The Downfalls of Dual Enrollment and AP courses
Dual enrollment and AP courses benefit schools more than they benefit students. The courses offer schools bragging rights along with, in some cases, paid incentives. Children who would most benefit from these programs find them unavailable or do not qualify to partake in them. The students who do partake in them often endure unnecessary stress and anxiety. As Shannon M. Suldo in her article “Examining Gifted Students Mental Health” states: “Many areas of life contribute to students’ happiness”. No program that purports to benefit students can base its “success narratives” on academic achievement alone. A truly successful program would look to adhere to a student both academically and mentally. These programs have been structured to benefit the students, rather they are built in the interest of the schools.
Dual enrollment courses are wrongly presumed to be good for all gifted students because they receive adequate grades already in school. Gifted students are likely to fit this category of students because they are repeatedly assessed and prove they need a more challenging curriculum to fulfill their academic needs. Talented students, those who perform well in school but are not as highly assessed and dependent on additional work, can also be considered a likely candidates for these programs. Cecilia Speroni, exploits through an examination of her study the broad extent of individuals this selection process can involve “Are We Fast-Tracking Students Too Fast?”
…estimates only speak to the local effect of Dual Enrollment among students on the margin of eligibility and may not be representative of the gains from participation for students with different academic preparation. In addition, the two analyses inevitably draw inferences from different sets of students, and I cannot rule out the possibility of Dual Enrollment impact heterogeneity concerning students’ characteristics, in addition to the subject area or quality of the DE experience
Too many students deem eligible and are therefore admitted to Dual Enrollment programs and AP programs. As students are selected there is a great chance that many factors weren’t considered in their eligibility and therefore theya are pushed into the program unprepared. These factors that should be more heavily considered can include physical, emotional, social, and mental qualifications. Basing eligibility on grades for higher education in a broad maner is improper means for evaluation as it eliminates the possibility of recognizing underlining risks and concerns for students. Evident through these defined circumstances, there is the minimal effort put in by the administration into choosing candidates for these programs that would benefit beyond academics.The overall well-being of the students coerced into these programs are not being prioritized.
Dual enrollment and AP courses would be better for students if they were to mimic the features of Special Education programs. Special education in high schools is formatted to a degree that benefits the overall well-being of the student.For instance, there is much more consistent devotion and persistence in teachers of special education compared to teachers in regular education. LaRon A. Scott in her article “Why Do They Stay..” further emphasizes this by stating that “among the factors contributing to teacher persistence, many are unclear.” She goes on to admit that Special Education is a difficult job, but, since teachers have a strong devotion to their students, they aren’t as inclined to simply leave. Special education teachers care about their students’health and overall well-being, whereas Dual enrollment and AP teachers don’t care enough.
Special education teachers are knowledgeable about students’ emotional, physical, and mental needs,, not just their academic ones. After all the “Masters in Art Teaching Guide”states that “there are no special qualifications to teach AP classes.” There is no additional education, certifications, or degrees needed from to teach an AP or Dual Enrollment class. Special education teachers are taught specifically how to be Special Education teachers, whereas Dual Enrollment and AP teachers aren’t taught specifically how to teach higher education to high school students. AP and Dual Enrollment students would benefit greatly from receiving “specialized care” which would account for their needs beyond academics, similar to the care that is offered to Special Education students by their teachers. In order to achieve such a level of supportive assistance these teachers, like Special Education teachers, would have to be certified in areas beyond content, which they currently are not. Whether apparent in the students’ academic performance or not, every student in every educational institution needs nurturing to strive, especially highly competitive and stressful environments such as those typically seen in AP and Dual Enrollment classrooms.
A class atmosphere is very important to a student’s success in Special Education classrooms. Research has been conducted to advance the special needs educational environment in the format of “Inclusion Education, “ as described in Gaolin Cai’s “Special Education—An Education…”, “the program specializes in creating environments where special needs students can remain with their non-special needs peers and still get the additional aid they need”. Although this program is a work-in-progress it proves that the academic atmosphere should also be an atmosphere of physical and emotional well-being. Special Education ensures that students learn in an environment they are comfortable with. Dual Enrollment and AP courses don’t consider the environment in which the student is working at all.
