Health & Fitness
Beware of the Lowest Class Level
The lowest level of courses offered in our high schools benifit many students but do present two situtations for parents to be aware of: Disruptive students and uncovered material.
Many high schools offer three levels of courses. The lowest level is often called the “B” level, but sometimes it is disguised as a regular course with two advance classes above it. These lower level courses are designed to go at a slower pace and are beneficial to many students. However, there are two things parents need to be aware of.
First, these classes often contain students who are disruptive. Teachers in these classes spend a lot of time on classroom management. Some schools have a policy that allows teachers to remove disruptive students and other schools do not. Ask your student if his/her class is disruptive and how respectful students are of the teacher. If it sounds like the teacher is having trouble, contact the schools
administration and ask what they are doing to back up the teachers attempts to
control the class. Ask about their policy on disruptive students. If the answer
is not what you think it should be, go up the chain of command or go to the
schools version of the PTA.
The second problem with these classes is that a slower pace means that there is not enough time to cover the entire curriculum. Material that other students are learning is not being presented to your student. It also means that there is not enough time to present complex problems for students to work out. This can hurt your student if he/she is college bound. College bound students in “B” level classes should receive lessons outside of class to fill in the gaps. Advanced students make fine tutors but they often do not know where the curriculum is headed and how to set up the subject to connect with the next level. Check with the school to see if there are teachers offering tutoring services.
