Give Us the Placement Test! One International Student’s Call for Justice

I have always described myself as an academic, especially in mathematics and science, two of my favorite courses. When I was in Korean public school, I could not learn as much as I wanted since every student took the same curriculum. As a result, I invested most of my time attending a private academy, sometimes studying 16 hours a day. I gained most of my advanced knowledge in mathematics and science during this period, which has given me pride up to this day. 

After graduating from Korean middle school, I decided to study in the U.S. and got accepted to the Athenian School. For two reasons, I had a strong hope that I would finally be able to take any course I wanted as long as I was qualified and prepared. The U.S. is known for its meritocracy, as a place where people earn what they choose when they put in time and effort. Along those lines, I believed that the Athenian School would have more teachers and educational resources compared to those of public school, thus providing more opportunity for students to learn. 

However, when I was a freshman, I was placed in Geometry and Physics, which I had already taken in Korea. I suspended judgment since I understood that it is common for freshmen to take Geometry and Physics and that there is no way for Admissions to know the aptitude of students without a placement test. Moreover, as an international student, I understood how complicated the course placement might be because of a difference in Korean and U.S. report cards. For instance, my middle school transcript just shows as “mathematics” and “science,” not “algebra” or “biology.” So with patience I asked for a placement test in math and science to skip the materials I already know.

The answer from Athenian was that I coud only take the placement test for Algebra II  Honors, but not for Pre-Calculus, Advanced Physics, or Advanced Chemistry, since my transcript did not show those courses, and since the school provides placement tests only to students who had taken the courses. 

  As mentioned above, I learned most of the advanced materials of math and science from my private academy, which did not specifically show subject matter on the official transcript. Thus, with no placement test, I had no way to show the skills and knowledge I earned from investing three years of my middle school in subjects taught in high school at Athenian. 

At least my science classes had new skills for me to practice through experiments and lab reports. However, my math classes did not provide any new skills for me to learn. Since I wished to study new materials rather than reviewing the materials I already knew, I consistently contacted the Math department to find a way to get placed into a course where I could gain knowledge in both depth and breadth.

    Over the first semester of my Freshman year, I was able to prove my mathematical capabilities to the Math Department, and I asked to be moved to higher math courses since my goal was to take Multivariable Calculus in this school. However, their answer was that I would still be able to take Multivariable Calculus by doubling up in math in senior year, and taking Calculus BC along with it. In other words, they did not allow me to skip math courses. 

Since I have strong academic interests, I had been looking forward to other courses like advanced science, other math courses, and even art. Yet, because of high school’s four-year time constraint. I have to manage my timing well in order to take the classes I want to. Following the plan proposed by the math department has placed me in direct opposition to my goal.

I believe that a school must support students’ learning by placing them into courses in which they can best utilize their indivudal capacity. Athenian, for math and science, has provided me neither optimal course placement nor the opportunity to prove my capability. As a result, I did not make any progress in those two courses for two years, which were once my most proficient domains. I even lost some of my enthusiasm for math and science. 

My call to action is for Athenian to provide more equitable and accessible placement tests. Athenian should reform its course placement system so that students’ depth of understanding is closely and evaluated; it should provide the most suitable courses for each student; and it should encourage students’ learning. and fulfillment of dreams.