A Thought on American High Schools
I noticed the other day that high school is pretty much built around making stupid people feel good about themselves. Most grades are determined by effort/improvement, not actual performance. What's so bad about being stupid? Why can't high school be a darwinian mechanism that separates the stupid and dull from the smart and effective? That duty has been placed with colleges, which is a terrible idea. You don't get rooted out until you've already paid around 100,000 dollars. Think about the benefits if high school were difficult and ruthless enough to actually separate those who enjoy and confront challenge and those who might try, but fail:
-Higher high school dropout rate. People get a head start on their careers sooner and the government has less to pay for education.
-Less difficult college entry for successful students. If you win out in high school, you'd pretty much be guaranteed acceptance into a good school. Not to mention that colleges would have more endowment money to spend on fewer students, thus lowering tuition and increasing the quality of schools.
-Less disillusionment by students. Note that I'm not saying that I think stupid people don't deserve to succeed. I'm just saying that it's unfair to egg people on and tell them they are doing great when they are actually awful students who try hard. It would be better to give them the cold, hard truth and let them make of it what they will, instead of telling them to go to college where they will drop out after a year and a half after spending thousands upon thousands of dollars.
-Less convoluted grading policy. Between the ever-fashionable "rubric" system and the subjectivity of grading based on effort, the current grading systems in our nation's high schools are unstandardized and often indecipherable.
-Lower college dropout rate. Nobody gives a shit about your "effort" in real life. It's a matter of whether you deliver or not. If only those who actually perform well enter college, the vast majority of those people will continue performing well.
My suggestions for how to fix this:
*Instead of needing an education degree with a certificate in the field they teach, high school teachers ought to be required to have a degree in their field with a certificate of education. High school teachers, for the most part, are pretty lousy at teaching. The only exceptions are those teachers who actually have a degree in their field. Funny how that works.
*National standardized grading in public schools. With every class in the United States requiring equivalent grading, grade fudging becomes far more difficult. I would suggest the following:
-Grades in all classes must be required to maintain a bell curve distrubution.
-For writing courses, 4 pages per week for freshmen, 6 for sophomores, 8 for juniors and 10 for seniors. The material will be graded keeping in mind the quantity that students are regularly required to write. In addition, a term paper of substantial length and content will be required semesterly. The papers will be graded at the discretion of the instructor, who will be audited to make sure they maintain a bell curve in the grades.
-For literature courses, 200 pages of reading per week would be the standard, though it could be changed by some number to reach a more appropriate breaking point in the literature. Students would also be required to write two papers per term of substantial length and content. The grades in literature classes will be determined by both the grades on the papers and on contribution to in-class discussion (which must be fitted to the bell curve).
-For math courses, problem sets will be given weekly of appropriate length. In addition, 3 in-class quizzes as well as a midterm and final exam will test students' knowledge and understanding of the material. Once per semester, students are required to complete a math based project, using what they have learned to solved a relevant complicated and challenging problem with real life implications.
-For science courses, weekly problem sets will be given much the same as mathematics. For more qualitative sciences, such as biology or anatomy, students will be required to write prompted essays in the problem sets about major phenomena or scientific systems that they are studying. These problem sets in addition to 3 in-class quizzes as well as a midterm and final exam will test students' knowledge and understanding of the material. Once per semester, students would be required to perform some task of a scientific nature, approved by the school's faculty as challenging and relevant. This could be a project in which the student conducts original research and publishes their findings, a project in which an extensive report is made on modern research, a project in which a specific phenomenon is researched in depth and its implications described, or something of the like.
-For courses in the visual arts, students are expected to produce high quality work demonstrating acceptable levels of craftsmanship and ability. Being a very subjective area, the number and nature of assignments may vary. Students are expected to create an organized and professional portfolio for the class.
-For the social sciences, grades will be determined by in class discussion participation as well as weekly prompted critical essays on the current topic. A term paper of substantial length and content will be required semesterly. Students will be required to take both a mid-term and final exam.
