Sunday, February 28, 2010

Welcome To High School, Now Go Directly To College!

The New York Times announced a new initiative in American education where students take an exam at the end of tenth grade that would allow them to skip the last two years of high school and go directly to community college. The plan is “modeled largely on systems in high-performing nations including Denmark, England, Finland, France and Singapore,” according to reporter Sam Dillon. The program is the brainchild of the National Center on Education and the Economy.

Here is how the system would work. Sophomore students take an exam at the conclusion of their second year. Those with a passing score on the exam have the option of moving on to community college, or they could elect to remain for the final two years of high school.

Those not scoring well on the exam would be required to stay, but could retake the test at the end of eleventh and twelfth grades. The test would include major core subjects like English, math, science and history.

It is also interesting to note who is behind the movement. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has provided the money: $1.5 million. The federal stimulus money earmarked for improving public school testing would also be used, to the tune of $350 million. Those supporting the issue are the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Education Association, “the nation’s largest teachers’ union,” according to Dillon.

He goes on to quote Terry Holliday, Kentucky’s commissioner of education: “We’ve been tied to seat time for 100 years,” he says, citing American education’s insistence on a kindergarten through twelfth grade system. “This would allow an approach based on subject mastery—a system based around move-on-when-ready.”

Other supporters of the measure “say the new system would reduce the need for community colleges to offer remedial courses because the passing score for the 10th-grade tests would be set at the level necessary to succeed in first-year college courses.”

Howard T. Everson, professor of educational psychology at the City University of New York and co-chair of the advisory committee had this to say: “Our hope is that this board exam system can prepare students to move on to careers, to higher ed and technical colleges and the workplace, sooner rather than later.”

Yes, because there are so many jobs left unfilled out there in the American workplace these days, what with double digit unemployment. Could it be that the sooner these kids get off the books at the local public high school the sooner school districts can stop worrying about paying for their education?

On its surface, this may not seem to be a bad idea, and it is certainly not a new proposal. Kids have been graduating from high school early for a long time. The highly motivated and intelligent student can take summer classes, go to a community college, or double up on academic requirements and compile enough credits to forego senior year. Many colleges offer programs for such gifted students allowing them to finish their senior year requirements on the college campus while beginning their university studies.

It does make sense. Why shouldn’t a highly motivated and gifted student be allowed to move forward at an accelerated pace? If a kid wants the challenge and is mature enough to handle the situation, he should not be held back by a “seat time” requirement, as Mr. Holliday suggests.

However, there is more to this situation.

In many ways, we have a failing education system in middle and high school. Students graduating from the local public school often are not prepared for college. Here in California, many students cannot pass the state’s exit exam. We have diluted standards, cut classes and programs, and offer little to challenge our students to learn and achieve at the highest level. So pushing them out of high school and on to the workplace and college makes sense, right?

Well, with the budget cuts in state governments, especially steep here in California, community colleges are cutting classes. Many of my students who used to take college courses during their junior and senior years, can no longer find open classes. At my school, we are looking at offering some of these courses on our campus and increasing the senior school day because they cannot get what they need from the community colleges.

So to summarize: the good students might be able to take and pass the exam, but are community colleges ready to handle the increased number of students? Students who cannot pass the exam will remain on the high school campus trapped in a failing system. Teachers will face more layoffs and furloughs because there will be fewer students on campus. We are, in effect, canceling the last two years of high school and herding people into the job market or into community colleges, all in the middle of a major recession-depression with double-digit unemployment.

Let us also not forget the psychological impact of this program. Sophomores are not equipped to handle the college environment. They will be attending classes with people at least four to six years older. In the dynamics of a classroom, this could result in intimidation and bullying as well as create social issues that a fifteen year old is not yet equipped to handle. There is a reason why high school is four years. Students not only learn academic subjects; they mature socially and physically. To thrust them into an adult environment accelerates this process, and I can guarantee some students are not prepared for the kind of responsibility, judgment, and insight this brave new world of college might require.

We need to stop cutting corners, and get back to offering a challenging academic and social program to high school students. Let’s stop wasting their time in courses with weak, ineffectual teaching and a diluted curriculum. Make the classes harder; offer them more opportunities to explore their talents in technical training, academics, sports, and the arts. Yes, this will cost money, but this is our future we are talking about, and we need to stop being shortsighted. Do what we have to do, but we cannot cut education. More importantly, we need to make sure our school districts cut the fat from the budget: fewer administrators, bureaucrats, red-tape, and idiotic expenditures that have nothing to do with the classroom.

In education, this is called getting down to basics. The classroom, the teacher, the student, the textbook: solid lessons without distractions and interruptions; high standards that are never compromised, and dedicated professionals who are less concerned about their union contract and more concerned about the education of the whole child.

Instead of looking for shortcuts, let’s take the long way home, and make it worthwhile for everyone.

4 comments:

  1. I think there is too much pressure on young people to grow up too soon. Real learning takes time.

    I'm all for advanced and gifted students having the opportunity to move on into well organised courses that cater for their needs but there is an added dimension.

    Education is not a race, it's a journey and people need to be able to take as much time as they need, st their own pace.

    Rush them and they miss out, hold them back and they stultify. There has to be a middle road.

    This scheme smacks of a high pressure system to over heat kids who may feel that in order to compete they must rush off to college prematurely.

    It's a worry.

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  2. The phrase that hits home with me the most, Elisabeth is "Education is not a race, but a journey..." Education is like life: the journey should be its own reward. The outcome will take care of itself.

    Excellent comment, Elisabeth, and thank you.

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  3. I know somebody who did community college at the same time that they finished their last two years of school. They didn't skip their last two years though. It was great for her because when she graduate high school she was on her last two years of her undergrad and since she planned to go on to become a doctor it really did help with the time as an adult she'd have to spend in school.

    Last I heard about her she had indeed finished medical training and is now a doctor.

    I graduated a year early. I'm glad for that. I didn't go into college right away though. I went to work after a summer trip and took another four to five years before going to college. I'd let my kids skip the last two years of school for community college if they wanted to and I felt they were ready for the responsibility.

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  4. The question of responsibility and maturity is what matters most. Is a tenth grader ready for a college environment?

    There is something to be said for following the program and allowing students time to mature.

    Thanks for your comment.

    ReplyDelete

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