What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all its children. Any other ideal for our schools is narrow and unlovely; acted upon, it destroys our democracy.
-- John Dewey, 1899

• "The class is a good class to have students take, because it puts us all on the same level and challenges us all in different ways."
• "To excuse students from this course would be depriving them of a great experience."
• "I liked being forced to take this because it proves that even if you're at a lower level than someone else it doesn't mean you can't do well. If you try hard I think you can accomplish anything you want."

Recent research shows overwhelmingly that an intense academic experience in high school is the best predictor of success in college (Adelman 1999). The results hold regardless of a student's grades, test scores, and previous academic performance. Furthermore, even the lowest-skilled students make greater gains in college-level courses than in general or remedial courses (Barth 2003). Those who struggle with reading and writing especially need this curriculum. (Some would argue that it's the overweight kids who need P.E. the most. Should we excuse them because they're not in shape? No. In fact, it would be a good idea to have them make a few extra laps around the track.) Failure rates actually decrease when students are more challenged (Barth 2003; Riley 2002). And for students who don't go to college, the research shows that completion of a college-prep curriculum in high school predicts greater success in the world of work (Barth 2003).

Closing the Achievement Gap
Many low-SES schools lack a culture of academic achievement. After less than one year of requiring that all eleventh-graders at our school take AP English, our librarian and our chemistry teachers noted that students were more academically focused. The achievement gap is as much a gap of culture as it is of learning. The gap exists in kindergarten readiness but then widens with the creation of reading level groups in elementary school. By the time kids get to high school, it seems unbreachable. However, we can close the gap in achievement by closing the gap in what we require of students, and we do that by delivering college-level curriculum to heterogeneously grouped students. In essence, it's our gap we need to close -- that is, the gap in our expectations of our students.

Say a school, we'll call it "ABC," adopts an open-door policy for AP, and they're so successful that 60 percent of their students complete AP courses. Those students are now more academically, intellectually, socially, and emotionally prepared to succeed in college and the working world. Not to denigrate ABC's efforts or success, but what about the other 40 percent who didn't walk through the door? It's likely that they're languishing in classes with the least-skilled teachers and the least-motivated peers, and they're living, at least subconsciously, with the knowledge that their futures are limited. ABC hasn't closed its achievement gap; it has just moved it.

Again, students in their own words testify to the power of our belief in them:

• "I thought if the school thought I could do this, then I could, so I tried harder to accomplish the goal of doing my best in AP."
• "AP took me to a different level of learning that I did not know was there."
• "The class helped a lot of students realize that they are smart and that they can make it through a tough class."
• "In past years I didn't work to my full capabilities and now I want to exceed them."
• "AP stands for Advanced Placement. Someone placed me in an advanced class because they had confidence that I would succeed, and now I have confidence that I will succeed."
• "When I was first coming to this class, I thought I was being set up for failure, but it was just the opposite. I was being set up for the future."

We don't have time to build from the ground up when it comes to closing the achievement gap. Requiring AP English of all students provides downward academic pressure on teachers and students of lower grades. It's a signal to them that reform is happening now, and now is the time to step up.

Facing Political Obstacles
Since we know that we should teach to maximize students' abilities rather than cater to their lack thereof, we must acknowledge that our policies can stand in the way of students' achievements. But policy change is politically thorny. An overwhelming majority of NEHS parents are thrilled that we're pushing our students to their highest academic potential. However, a few academically elite students and their parents raise voices against our teaching AP English to everyone. They worry aloud that the brightest students will be cheated by some inevitable degradation of curriculum that will come with the inclusion of all students. What is the real risk to them? Injured ego. We teach to the top. Academic support lifts struggling and average students up to AP level while ensuring that the curriculum retains its integrity for the superstars.

Are we serious about reforming education? If so, then we must stand tall to face those who say, "What are you trying to do? Reform education? Teach these kids to read and write? Not if it changes our world." We must not submit to a vocal minority comprising high-SES parents who would make public education private, administrators who lack the courage to face political fallout, and teachers who lack the vision to teach all students.

AP teachers, for their part, often have extraordinary ego invested in their students' AP Exam grades. They boast of their students' high grades and their percentage of students earning a 3 or higher. Their out-loud voices say, "It's cruel to subject incapable students to challenges they can't meet." But are they really more concerned with their own academic reputations as teaching superstars? This is not to say that grades are irrelevant, but if we are to teach all students in AP courses, we must tolerate having lower percentages of students passing. Given our commitment to rigorous curriculum, we will maintain our numbers of students earning grades of 3, 4, and 5, and our raw number of students earning a 3 or higher will greatly increase, because we are casting our net that much wider.

