Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Eliminate seniors!
No, not euthanasia....
There's renewed discussion of eliminating the senior year of high school. This has always been a good idea, because very few students get any real benefit from the last year or two of HS.
If you're truly college material, you're smart enough to start college at 16, and if you're not truly college material, you're ready for work or technical training at age 16.
The idea has popped up this time through a Utah state legislator:
Good but lame. Just chop it.
Needless to say, school administrators (who were Stuck On Stupid long before anyone else) are responding in typical form:
Ack!
Here's one way to do the job, from the long-gone days when schools and governments had enough intelligence to try different approaches:
Variants on this plan were common in the '30s; Wichita had a similar arrangement. The 6-4-4 plan recognized the natural dividing point at 16, which has been lost in the modern inflation (and devaluation) of childhood. You could stop after 10 and go to work, or you could proceed into the higher grades, stopping at 12 or proceeding seamlessly to a vocational or academic college degree.
Google gives 5 definite references to the 6-4-4 plan, all from the 30s, all indicating that it was successful.
Perfect Stuck-On-Stupid logic: The plan succeeded, so we must GET RID OF IT AS FAST AS POSSIBLE! ¶ 6:04 PM
There's renewed discussion of eliminating the senior year of high school. This has always been a good idea, because very few students get any real benefit from the last year or two of HS.
If you're truly college material, you're smart enough to start college at 16, and if you're not truly college material, you're ready for work or technical training at age 16.
The idea has popped up this time through a Utah state legislator:
While Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, wants to ax the 12th grade to save a buck, state education leaders say keep the senior year but make it better. ... Buttars's proposed legislation would allow students the option of skipping the 12th grade to save the state money. He has opened up a bill file titled "High School Accelerated Graduation."
In this era of budget cuts, Buttars's proposal would save public education $60 million. The senator emphasizes the program would be optional for high school students and there would be incentives. "We've got to find ways to cut back," he said.
Good but lame. Just chop it.
Needless to say, school administrators (who were Stuck On Stupid long before anyone else) are responding in typical form:
Amid discussions over Buttars's bill, school district superintendents will comprise a task force to study how they can strengthen a student's senior year.
The task force will recommend a policy to the State Board of Education and look at "making certain every student makes the best of their high school years," said state Superintendent Larry Shumway.
Ack!
Here's one way to do the job, from the long-gone days when schools and governments had enough intelligence to try different approaches:
BARTLESVILLE Senior High-Junior College, with a 1940 enrollment of 492 in Senior High and 104 in Junior College, is one of the newest and most modern and complete small-city school plants in the country. The two buildings are strikingly modern in plan and fenestration. ... Here can be seen in operation in classroom and shops the "6-4-4" city plan of education. That is, six years in elementary school, four years in junior high (7th to 10th) and four years in senior high and junior college (11 to 14 inclusive).
Variants on this plan were common in the '30s; Wichita had a similar arrangement. The 6-4-4 plan recognized the natural dividing point at 16, which has been lost in the modern inflation (and devaluation) of childhood. You could stop after 10 and go to work, or you could proceed into the higher grades, stopping at 12 or proceeding seamlessly to a vocational or academic college degree.
Google gives 5 definite references to the 6-4-4 plan, all from the 30s, all indicating that it was successful.
Perfect Stuck-On-Stupid logic: The plan succeeded, so we must GET RID OF IT AS FAST AS POSSIBLE! ¶ 6:04 PM