Special Education students get much more positive attention and support from their parents than student’s who are in AP and Dual enrollment courses do from their parents. Alfie Kohn’s work ” Only for My Kid” states that parents of gifted children in higher education programs often referred to as “gifted parents,” tend to “jettison their own children’s moral, social, artistic, emotional, and other forms of development in favor of a narrow academic agenda.” These parents subconsciously prioritize the academic success of the student while undermining other important aspects of the student such as their physical, mental, and emotional well-being. In comparison, special education parents prioritize the well-being of their children over their academic performance. Ap and Dual Enrollment courses should offer opportunities for the student to leave the program when parents realize the negative effects the program is having on their child.
Dual enrollment and AP programs, since they are proclaimed to help students should make it a priority to recognize mental health and wellness concerns so they are not damaging students.There is no one to prevent students from blindly joining these programs when parents are ignorant and schools are selfish, so students must understand the risks they are taking in pursuing these courses. Parents of these students can prevent students from making detrimental life choices if they became more knowledgeable and participant in their academic lives. Schools and administrations, if they wish to look out for their students, need to adjust these programs to recognize the overall well-being of the student rather than merely their academics.
References
An NCPR working paper high school dual enrollment programs: Are we … – ed. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2022, from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED527527.pdf
Cai, G., Wei, Z., & Wong, Y. (2022, January 17). Special education-an education programme still in input. Special Education-An Education Programme Still in Input | Atlantis Press. Retrieved October 17, 2022, from https://www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/sdmc-21/125968450
Do teachers need special qualifications to teach AP classes? Master of Arts in Teaching Guide. (n.d.). Retrieved October 17, 2022, from https://www.masterofartsinteaching.net/faq/do-teachers-need-special-qualifications-to-teach-ap-classes/
(2012, May 29) LaRon A. Scott. Why Do They Stay? Factors Associated With Special Education Teachers’ Persistence from SAGE Publications Inc. (2022, January 14). Retrieved October 17, 2022, from https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/journals
Only for my kid – scottmcleod.org. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2022, from http://scottmcleod.org/1998%20-%20PDK%20-%20Only%20For%20MY%20Kid.pdf
Suldo, S. M., Hearon, B. V., & Shaunessy-Dedrick, E. (2018). Examining gifted students’ mental health through the lens of positive psychology. In S. I. Pfeiffer, E. Shaunessy-Dedrick, & M. Foley-Nicpon (Eds.), APA handbook of giftedness and talent (pp. 433–449). American Psychological Association.
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Counterintuitive Fall 2022 
Princess, I generally skip over posts in Feedback Please for which there are no Replies from the author specifying what sort of feedback would be most helpful and welcome.
You’ll eventually rise to the top of the queue, but you can get faster results by letting me know what sort of help you seek.
Thanks.
While I wait for you in the Zoom Room, I’ll do a little feedback, Princess. I’m disappointed you haven’t responded to my request above for specific instructions, but I’ll just react to whatever catches my eye.
What caught my eye was your Introduction. I’ll be back when I can. You’ve entered the Zoom Room.
🙂
When confronting the question of whether dual enrollment and advanced placement courses hold benefits for the student there is no doubt that many adjustments need to be made.
Until only recently, the range of advantages in these courses relied solely on academic success, and while this is an important factor to consider it is not the entire essence of a student’s well-being.
As Shannon M. Suldo in her article ” Examining Gifted Students Mental Health… states, “Many areas of life contribute to students’ happiness.”
Therefore beneficialness should be calculated only with a high emphasis on mental well-being as it contributes most to all other areas of life.
I have made the changes to the document. I have submitted it back into feedback please for three reasons.
1. To make sure I achieved what you asked of me in the last suggestions, minimizing unnecessary words, making bolder claims, etc.
2. I would also like to make sure the document still meets the word requirement because I did take a lot out and am not sure if the references at the bottom contribute to the word count. ( if this isn’t the case please tell me I would be more than happy to add more )
3. Lastly, I would like to make sure that this paper still meets the needs of the original rubric. When I say this I mean that whether it or not it still holds definition claims. As I was revising I felt a sense that I was losing a lot of that definition part but I could be just being too critical of my self so just let me know. Thank you for speaking with me personally about this work I appreciate it greatly!
One strong component of a Categorical Argument is the classifying of items, in this case students, into groups that serve different functions in your presentation. I’m particularly impressed with the paragraph in which you introduce “space-fillers.”
I wonder if you could find a source to support this very powerful claim.
