Any recourse for student misadvised to take AP Calculus?
My 18 year old son recently graduated from OUSD. Prior to his senior year, he had completed Algebra 2 but had not taken Trigonometry or Pre-Calculus. He registered for AP Calculus because he wants to study engineering and thought it would look good on his transcript. However, shortly after starting the class, it was apparent that he was not prepared for AP Calculus, in part because he had not completed the prerequisites and also because, due to COVID learning disruptions, he had only received about half a year of math instruction in his junior year.
I emailed the teacher and she agreed that my son was not prepared. She told me to enroll him in online precalculus so that it would look "sequential" on his transcript -- like he had taken the prerequisite before attempting the AP course. I thought that was very odd as it seemed like her priority was creating the appearance that he was qualified to take the AP class when he was not. Also, taking pre-calculus and AP calculus at the same time was not practical as it would have created an overwhelming amount of homework.
I strongly advised my son to drop AP calculus and enroll in pre-calculus. However, he met with the teacher several times and she insisted, repeatedly, that he should stay in AP Calculus. He followed his teacher's advice with disastrous consequences.
In the end, he passed the AP Calculus exam with a 3 but got a C- in the class. The grade dragged down his GPA. Even worse, he has applied to universities in Europe (We are dual citizens) and was told that he is disqualified because they will not accept students with a high school grade lower than a C.
My question is, do we have any recourse for the academic mis-advice my son received from this teacher? We have tried contacting her and she was initially responsive but is now ghosting us. I have looked at the College Board website and it is quite clear that students should complete four years of advanced math to prepare for AP Calculus.
I thought schools were responsible for ensuring that students do not enroll in classes that they are not academically qualified to attend. Is there something I am missing here?
Parent Replies
I guess I’m not sure what outcome you want. He is no longer a student at OUSD and they won’t change his grade. Ultimately it was up to him to know he was getting a C, that he was lost, and to insist on dropping it. In BUSD, you can’t drop AP, but it sounds like you can in OUSD?
The best lesson here is to just move on. The District won’t do anything.
What sort of "recourse" are you looking for? Your child has graduated; however ill-advised it was for him to take AP Calculus, he did - and he is now technically an adult. What is it that you want from his former teacher?
I think it’s highly unlikely you’re going to get anywhere with pursuing this on the basis of bad advice given by the teacher…… I think once a high school grade is given it’s really unusual to change it. If I were dealing with this, I’d ask the principal or a school counselor if there’s any recourse, rather than trying to deal with the teacher.
It sounds like you got terrible advice from the counselor, and the teacher should have caught it as well. Precalculus is absolutely a prerequisite for calculus! He should have never been in that class. Math is a sequence, with Algebra 2, then precalc, then calculus. I doubt you have any recourse with OUSD though. I wonder if he could retake it online through a community college to boost his grade in it and that would help with college apps? It would be very angry the counselor didn’t catch it, but legally it’s hard to imagine you have any leg to stand on. OUSD is so overwhelmed with so many other issues!