LOGAN — In a monthly spotlight on education, specifically in the Logan City School District, Superintendent Frank Schofield brought along a couple Advanced Placement (A.P.) teachers from Logan High School: Jason Soffe, who teaches U.S. History and Government A.P. classes, and Liz Wright, who teaches A.P. Biology.
On KVNU’s For the People program last week, Soffe said Advanced Placement classes have their roots in the post-World War II era with the G.I. Bill and more students were headed to college, but were not prepared for the curriculum.
“This was a partnership with the Ford Foundation in the mid 1950’s, and they wanted to pilot programs to give high school students rigorous course work to kind of bridge the gap. I think the first AP classes were offered in like 1955-56.
“After Sputnik in 1957 (the first satellite launched by the Soviet Union), education became a national defense issue and more funding went into these sorts of classes, especially the science, the math, things that get satellites into space. And so I always tell students that they’re in this class because of the Soviets,” explained Soffe.
And it’s not all seniors preparing for college, Wright said she has students in her AP Biology class that range from freshman to seniors.
“They come in with a vast difference of backgrounds, some of them have had general biology, some have had chemistry. Some of them have had AP chemistry, some of them have had nothing. So there’s a pretty big spectrum of students that can come in and start the class,” said Wright.
Schofield talked about one of the main goals of Advanced Placement classes.
“Really, one of the goals is to grow the number of students who view this as a viable option for them, and an accessible option, and then helping them set up so they can be successful in it.
“There is a lot of data that shows that students who participate in AP classes and pass the AP exam are better prepared to succeed at the college level, going back to Jason’s (Soffe) comments about the origin of Advanced Placement,” according to Schofield.
He said one of the greatest benefits of Advanced Placement is how it develops a rigor of thought, not just content knowledge.