It’s an annual ritual. Every year in late July, the vast majority of Groton Upper Schoolers find themselves anxiously opening their computers to a list of bold blue single-digit numbers. Anticipation devours them as they input their College Board login, and then, for a split second, everything shifts. Over one hundred class meetings presenting the opportunity for questions to be asked, mistakes to be learned from and interests to be sparked have now amounted to unfeeling pixel characters, a subtext declaring college readiness, and a notification reminding them to register for the same experience next May.
Groton is a place that encourages students to be curious, driven, multidimensional and passionate. Yet many of our high-level courses, which are meant to attract the motivated and inspired, are still shackled to a standardized curriculum that exists solely to prepare students for a two-hour exam. This system is fundamentally out of alignment with the goals of our school, and as such, Groton should no longer offer Advanced Placement (AP) classes with the goal of preparing students to take a mandatory exam.
For students who want to take AP exams for college credit, the option should still be available. Groton classes like MGH, U.S. History, and Fifth Form English are not AP-centered but nonetheless adequately prepare students for the exam. These classes’ syllabi are not condensed into tidy units that the College Board deems convenient, which makes them much more multidimensional and memorable.
U.S. History teacher Azmar Williams, PhD, attests to the benefit of this model, saying “Groton’s History Department, being AP-friendly, gives me the autonomy to experiment with the best ways to achieve my pedagogical goals. It allows me to set those goals, rather than adhere to some external standard. I think it enhances the experience of both teachers and students by allowing us to customize the curriculum based on our specific needs.”
Groton is a highly rigorous academic environment, so performing well here demonstrates college readiness in and of itself. Eliminating the AP system from our curriculum would not reduce rigor. Rather, it would allow for the most challenging classes to integrate more self-motivated projects, nuanced thinking, and deeper learning beyond content needed to prepare for a single test. It would allow teachers to offer knowledge and a distinctive classroom experience that does not conform to the standardized, unforgiving schedule proposed by the College Board.
In classes that do not follow the AP curriculum, there is clearly more room for exploration, for teachers to work with the interests of the class and teach more creatively, and for students to experience a more genuine passion for the subject material. Is this not a sentiment that perfectly aligns with what Groton promises and hopes to move closer toward in the future?
