Every once in a while, a bunch of questions jump into my brain regarding US education. Here are some of the ones which popped in this weekend. See if any of you are willing to take a stab at answering them.
1. Why do most American high schools insist on a four year plan? Shouldn't there be a three, four and five year plan for students? What might these plans look like? (This stems from conversations I have had of late with students who want to come to my school because of all the electives they are taking as seniors. Most students get to senior year, and they need to take an English, perhaps a math, perhaps a science, and that is all. The rest of their schedules are filled with electives they do not need and do not want. Why couldn't they have met these requirements in 11th grade? In other cases, I meet with students who are well behind in credits because their school days were overwhelming, and so now they feel like failures because the pace was wrong for them)
2. Why is it that most high school students will finish high school without ever having taken a tech type course in high school? Especially in Massachusetts, tech schools have a monopoly on tech courses, and less that 20% of Massachusetts students have access to a tech school. I know I would have benefited from some course that would have made me better at: electricity, plumbing, woodworking, automotive or something else.
3. Why does high stakes testing try to assess both minimal competency and academic excellence in the same test? Isn't that a little unfair to those who score at the lower end? Instead of showing what they can do, they are forced to try to answer many questions they cannot even access?
4. Why is the first budget cut always to non-academic courses? Yes, everyone needs to take Geometry. But, in terms of a student's total quality of life during their school years and beyond, how much of the Geometry will they remember, no matter how small the class size, versus how much of their band, art or drama class, no matter how large the class size? Are we educating the whole child or not?
5. At what point does this country take a hard look at school starting times and really make decisions about starting times based on real research?
The same question for length of school year, homework, and final exams.
1. Why do most American high schools insist on a four year plan? Shouldn't there be a three, four and five year plan for students? What might these plans look like? (This stems from conversations I have had of late with students who want to come to my school because of all the electives they are taking as seniors. Most students get to senior year, and they need to take an English, perhaps a math, perhaps a science, and that is all. The rest of their schedules are filled with electives they do not need and do not want. Why couldn't they have met these requirements in 11th grade? In other cases, I meet with students who are well behind in credits because their school days were overwhelming, and so now they feel like failures because the pace was wrong for them)
2. Why is it that most high school students will finish high school without ever having taken a tech type course in high school? Especially in Massachusetts, tech schools have a monopoly on tech courses, and less that 20% of Massachusetts students have access to a tech school. I know I would have benefited from some course that would have made me better at: electricity, plumbing, woodworking, automotive or something else.
3. Why does high stakes testing try to assess both minimal competency and academic excellence in the same test? Isn't that a little unfair to those who score at the lower end? Instead of showing what they can do, they are forced to try to answer many questions they cannot even access?
4. Why is the first budget cut always to non-academic courses? Yes, everyone needs to take Geometry. But, in terms of a student's total quality of life during their school years and beyond, how much of the Geometry will they remember, no matter how small the class size, versus how much of their band, art or drama class, no matter how large the class size? Are we educating the whole child or not?
5. At what point does this country take a hard look at school starting times and really make decisions about starting times based on real research?
The same question for length of school year, homework, and final exams.
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