In the Advanced Learning work session there was a slide that showed the growth of AP and IB in the District. It is true that many more students are taking AP classes than ever before. But it doesn't necessarily mean what you think it means.
Take, for example, Roosevelt High School. At Roosevelt about half of the 10th grade students used to take AP European History. This is typically the first AP available to students, one of the few open to 10th grade students on the typical pathway. The class is challenging for 10th grade students and the fact that about half of the students took it is a testament to Roosevelt's academic strength. The other half of the students took a history class similar to the one that students all across district and the state take in the 10th grade.
Some folks at Roosevelt didn't like that. They didn't like the fact that about half of the students were self-selecting to take on the challenge and rigor of AP European History. Even more, they didn't like the fact that about half of the students were NOT self-selecting the class, the challenge, or the rigor. So they came up with a solution. Now every 10th grader at Roosevelt has to take AP Human Geography. Every one of them, both those who would have taken the regular history class and those who would have taken AP European History.
AP Human Geography, although it is also an AP class, is not comparable to AP European History in rigor. It is intended to be a one semester class instead of a two semester class. At Roosevelt, it is stretched across two semesters. Moreover, the class is not taught as a college level class (as AP classes typically are), but with material with a ceiling at a 10th grade reading level. So, yes, more students are taking an AP class, but you could not say that students were taking more rigorous classes. Half of them maybe, half of them definitely not.
You might wonder why the school didn't simply substitute AP Human Geography for the old history class so that half of the students would still take the more rigorous AP European History and half would take the AP Human Geography. The answer is obvious. While that would have addressed the academic problem - lack of rigor for students in the old history class - it would not address the political problem of some students - primarily White and Asian middle class students - self-selecting more rigor while other students - disproportionately Black and Latino and FRE students - self-selecting less rigor. The politics trumped the academics.
This pattern is now repeating itself in other schools. Where high performing students self-selected challenge that option is being taken away from them and they are placed, along with every other student, in a less challenging class with a label that implies more challenge than the class represents.