Atticus Finch haunts the dreams of APEX English students at the end of the first marking period during which students finish a culminating essay on the theme of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and a project and class discussion on a historical fiction novel of their choice. Students then complete even more essays and class discussions in the second marking period.
Students entering high school from North Bethesda and Tilden Middle School experience a significant change in the amount of reading, writing and critical thinking expected from them in APEX English. During eighth grade, students read one to two books over the course of the whole year. In seventh grade, students at Tilden Middle School do not read any books at all. In APEX English, students read two books in the first marking period alone and already have two more on the calendar for the second marking period.
“I wasn’t prepared for the amount of reading this year, because last year, we had to read one chapter a week, and this year, we have to read eight chapters a week,” freshman Bea Roberts said.
This large shift in the expectation for reading has caused students to fall behind and experience a lack of reading stamina; teachers are well aware of this pattern.
“Throughout the past decade or so, fewer and fewer students are reading the material, so you almost have to plan for half the class sitting there not having read it,” APEX English teacher Janelle Ryan said.
In addition to the change in the amount of reading expected, APEX English students must also combat an increased standard in writing and critical thinking. Students are required to have a working knowledge of literary devices and apply strong diction to their essays. They must also extend their conclusions to relate what they are writing about to the real world or to other works of literature. Students coming from Tilden and North Bethesda feel that this is a huge increase in expectation.
“I think [high school English teachers] assume we are prepared for the amount of analysis and writing expected of us. Last year, we didn’t really take any notes and our own thinking skills weren’t put to the test. This year, everything is focused on critical thinking,” freshman Alexandria Krouse said.
Teachers also observe this gap between middle school and high school English.
“Something that has always happened is when kids get to ninth grade, they struggle most in writing with linking their examples to their thesis statement. They struggle with choosing really relevant examples when they are analyzing literature and analyzing those examples in a way that effectively helps them to achieve their purpose in writing which is relating it back to the thesis,” Ryan said.
In contrast, students coming from the Humanities and Communication Program at Eastern Middle School were given more experience in middle school for the amount of analysis required in APEX English. Freshman Jamie McClintock believes that in eighth grade, they were expected to do more analysis and critical thinking at Eastern than during APEX English at Walter Johnson.
“This year we are doing things a lot faster, but last year, it was about analyzing and analyzing well. Last year was more slow and thorough and we were held to much higher standards,” McClintock said.