When you claim that student-teacher ratios are being met (artificially and without regard to student needs), most readers think you mean schools want to REDUCE the number of students per teacher. Your point is more complicated and might need evidence. The schools, you mean are PADDING AP Class sizes so they can REDUCE class sizes in the non-AP sections. If they didn’t, you mean to argue, they might need another teacher to handle an additional non-AP section.
The transition to “Special Education” is very abrupt. You might want to reverse the order of these two sentences:
Your “no special certification” argument is very strong, but you don’t make it pay off. If Special Education teachers have extra training in nurturing the “whole student,” not just the “academic performer,” so should AP teachers, right? If they don’t, they’re not prepared to assist students who struggle with the added workload and stress. THAT would nail down your point.
I see from your “class atmosphere” paragraph that you’ve nicely anticipated my remarks about the “no special certification” paragraph. I’m very happy with the way this comparison argument is playing out, Princess. You might want to find a place to identify BOTH Special Education students and Advanced Placement students as requiring “Special Care” from “Certified Instructors.” The more clear categories you can identify, the more easily readers can follow the thread of the argument.
Your (first) Parents and Guardians paragraph is very strong, Princess, but your Steinberg quotation is not. It doesn’t contribute much to the argument, and instead of reflecting directly on the parents, it just names a popular opinion about parenting. Is there better evidence that parents of AP kids actually undermine their children’s success by mishandling their emotional health?
Your (second) Parents and Guardians paragraph (the one with the Cai quote) seems to be a repeat of the one before. What’s the added argument value of your material here, Princess?
Your Conclusion wraps up your main points well, but lacks a strong final message. I would think this is the place you’d insist that since AP and Dual Enrollment courses as currently conducted can do some students more harm than good, students should always have the option to OPT OUT of such classes.
Your first grade is strong, Princess, because your overall approach here is very logical, well thought-out, and persuasive as far as it goes. I hope you’ll make further revisions for the sake of a yet higher grade and for the sheer value of achieving a better paper.
I have made the recommended adjustments. There is some heavy adjustments made particularly in the second / third paragraph. I would like to know that if the adjustments I made the serve the purpose you intended for my edits. Please let me know if there is anything additional I can do with my work or if by any chance I have actually the work slightly worst. Thank you!
STYLE FORMATTING PROBLEM.
Princess, most of your direct quotes begin with Close Quotation Marks, instead of Open Quotation Marks, followed by an extraneous word space. Can you figure out what’s going on there and fix them?
Dual enrollment and AP courses benefit schools more than they benefit students. Not only do AP courses not benefit all students, but they may also create unnecessary stress, and anxiety, and diminish a student’s self-efficacy. As Shannon M. Suldo in her article ” Examining Gifted Students Mental Health… states, “Many areas of life contribute to students’ happiness.” No program that purports to benefit students can base its “success narratives” on academic achievement alone. A truly successful program would benefit a student both academically and mentally.
—Strong except for the confusion about whether the courses fail to benefit students in part because they’re not available to all students AND in part because they are detrimental to some students who DO get to take them.
—In other words: “Dual enrollment and AP courses benefit schools more than they benefit students. They surely provide the school with bragging rights, but some students who would benefit from the courses find them unavailable. Furthermore, the courses can actually damage participants by creating unnecessary stress and anxiety.”
The students who participate in these programs must have a particular GPA to be eligible. Gifted students are likely to fit this category of students because they are repeatedly assessed and prove they need a more challenging curriculum to fulfill their academic needs. Talented students, those who perform well in school but are not as highly assessed and [who depend] on additional work, can also be considered [likely candidates] for these programs. Cecilia Speroni exploits through an examination of her own study the broad extent of individuals this selection process can involve “Are We Fast-Tracking Students Too Fast?”
—This needs a topic sentence, Princess. We don’t know the main idea. Is it, “The courses are wrongly presumed to be beneficial for all Gifted and Talented students”?
“…estimates only speak to the local effect of Dual Enrollment among students on the margin of eligibility and may not be representative of the gains from participation for students with different academic preparation. In addition, the two analyses inevitably draw inferences from different sets of students, and I cannot rule out the possibility of Dual Enrollment impact heterogeneity with respect to students’ characteristics, in addition to the subject area or quality of the DE experience”
THERE ARE many students eligible and admitted to Dual Enrollment programs so much that IT IS hard to conduct studies such as Speroni’s without THIS consideration. With THIS in mind THERE IS a likely chance that many of the huge allot of students do not need or benefit from the program for reasons that weren’t consider in their eligibility. THIS can include physical, emotional, social, and mental reasons. Basing eligibility on grades alone eliminates the possibility of recognizing these potential outcomes of particular students who partake in dual enrollment and AP without being properly evaluated and prepared. Evident through these defined circumstances, THERE IS minimal effort put in by the administration into choosing candidates for these programs that would benefit in more ways than merely academically. The overall well being of the students they are promoting these programs too is therefore not prioritized.
