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AP / IB and Honors There has been a lot of discussion about Shore Regional's Honor's programs. Just what are they? How do they fit together? How are they different? And what does my child need to do to be in them? To learn more, and answer these questions, please click on this Power Point. Briefly, we believe that the goal for every student is to achieve success in our Advanced Placement and / or International Baccalaureate programs. We realize that this may not happen for every student, but as a mission for student success and as a vision for policy planning and curriculum development, it is the best place to start. With this goal in mind, we are building our curricular programs backwards by mirroring the assessment expectations for those programs into each preceding grade right down to Kindergarten. That means that any student receiving a 92 or better in a College Preparatory class is ready for initial success at the subsequent grade's honors level. But, there's more. Grades are one part of the picture, but not the whole picture. Honors students must poses a mindset of determination and curiosity. Honors students do not just complete work on time. They are curious about the content, hungry to learn, and willing to take academic risks for the sake of growth. When talking about learning, I often use scripts to help clarify the topic. What we might hear from an honors student paints a clearer picture than a paragraph full of theory. From an honors student you might hear things like: "Today I learned...." rather than "Today I did...." "How does this learning confirm what I know of the world?" "How does this learning refute what I know of the world?" "How does this learning relate to the things I am most passionate about?" Beyond the script of questions, Honors students must be willing to do the work associated with those questions. More work does not equate to higher grades - quality work, originality, inquiry, and responsibility equate to student learning and therefor higher grades. Of course, not all students are born asking those types of questions - but every student can develop that attitude. As a partnership between educators and parents, we can ask, and expect that type of questioning from the learners we share. We can build their curiosity and willingness to investigate the world around them. Compulsory public education was born from the understanding that a true democratic republic must have an educated citizenry in order to work. It is our job to develop intelligent, curious, confident, and competent citizens. In so doing we build a citizenry that questions the world around them in an effort to make that world a better place. If you have any questions or ideas, please feel free to contact Mr. Preston in the curriculum office at extension 2180. |
