About 116 students are signed up for the Scholastic Assessment Test prep course next year, and principal John W. Bach estimates that 40 percent of the school's students will take the class before graduation. Students receive course credit and a pass/fail grade.
``It's a very popular elective, because parents push it,'' said Nancy Hawes, who teaches the math section of the class.
The course, first offered in fall 1995, meets five days a week for the 16-week semester, for about 64 hours of instruction. That makes it about one-third longer than most classes taught by private companies such as Kaplan Educational Centers and the Princeton Review. And it's far less expensive.
The Princeton Review, for example, offers a 39-hour class at a cost of $745, said executive director Paul Edelblut.
School Board President William Del Collo said he had proposed the elective because many parents were paying steep prices for such classes. ``I have a concern for children who couldn't afford to pay that considerable expense,'' he said.
Teachers at many public high schools moonlight as SAT tutors or add a dash of SAT preparation to their regular classes. But a full semester of SAT preparation in the regular curriculum appears to be rare. Philadelphia School District officials said some of their high schools offered such classes, but they could not say how many or which ones.
Some test critics, college admissions officers, and even the test's own sponsors question the value of a regular SAT course.
``I'd rather that they take that elective in some academic area that strengthens their academic curiosity,'' said Lee Stetson, dean of admissions at the University of Pennsylvania. ``We would not consider [SAT preparation] to be a valid academic option.''
