Scholars Critique Advanced Classes In Math, Science

By David J. Hoff

The nation's most popular honors programs for high school students fail to offer an enriched learning experience to high achievers in math and science, says a study from a panel of leading mathematicians and scientists.

The Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs rush students through overloaded curricula, giving them little opportunity to master substantive knowledge in those two subjects, according to the report the National Research Council issued last week.

What's more, passing the AP's end-of-course exams becomes the goal of students and teachers in that program, making the coursework resemble a test-preparation seminar rather than an in- depth academic experience, assert the authors of the study, which was more than two...