In Montgomery County, honors classes may become an endangered species.

This year, the school elimated the Honors US History course. Students will now be able to take either on-level or AP US History.

Since there are now only two levels instead of three, student abilities within each class are more divserse. Most freshmen currently taking the course are not bothered by being in a class with mixed skill levels.

“I don’t mind because I can ask the smarter people questions,” said freshman Amy Zheng.

Freshman Pedro Limentel agreed, saying that “we [could] learn together and help each other.”

Some feel that the elimination of the Honors course may have negative effects.

“[MCPS] can’t just treat everybody the same [because] some students learn at a different pace than others,” said sophomore Victor Ying questioned the integration. “It [would be] beneficial to make distinctions and tailor teaching and assignments differently for different students.”

US History teachers have had to adjust their teaching methods to accommodate students’ wide range of reading and writing levels, but are optimistic that students will be able to succeed in the new course.

“It’s challenging to make sure you can meet everybody’s needs,” admitted US History teacher Peter Beach, “[but] classes have been fine and everyone has been getting along.”

“I think what there ought to be is room for choice in terms of if you want a challenging class, but a class that isn’t going to be a tremendous amount of reading every week like the AP,” said US History teacher Todd Stillman.

Many students currently taking US History agree that given the choice between an on-level or AP course, the AP course is the superior option.

As sophomore Elizabeth Axley said, “AP US History is a lot of work, but it is really rewarding since it preps you for college.”

Other schools in the Washington DC area are also eliminating honors classes and pushing students to take their AP equivalents. Rockville High School has already eliminated its Honors English class.

These changes, which shift some students from Honors courses to AP/IB courses, are likely to raise school rankings determined by the Jay Matthews Challenge Index. The Challenge Index is calculated substantially based on the number of students participating in AP or IB exams.

Whatever path schools decide to take, there seems to be a consensus that the treatment of students who typically take on-level classeswill be an issue to consider.

“[The] problem that you face in education is the kids at the bottom…get thrown with other kids at the bottom,” Mr. Beach said, “and sometimes that can become a really unproductive class.”