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English Choices

                Standard, Honors, Advanced Placement, and International Baccalaureate English should all be challenging in the educational system of Williamson County.  A student’s strengths, dedication, and attitude will help determine which English class best fits the student’s needs.  Standard and honors courses focus on the state divisions of reading, writing, speaking and listening, and viewing and representing.  AP courses follow a curriculum set forth by the College Board and IB courses follow a curriculum set forth by International Baccalaureate.  Honors, AP, and IB classes should be substantially more rigorous than standard classes.   Honors, AP, and IB students should hold high expectations for themselves, be intrinsically motivated, and be able to work autonomously when needed.  

                While grades are a partial gauge in deciding which class is best for individual student needs, grades are not the only factor.  The motivation of the student, the desire to learn, and a positive attitude are perhaps more important than grades.  An “A” will be more difficult to achieve in an honors, AP, and IB class, but the challenge will be justified to some.  It is difficult to strictly categorize any student.  The guidelines below are intended to help each student decide which level could most benefit his or her academic progress; the guidelines are not infallible.

Reading

____Standard: +1 A standard student may struggle with reading motivation or reading comprehension.  Standard students may have difficulty managing multiple tasks.  Standard students may have difficulty with literary analysis beyond plot specifics.  Standard students prefer to have teachers go over the material in greater detail.

____Honors: +2 An honors student generally enjoys reading and can comprehend the material. An honors student is able to read a variety of challenging texts and explore relationships between the texts.  Honors students can analyze a text for more than plot specifics. Students enrolled in an honors class are required to read autonomously on occasion.

____AP/IB: +3 (not available until the junior year) In addition to the standards met by honors students, AP/IB students should come to the class having read a great deal in a broad variety of genres.  AP/IB students should be able to thoroughly examine literature and clearly form opinions about a text.  

Writing

____ Standard: +1 A standard student may not enjoy writing or may do the minimum required for writing assignments. Standard students may struggle with several aspects of writing (grammatical, mechanical, or structural).  Standard students may struggle to see the correlations between writing styles and prefers a teacher to go over each step in detail.

____Honors: +2 Honors students enjoy writing and are dedicated to improving writing skills in a variety of styles.  Honors classes will more rigorous writing than that of a standard class.  Honors students should be able to see correlations between writing styles and apply a variety of techniques to writing – including literary analysis. There are very high expectations for the quality of writing in an honors class.  Grammatical, mechanical, and structural errors should be minimal.

____AP/IB: +3 (not available until the junior year) In addition to the standards met by honors students, AP/IB students should be able to clearly examine literature in writing and express thoughts with few grammatical, mechanical, and structural errors. 

Speaking and Listening

____ Standard: +1 Standard students may avoid speaking in front of a class. Standard students may find difficultly in clearly expressing ideas and needs more guidance to formulate a speaking style.

____Honors: +2 Honors students are willing to speak in front of an audience and will readily share ideas with few tangential comments. Honors students should be able to attentively listen to the ideas of the teacher and other students and comment on their ideas with proper decorum.

____AP/IB: +3 (not available until the junior year) In addition to the standards met by honors students, AP/IB students should be able to autonomously plan discussions based around a literary text.

Viewing and Representing

____ Standard: +1 Standard students may have difficulty seeing the relationship between art work and text and needs guidance to discern the relationships.  Grammar skills may still need refining at the standard level.  Standard students may need greater time and guidance in mastering research skills.

____Honors: +2 Honors students can discern relationships between visuals and written text.  Honors students are comfortable utilizing technology to create presentations and research.  Honors students feel comfortable researching in a variety of ways to gather information and master research skills. Grammar skills are refined before entering the honors level.

____AP/IB: +3 (not available until the junior year) In addition to the standards met by honors students, AP/IB students should have highly developed grammatical skills.

Technology

____ Standard: +1 It is expected that students are able to utilize technology to communicate in today’s culture.  The standard student is comfortable with word processing programs and is able to navigate and use internet applications.

____Honors: +2 It is expected that students are able to utilize technology to communicate in today’s culture.  The honors student is proficient with word processing programs, is able to navigate and use internet applications, and is able to utilize varied technology for presentation purposes..

____AP/IB: +3 In addition to the standards met by honors students, AP/IB students must be willing to manage an extremely rigorous work load and integrate technology in varied ways into their studies. d

General

____ Standard: +1 Standard students may need more detailed reminding of material covered in the past.  Standard students may struggle with independent or group work.  Standard students may only complete the minimum requirements for a class.

____Honors: +2 Honors students are able to effectively work independently or with a group.  Honors students maintain high expectations for themselves, are willing to admit when they are wrong, are willing to work to make others better, and are seldom absent. 

____AP/IB: +3 In addition to the standards met by honors students, AP/IB students must be willing to manage an extremely rigorous work load and accept a great deal of autonomous responsibility.

_____  Average English Grade: _____    +3 for A, +2 for B, 0 for C, -4 for D, -5 for F

______  Total Score. 

Score of 0 – 10 = Standard                  Score of 11 – 14 = Honors / PIB                         Score of 15 – 18 = AP/IB    

 There also the option of dual-enrollment available that some students may wish to explore.  If a student meets the criteria for a local college or university, that student may enroll in that university and receive credit towards graduation and college credit at the same time.  While we have challenging AP courses at FHS, dual enrollment offers a different sort of challenge.  Students who wish to pursue dual enrollment should consult their guidance counselor to determine the necessary steps that must be taken.