Some freshmen students in Bethpage High School have to take the course called Humanities Lab. This class is a mandated Academic Intervention course that meets every other day. Humanities Lab is proven to strengthen students skills in literacy and provide online instruction to students via Achieve3000.  The only problem about this course is they don’t offer credit for students. Do you think they should offer it?

Many of the courses here at Bethpage High School offer a credit for everyday classes or a half-credit for alternate day classes. As stated in the Course of Studies booklet, Humanities Lab is the only course here that doesn’t offer credit. Most freshmen students are not taking Humanities Lab because they are not qualified to take this course: it doesn’t offer credit, it’s not a requirement for graduation, and this course is only for students who have trouble in English and need to strengthen skills in reading comprehension, writing, and analyzing the articles to correctly answer questions or write an essay.

Ms. Scanlon, guidance counselor at Bethpage High School says that this course “is for students who didn’t pass the reading qualification exam in middle school, and recommendations by their middle school teachers.”

The number of credits required through high school is 22.0. Students who took Humanities Lab in 9th grade are saying that if they are getting out soon and they don’t have enough credits to be eligible to graduate, why should Humanities Lab not offer credit?

A student in Bethpage High School convinces that the course “could offer credit, but it is not really a course for many freshmen here. It is only a mandated course if students failed the qualification exam in middle school.”

Some students who took that course in the past think it should offer credit, but Humanities Lab doesn’t offer credit to students who are taking it now or took it in the past. Do you think it can offer credit in the future?