European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 28, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday August 28, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 9 education n6ws Dodds promoting advanced courses Bidav Walczak education writer Lynn Gussenhoven spent much of last week devising a High school English composition and literature curriculum that even College freshmen would find challenging. Students will be expected to read novels by George Orwell. Joseph Conrad James Joyce Albert Camus and Virginia Woolf. Nor will poets be neglected. By the time the school year ends students in her course will have been assigned works by William Blake John Keats and Dylan Thomas. Such courses arc not for everybody. Only 14 students Are expected to enrol in Guss Nhovan s advanced place ment course which will be offered at we Brucken High school. West Germany for the first time this year. But More department of defense dependents schools students than Ever will enrol in such courses during 1989 90 As the school system pushes ahead with plans to pro vide More challenging courses for College bound students. The courses however Are open to anyone who wants to enrol. The advanced placement courses form the Core of the system wide drive. Available in 23 subjects the courses offer students a Chance to Cam College credit or advanced standing in College if they score High enough on tests Given at the end of the course. According to the College Board which directs the advanced placement program about 36 percent of the nation s 23,000 High schools offer at least one program level course. Mike Shelley in charge of overseeing the German Region s advanced placement program from Region Headquarters in Wiesbaden called the school system s expanded program Way  we be never had this emphasis to provide these courses he said. They Are now a  but even Shelley in t sure just How much of a reality. High schools Uncertain about the size and academic qualifications of this fall s students were still drawing up plans for course offerings last week. Shelley said he would t know what each school s advanced placement offerings would be until the end of september at the ear Liest. The change faces other problems As Well. Some advanced placement students and their teachers overseas will have to struggle without the Benefit of necessary text books at least for a while. Germany Region officials or dered 300 . History textbooks. 300 computer science texts and 100 . Government texts in the Spring. None has arrived. Advanced placement courses arc hardly new to some overseas schools. Kaisers Lautem High school in West Germany for example has offered advanced placement English since 1969. Other High schools such As Heidel Berg and Ramstein. Also in West Germany have offered at least one such course for the past seven years. But smaller High schools such As we Brucken have never offered them. With limited numbers of faculty and students principals at such schools steered Clear of the advanced placement program arguing that the Small number of students capable of handling the work did not justify assigning faculty to teach them. To help alleviate the problem school system director John Stromple ordered the addition of one teacher above each High school s allotted number to free teachers for the program. All schools must offer advanced placement or honors courses this year As a result of the allotment. The tests that accompany each course Are critical to the program and arc graded on a scale of one through five. Students who earn top scores of five can usually be assured of College credit or advanced standing at even prestigious universities such As Princeton Yale and the Massachusetts Institute of technology. Most universities also will Grant credit or advanced standing for scores of four and three. Despite the general acceptance of the program by col Leges and universities it is not without critics. Some High school Counselor complain that Many students and their families can ill afford the $57 fee that accompanies each advanced placement test especially during the senior year when a student is also expected to buy a yearbook Cap and gown and photographs among other expenses. Students Are not required to take the tests but one school system curriculum coordinator said students who refuse to do so place themselves in jeopardy. How arc you going to explain Why you did t take the test once you gel to College he asked. Dodds teachers have taken Issue with course Content. Some science teachers for example have said the biology chemistry and physics courses emphasize paper and pen cil tasks instead of lab work. Other teachers have complained that High school Stu dents arc already overburdened with required course work and school activities and that they can t be expected to devote the time to read and write essays associated wit courses such As advanced placement English and history. Wilma counts who has taught advanced placement English in the overseas school system since 1969. Warned would be advanced placement teachers that there is a limit to How much Homework a High school student can be expected to accomplish. This is not a College environment where students at tend classes Only 15 hours a week the Ramstein High school teacher said. You can t give these students two hours of Homework every  have other courses  counts who also teaches advanced placement govern ment said teachers of the courses should be prepared for hours of grading essays. It s incredibly time  counts said. But it has got to be done on a regular  teachers need Only to be certified to teach a subject in order to qualify As advanced placement instructors. Shel Ley said All advanced placement teachers in West Ger Many will be invited to attend a seminar in november Given by longtime advanced placement teachers in the United states. Shelley said that the school system has a Long term commitment to the program and that it is top Early to predict whether it will justify the resources directed to Ward it. Kaiserslautern High school principal Bill Laclair. Whose school will offer advanced placement courses in calculus . History English and Spanish also adopted a wait and see attitude. The proof of the pudding is in the tasting  he said. And we won t know that in terms of a until the end of the school  learning to read Long process for frs graders  _. I _ i. T  in ten nip Litis Hinn Faircl of annl it i i flip he a i find Tnp by John Millar Vor Burg Bureau Kitzinger West Germany i can read. That s what first Grade teacher Cath Ryn Bentley wants her students to believe after their first Day at school even if they can Only read those three words. When kids begin first Grade most Are anxious to read said Bently who has spent the last 13 years teaching first graders for the department of defense dependents schools. But it lakes a Long time to learn to read so they Don t Al ways meet that Success when they Start Cyntina Powell left and Antoinette Penny help second Grade teacher us classroom close up Zanne Bachman make a Welcome sign for a Furnberg elementary school in s4s eff Boll i Forth West Germany. The 9- car Olds Ere starting fourth Grade monday. School. It s a Long process and they have to learn a lot of skills to build up to what society terms As  but the pressure that society puts on children to learn to read often leads to frustration for students. Usually first Grade is their first time in an All Day school  she said. Fit s not a successful Happy Calm pleas ant experience for them then sometimes that Reading process can be delayed be cause they get Loo tense about  by Nellcy said one youngster last year typified the pressure that children feel about learning to read. This Little Guy stopped right at the door and said i can t read it was almost like he was saying i want you to know right up front that i Don t know How to read and if that s of with you then i la come in. If it s not of then i m not having anything to do with first Grade Many parents think that their children Are behind if they Aren t Reading when they Start first Grade said Bently. Who has taught first Grade at the Kium gun elementary for 10 years they re not supposed to be Reading when they Start she said. That s what they re supposed to learn when they come to first  the time they leave first Grade they should have Good understanding of Reading. The whole Basic foundation is Laid in the first  plans to introduce youngsters to the i can read concept on the first Day of school by using the blackboard flashcards stories and the stars and stripes. It s All self Confidence and building a Good attitude about coming to school she said of the concept. And if the first Day is exciting and successful the next Day will be better and the whole year will be  now however three words will be sufficient i can read