<p>Years ago, when I went to high school, there were at most two levels for each subject (and not all subjects had multiple levels). The two levels were regular and honors; honors included AP courses when appropriate (at the time, there were only about six AP courses at the school).</p>
<p>For example, in math, there were regular and honors Geometry, Algebra II, and Precalculus, but Algebra I only came in regular (under the assumption that the better in math students were a year ahead) and Calculus only came in AP (BC only at the time, though they later added an AB option). English had only regular for freshmen; honors was offered to sophomores, juniors, and seniors (with senior being designated as AP). For English, you had to get a teacher’s recommendation to move to the honors version the next year.</p>
<p>But back then, there was not a huge push by parents to push students into honors courses even if they were really not suitable for the honors courses. Only about 8% to 15% of the students were in the honors English and math courses, presumably those whom the teachers in high school or middle school noticed were boredly acing the regular courses.</p>