But of course, these are not the only students who take Advanced Placement classes. We want to ensure they are not forgotten in the push to improve instruction among the less gifted students and close the achievement gap. So, our goal is to develop curriculum that engages and challenges students, and to create community among our students who, unlike others, are placed in the academy mostly owing to their test scores and grades rather than their own choice. Fiat Lux agrees the school must do this, but we also know we cannot ignore the needs of our highest achieving students, often overlooked because "they will do well no matter what." That is neither the case nor is it just. We are cognizant that due to the make-up of Overfelt's student body, school-wide resources have focused on improving the achievement of our middle- and lowest-achieving students. I am one of the lucky few at the school to have a resource period to co-lead a team of six teachers, including myself. I belong to Fiat Lux,(4) the "honors" academy. Hoping to raise test scores, Overfelt recently adopted a small learning community model school-wide. Their scores, however, are not enough to erase the stigma of a low-performing school and nor lift it above the rising tide of emphasis placed on achievement tests to determine the quality of instruction in the classroom and teacher effectiveness. The community faces tremendous poverty and high crime rates in fact, the City of San Jose has identified Overfelt's attendance area as a "gang hot spot." The significant economic and social hardships facing the community have a major impact on student achievement as measured by mandated testing.(1) Though our API has steadily increased since 2004, less than a third of our students score proficient or advanced on the English Language portion of the STAR tests.(2) Yet, on the standardized tests given every year in California(3) in April, the month I think of as the harbinger of "testing season," the scores of some of my students rival those of students from schools that consistently score-on a scale that tops out at 900-in the high 800s or better. Overfelt High School serves East San Jose, or colloquially the "East Side." The student body of approximately 1,470 students (9-12) is working class and predominantly low-income. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley and the third-largest city in California (and the 10 th largest in the U.S.), William C. They want concrete answers and are unable to accept/maneuver the gray areas, but it is in that gray area that literature comes alive. Many of them are the best and the brightest at Overfelt and so fearless in many other ways, and yet this work makes them afraid to take chances, to explore possible meanings because they do not want to be wrong. It makes them doubt themselves, their intelligence, and for some, even their potential success in college. Heart of Darkness is a text that my students, even the best ones, struggle with each year. Such reluctance on their part raises the question: Why teach Heart of Darkness? Good question. As a result, they become reluctant readers of a piece of literature that critics continue to write about and debate today. Not only do they struggle with the syntax, they are perplexed, among other things, as to what is the "right" interpretation of Marlow's journey up the Congo or what Kurtz's character or the cannibals represent or what those "stupid black hens" symbolize. That students find the text difficult to understand is an understatement. And they're hooked, as if anticipating initiation into some clandestine society for Heart of Darkness aficionados-but then they begin reading it, and their excitement fades and frustration takes its place. "It's stuff about the novella," I answer. Then how come the book is so big?" I smile slyly. Then the chorus of voices ensues: "What do you mean?" "That's it?" "Yay!" "You're lying. That's it." My students look at me and at each other, confused. "These pages here are the text of the novella. I flip through the book, pinch pages 3-77 of the 500-plus-page book between my thumb and index finger, and hold it up. "This is our next project, Heart of Darkness," I say to 32-37 (sometimes) attentive faces. One week before we begin reading it, I pull out a copy of the Norton Critical Edition of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Moving Beyond "Huh?": Ambiguity in Heart of Darkness by Ludy P.
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