[Hot Air] Michelle Irwin, the principal of San Diego’s largest high school, has decided to cut many of the school’s honors classes. In an email sent to parents, Irwin explained she was doing this for equity.Irwin cut the courses for equity reasons, according to an email she wrote to parents. She told parents she wanted to move away from "stratifying" classes and remove the stigma from non-honors courses. She has also cited racial disparities in honors course enrollment — a problem that is mirrored nationwide...
Latino students made up 54 percent of California’s public school students in 2017 but they represented only 43 percent of students who were enrolled in at least one AP course, according to the U.S. Civil Rights Data Collection. Black students made up 6 percent of the state’s enrollment but just 4 percent of students who were enrolled in at least one AP course.
A similar trend is happening at Patrick Henry, according to limited data presented by Irwin at a school council meeting earlier this year. White and Vietnamese students made up a disproportionately higher percentage of enrollment in Honors American Literature and Honors U.S. History, while Latino students were disproportionately lower, according to Irwin’s data.
The underrepresentation is a problem because enrollment in advanced courses is associated with a host of academic benefits, such as better attendance, fewer suspensions and higher graduation rates. Participation and success in honors and AP courses are also key factors considered in college admissions.
The last paragraph is a bit confusing. The way it’s written it almost sounds as if the author is suggesting honors classes make kids into better students, thus inequity in who joins the classes is denying them that chance.
I guess that’s possible but, intuitively, it seems more likely this runs the other way. The students who already care about things like challenging classes, a higher GPA and getting into a good college (likely because their parents care about them) are the ones who will gravitate toward honors classes. The cycle of good behavior doesn’t start with the classes, rather enrollment in the classes is one more example of good students acting like good students. Getting rid of the honors classes won’t improve student behavior for the kids who aren’t interested in those things, it will just take an option away from the students who do care.
Principal Irwin’s biography does note her commitment to equity.