Preparing for the Challenge
Including all students in AP English takes planning and preparation to meet the challenges. We began by revising our ninth- and tenth-grade language arts curriculum to provide more rigor. At each grade level, students read at least six novels and plays, write multiple literary analyses and creative pieces, and complete a research paper. Some assignments are fully processed in MLA style, and other writings are completed on-demand in class. Teachers cooperate with each other in creating and implementing curriculum, and each teacher keeps a portfolio of a representative student's work for the team to review at year's end.

Part of the ego involved with AP programs is the perceived exclusivity of the AP teacher club. If all students are to be AP students, then all teachers must be AP teachers in spirit and practice. Good administrative practice supports vertical articulation by encouraging every teacher to teach some AP courses and some ninth- or tenth-graders. To implement this paradigm shift, all our teachers went as a team to AP Summer Institute training. At the same time, we included middle school teachers in the training to provide for our vertical articulation. In addition, subscription to the College Board's AP SpringBoard® program of diagnostic assessment, instructional resources, and professional development for grades 6 through 12 is affordable for many schools and gives a great boost to students and teachers working to raise standards of performance for all.

As teachers challenge students to read more difficult texts, they will discover reading comprehension problems. We diagnose for reading problems in ninth grade and make coenrollment in a reading remediation program mandatory for students who need help. We use a program called Read Right. Another popular program is Read 180.

Implementing the Plan
After preparing imperfectly, given limited time and resources, we began our program in September 2005. Three teachers at our school taught 224 juniors in eight sections of AP English Language and Composition integrated with American literature. Our program includes the following elements:

• We see our students every other day, on an A/B schedule.
• The alternate day is reserved for a class called AP Support, in which a student is enrolled when his or her grade drops below a C. (See "Providing Support for Struggling Students" in More, below.)
• The teachers of the course collaborate to provide the same curriculum nearly simultaneously to all sections of students.
• We use the Sadlier program for systematic vocabulary study.
• We require all students to take the AP Exam in May -- either the official exam or a previous year's exam administered in the classroom on the same day for a grade in the course. This ensures that all students maintain a serious interest in the curriculum and in exam preparation.
• In a calculated political move, every student writes a timed essay to an AP prompt in the fall that is scored by an official AP Reader. A repeat of the assessment in May measures all students' gains, regardless of official exam grades.
• We encourage teachers to communicate regularly with parents and support staff. One method is to create an email group and then send out weekly messages that outline assignments due for the next two weeks, including reading schedules and attachments of assignment prompts. Teachers could also communicate with a Web page posting.

• 17 percent earned As.
• 66 percent passed (grades B to D).
• 17 percent earned Fs.

• Heterogeneously balance special education, ELL, and "honors" students among your sections.
• Teach to the top and bring lower-skilled students as far as you can to that level. (Teaching to the middle dissatisfies everyone.) Think of every student as improving along a continuum of greater literacy.
• Differentiate in assessing students' work, not in course content, assignments, or instruction. (See "Modifying for Students with Special Needs," in More, below.)
• Provide differentiation and success for all students through a balance of types of assessments that honor differing ways of knowing. Our course is designed so that students can earn 50 percent of their points by putting forth their best effort. Examples of these types of assessments include journal entries, rough drafts, creative writings, and artistic interpretations. Students earn the other 50 percent of the points by achievement. This includes test scores and essay grades. In addition, any student who is dissatisfied with an essay grade may rewrite that essay for a better grade.
• Communicate due dates for readings, quizzes, and assignments for an entire unit at a time, so students know what is due even when they are absent.
• Type up assignment prompts on a word processor and distribute them on colored paper with explicit step-by-step instructions for completion. This preparation is important not only for clarity but also as a time-saving measure in communicating with parents and with students who have been absent.
• Include scaffolded steps with checkpoint due dates along the way for large projects such as research papers.
• Teach students to mark texts so that they become active readers.
• Give frequent reading comprehension quizzes to provide motivation for reading and to identify struggling students. The first step to a successful class discussion is ensuring that students have completed the reading.
• Prewrite for essays as a group in class.
• Use graphic organizers in your teaching and assignments whenever possible. This is especially important for low-SES students who may lack intrinsic organizational skills because of their unstructured home lives. (See Ruby Payne's research [1996].)
• Encourage students to keep track of their grades to help them learn that their grades are something they earn, rather than something that is done to them.
• Accommodate students' needs by being sympathetic to their extenuating circumstances; for instance, extend due dates for individuals from time to time. But do not lower academic expectations for them.
• Ensure that late work and attendance policies don't prevent students from passing the course.

  Modifying for Students with Special Needs

  Providing Support for Struggling Students

  Answers in the Tool Box: Academic Intensity, Attendance Patterns, and Bachelor's Degree Attainment

  AP As the "Common Curriculum"