Talking with Sixth Formers in advisory, selecting courses during parent-teacher conferences, or bantering around the lunch table, one thing is clear for the Fifth Form: Honors United States History and Honors Biology are the talk of the town.
Year after year it seems the two earn the title of hardest courses in the upper school. But as applications and class sizes increase, a question arises: is it now too easy to get into these prestigious courses? Or is the solution making Honors more widely available for the community?
Recently, the science department tightened up the requirements for Honors Biology, now requiring a teacher recommendation and an A or higher in Honors Chemistry.
“A lot of kids who would get a B+/A- in Chem wouldn’t take the summer work seriously, and then once they did badly on the summer test, they would drop the class,” Honors Biology teacher Mrs. Kara Cleffi said. “This messes up our schedules, and puts unnecessary stress on the department. Now, this new standard eliminates some of that stress.”
The recommendation is fluid though. If a student were to not meet the grade requirements, they can request a meeting with department chair Dr. Daniel Goduti. Since Honors Biology requires you to be an all-around critical thinker, he takes a look at a prospective student’s entire transcript and makes a decision. That qstudent must show mastery of the summer work to be let in the classroom.
While there is room for improvement, the system may help clarify placement decisions.
“Kids who are motivated get a chance to prove themselves.”
Ms. Kara cleffi
“It’s definitely not perfect, but it’s the best process we have had since I started working here. Kids who are motivated get a chance to prove themselves,” Mrs. Cleffi said.
For Honors United States History, the requirement is an A- in Modern World History, a standard class that al Fourth Formers take. This has caused some controversy, as some students may think that some Modern World History teachers grade easier than others.
As a humanities class, the criteria may need to be looser than a cut-and-dry STEM class. Much of Honors United States History is fueled by debate and in-class discussions, and a grade isn’t necessarily representative of a student’s capabilities. History Department Chair and Honors United States History teacher Ms. Hannah Turlish believes that, no matter the grade, students should always be willing to try the class.
“In a perfect world we don’t have honors or standard classes at Haverford, labeling kids as ‘honors’ or ‘standard’ isn’t right, but what can you do?” Ms. Turlish said. “For this reason I say, let a kid try Honors, and if he wants to drop, I’m okay with that.”
Ms. Turlish prefers students who are genuinely interested in the topic, but may not have the best grades, than those who are there for the college-application transcript boost.
“Motivated kids who want to learn to seek knowledge, instead of boosting their GPA for college, will always get the chance to try,” Ms. Turlish said. “What is frustrating about the whole system are the kids who do it for the A, instead of learning to become a better, more informed person, a key virtue of Haverford.”
Many students take U.S. History* out of genuine interest, fueling some insightful discussions and interactions in Honors classes. No kid in my class seems to be gasping for air, everyone participates and contributes to the classroom in some way or another. But from a teacher’s perspective, having that honors and standard distinction comes with disparities.
“In twelve years I have noticed that the diversity of an honors classroom needs addressing,” Ms. Turlish said. “It is very difficult to talk about race. I have had years with no Black students in any of my sections.”
This problem is a huge one, and it is not addressed by the community whatsoever. In a humanities course, everyone should be given a chance to excel and express themselves in an honors environment. There needs to be a grade cutoff rather than a grade requirement, and hopefully this summer the humanities department and the BSU/Mrs. Brown can work together to levy an equitable solution.
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