alan Harris himself (yeah, right)

-- the other official word is that one of the reasons for this drastic change is that the TAG students were "coasting" (huh?)

So please spread the word -- especially to East attendance area parents that you know, including parents of younger kids -- and please attend, if you can. And if anyone can videotape ...