To address racial and economic disparities, George Washington High School has mandated 鈥渉onors for all鈥� courses. This movement across Denver Public Schools to end differentiated classes will harm students.
All freshmen and sophomores are now required to take honors English, civics, and geography regardless of their prerequisite skill level. Soon, the entirety of freshman year could be honors for all.
The controversy around ability-grouping can be boiled down to two arguments. Some people claim that struggling students benefit from being grouped with higher-achieving peers. Others argue that students do well in classes matching their ability level because the curriculum can suit their skills. A 2013 study from the National Bureau of Economic Research investigated both arguments and found that both were true. However, the benefit of ability grouping was far larger: 鈥渟orting homogeneously by previous performance significantly improves students鈥� math and reading scores.鈥�
Similarly, according to a 2013 article in Education Week summarizing prior research, students grouped by ability achieve an additional semester鈥檚 worth of growth in reading. In a time when disparities are being exacerbated by a pandemic, isn鈥檛 this a critical benefit? Even at the graduate school level, students benefit from class groupings that take into account the variability in their prior knowledge, as shown in a 2008 Journal of Pharmaceutical Education study.
Cramming students of different abilities into the same classes has forced teachers to simplify their instruction and make curriculums less rigorous. While I have not been in honors for all classes, I see how they impact my younger sister. She is one of many students worried that watered-down honors classes are leaving her unprepared for her goals after high school.
Another form of George Washington鈥檚 efforts to eliminate ability-grouping is 鈥渆arned honors credit鈥� in civics and geography courses; everyone is grouped together but students completing an extra project earn honors credit. This option may be even worse. It is based on the idea that teaching harder classes simply means giving more work instead of engaging more deeply with concepts, thus dissuading people from pursuing harder classes in the future.
Rather than pushing all students to perform at a higher level, honors for all classes merely label standard content 鈥渉onors鈥�. They are similar in difficulty to traditional courses — only with a different name. This is confirmed by one student who tells me that there 鈥渋sn鈥檛 really a difference in how hard my honors for all classes and my regular classes are鈥�.
At George Washington, some teachers have expressed the problems of teaching to a wide range of levels in the same class. 鈥淚鈥檝e always felt like my students came in at different levels, but honors for all is an extreme version of that. It’s really hard to teach in that environment,” says one teacher who asked to remain anonymous.
Advanced students do not get the challenges they need, and struggling students are left behind. This is corroborated by a 2011 national survey from MetLife, which found that 43% of teachers report not being able to teach effectively because students鈥� levels were too varied.
Administrators are under intense pressure to narrow academic disparities but lack the necessary support and funding. This illuminates another virtue of ability-grouping: it raises student performance without requiring more funding than combined classes.
My biggest concern is for low-income students. As the quality of education at a school declines, families that can afford to leave will leave, seeking out private schools that offer differentiated instruction. Lower-income students 鈥� whether they are high-achieving or need help 鈥� will be stranded in an environment that only suits middle-ability students.
There are alternatives to the district抖阴ap campaign against ability grouping in high schools. First, the district should provide younger students with all the resources they need to succeed. High school success can be predicted by a child鈥檚 third-grade reading level, suggesting that early interventions are more effective. Better reading instruction in elementary school will produce more students who are ready for genuine honors classes in high school.
Next, achievement should be measured whenever changes are implemented. Right now, that data is not being tracked or shared. Measures of success can include test scores, student and teacher feedback and other assessments of performance.
Finally, Denver Public Schools should help teachers at George Washington and across the district improve their curriculum and increase rigor. They could do so without eliminating ability-groups, while ensuring that every student has access to a quality education. Every student should meet one-on-one with a counselor before choosing classes, and these mentors should encourage them to go for more difficult classes in the areas they are the strongest in.
When these decisions are made, the public should be informed about the new policies. The district has not made public its efforts to eliminate ability grouping.
If you are a parent re-considering the school, do not leave or decide to send younger siblings elsewhere without first voicing your opinions. The situation can be resolved, and feedback from parents could help us get there.
As students, we should demand that the school meet our needs without taking options away. With the right policies, we can have strong academics and strong communities.
Kalina Kulig is a senior at Denver鈥檚 George Washington High School. In December, she won the Both Sides of the Story televised high school debate tournament sponsored by PBS-12 and CBS4Denver.
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