WENTZVILLE, Mo. — Some Wentzville parents are raising concerns about a question that surfaced in class activities. It’s connected to an advanced placement government class at Holt High School this week.
A student said an assigned, in-class, online exercise included the following question:
“Teresa has heard in the news about the fatal shootings of unarmed African American men by police officers but does not think it is necessarily due to racism. Teresa is MOST likely a:”
The choices were, “Democrat, black woman, Republican, Democrat-leaning woman.”
According to the online exercise, the correct answer is Republican.
Some parents have contacted lawmakers and district officials believing the question was framed with a political agenda in mind. They also believe it’s divisive and not instructional.
“It felt like the question was written by somebody that just hates Republicans,” said one parent.
State Rep. Nick Schroer, (R-O’Fallon) said: “Making police and republicans look bad, that’s something that has no place in our public schools. It shouldn’t have any place in schools altogether.”
A Wentzville School District spokesperson said the question was not part of a graded test but part of online resources. She said the question was part of a randomized set of questions. The district provided this email response:
The Wentzville School District prides itself on successfully preparing students for Advanced Placement (AP) exams, which are college-level exams on various subjects. At many colleges and universities, a score of a 3 or higher on an AP exam will potentially earn the student college credit.
In order to accomplish this, the District utilizes a variety of AP-aligned materials — including online quiz and test preparation resources, designed to ensure mastery of the content and concepts in AP curriculum and that will potentially be encountered on the AP exams. These resources are among the most widely used AP books and materials in the country.
AP Government content includes learning and opportunities to think critically about political ideology. The resources used by the District are used widely nationwide and are aligned to the AP Government exam. The item encountered by the student is extreme and the District is reaching out to the resource developers to directly address this concern.
“The AP Program did not provide this question, and it does not reflect the AP course framework or the kind of content students encounter on an AP Exam. AP students are expected to analyze perspectives different from their own. They are not assessed on adherence to any ideology or viewpoint.”
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