—Vagueness and waste are the inevitable results of There are, It is, There is phrases and most instances of This.
Dual enrollment and AP courses would be better for students if they were to mimic the features of Special Education programs. Special education in high schools is formatted to a degree that benefits the overall well-being of the student. For instance, there is much more consistent devotion and persistence in teachers of special education compared to teachers in regular education. LaRon A. Scott in her article “Why Do They Stay . . . ,” further emphasizes this by stating that “among the factors contributing to teacher persistence, many are unclear.” She goes on to admit that Special Education is a difficult job, but, since teachers have a strong devotion to their students, they aren’t as inclined to simply leave. Special education teachers care about their [students’] health and overall well-being, whereas [DE and AP teachers] don’t care enough.
—The bold sentences provide exactly the right introduction to your primary claim here, Princess.
—Please note the corrections, including the quotation punctuation.
Special education teachers are knowledgeable about all of their [fix punctuation] needs, not just their academic ones. After all the “Masters in Art Teaching Guide” states that “there are no special qualifications to teach AP classes.” There is no additional education, certifications, or degrees needed from to teach an AP or Dual Enrollment class. Special education teachers are taught specifically how to be Special Education teachers, whereas Dual Enrollment and AP teachers aren’t taught specifically how to teach higher education to high school students. AP and Dual Enrollment students would benefit greatly from receiving “specialized care” which [would account] for their needs beyond academics, similar to the care that is offered to Special Education students by their teachers. In order to achieve such a level of supportive assistance these teachers, like Special Education teachers, would have to be certified in areas beyond content, which they currently are not. Whether apparent in the [students’] academic performance or not, every student in every educational institution needs nurturing to strive, especially highly competitive and stressful environments such as those typically seen in AP and Dual Enrollment classrooms.
—Lots of punctuation corrections here, Princess. Please notice and correct them all.
A class atmosphere is very important to a student’s success in Special Education classrooms. Research has been conducted to advance the special needs educational environment in the format of “Inclusion Education.” As described in Gaolin Cai’s Special Education—An Education…, the program specializes in creating environments where special needs students can remain with their non-special needs peers and still get the additional aid they need. Although this program is a work-in-progress it proves that the academic atmosphere should also be an atmosphere of physical and emotional well-being. Special Education ensures that students learn in an environment they are comfortable with. Dual Enrollment and AP courses don’t consider the environment in which the student is working at all.
—I notice you’re not using quotation marks for the names of articles when you hyperlink to them. The links are great; but, the quotation marks are still essential for articles. If you’re citing books or the names of journals, use italics and No Quotation Marks.
Parents and guardians of students who are in dual enrollment and advanced placement courses, get less positive attention and interaction from their parents than the attention those students in special education receive from their parents.
—This sentence says that parents and guardians get too little attention from their parents. Not what you meant. 🙂
THE COMPARISON in the middle of the paragraph is handled very nicely!
Parental support for these programs is done blindly therefore when it is proven that the programs are doing more harm than good there should be opportunities to drop out of the course.
—This is a runon, not a legal sentence.
—Also, you seem to be saying parents should be allowed to drop the course. Not what you meant. 🙂
Dual enrollment and AP programs need to make it a priority to recognize mental health and wellness concerns for their students. Changes that can be made to do this include training teachers, considering the environments students are placed in, supporting parent engagement, and much more. To achieve these changes there needs to be participation from individuals such as archdiocese officials, administrations, principals, deans, professors, teachers, parents, and many more people. These people should care more about the students well being than their academic performance.
—Points are OK, but claims are weak. “need to make it a priority,” and “changes include,” and “considering the environments,” and “supporting engagement,” and “participation from individuals,” and “should care about” are all both wishy and washy. Bring some urgency.
I have attempted to fix what I needed to in my work. I don’t need extensive feedback beyond however if you recognize anything dire I should change before adding this in my research position paper. Thank you!
Regraded. This post is always eligible for Revisions and a Regrade. If you make ONLY corrections I have recommended, your grade will not significantly improve.