-For music and performance courses, students are expected to both exhibit professionalism and academic expertise in their work. Obviously, courses at a lower level would have looser standards for the student's performance. Students will be required to present a piece quarterly, and will be graded on its merit.
-Other courses are expected to provide students with similar challenges and opportunities, with fair straightforward grading and a reasonable amount of work.
*Mandatory rigorous coursework. All courses will be difficult and challenging to students. There will be no taking easy courses just to get an "A". Perhaps there will be some sort of remedial track for students who do not want to take difficult courses, or who have extreme difficulty in a certain area. These classes would not count towards high school credit, and would purely be offered for the benefit of learning. (For freshman, classes will be offered to catch up remedial material. However, the pace will be even faster than that of the difficult classes- only the material itself will be easier. This is because below high school, class content is less regulated. However, students are expected to catch up ASAP on anything they are behind with.)
*A passing exam senior year. It will be comprehensive, covering many subjects. Scores will NOT be sent to colleges, but students will not be able to graduate until they receive a score of "A". They will be offered at the end of each semester, and twice each summer (for those who did not pass during their graduating year). The topics covered will be:
-Mathematics (through calculus)
-English language
-English literature
-World History
-Any one offered language, chosen by the student
-Two of the following, chosen by the student:
::Physics (calculus based)
::Chemistry (calculus based)
::Biology
-One of the following, chosen by the student:
::US History
::Economics
::US Government
-One of the following, chosen by the student and prepared beforehand:
::An art portfolio
::A musical composition or performance recording
::A piece of creative writing
::Some other demonstration of artistic ability
The student will be allowed to forgo two sections of the exam. For example, a student planning on going into art might forgo math and one science, and take an exam consisting of English lit and writing, spanish, world history, biology, US history, and their art portfolio. A score of 90% correct on each section of the exam is enough to pass, and the exam can be taken one section at a time. That is, if the first time a student takes it he gets an A on math, science, economics, german, and his musical composition but gets an 80% on english and world history, he can go back the next time the test is offered and just take english and world history. The exams are pass/fail, and the grade is not recorded other than whether the pass was achieved.
*A solid system of credits and class numbering system. Class numbers will be straightforward and identifiable.
00xx ... remedial course
0xxx ... introductory course
1xxx ... intermediate course
2xxx ... advanced course
3xxx ... independent study
Remedial courses: 1 credit
General introductory courses: 4 credits
Courses in special topics: 3 credits
Independent study: 1-9 credits, evaluated by advisor. Most studies will fall in the range of 1-4 credits.
*A wide variety of required courses. Students should take courses in at least seven different areas, since that is the minimum required number of subjects that their passing exam will involve.
*Grade point average is no no longer a retarded 0.00 to 4.33 scale. Instead of an A-F grading system, students will get marks in their class on a scale from 1 to 10. 5 should be the average on the bell curve. Passing and failing of a course is determine by the success on the final exam, which makes up 40% of the course's grade. If the final exam is passed (according to the grade curve), the class is passed. You could even get a 1 in a class but still pass it by passing the final exam. It would hurt your GPA real bad, but you wouldn't have to retake the class. The GPA will be the average of the number scores received in all your classes, weighted by credit value (that is, a 4 credit class would count 4/3 as much as a 3 credit class towards your GPA).
*Students are given ample free time to pursue their own interests. Busywork is not given. Students can expect the same amount of work every week- a paper in their writing class, some reading in the literature class. This will give them the ability to schedule specific work times once they learn how long it takes them to do the specific amount of work, and leave them the maximum amount of free time outside of school. Participation in extracurricular activities is highly encouraged and rewarded by the school. For active participation in a viable extracurricular activity for one semester, a student can earn up to 1 credit with a mark of a 10 with both the recommendation of the faculty moderator in charge of the activity and their guidance counselor's approval.
Now that I think of it, I should just start my own school.
-Higher high school dropout rate. People get a head start on their careers sooner and the government has less to pay for education.
-Less difficult college entry for successful students. If you win out in high school, you'd pretty much be guaranteed acceptance into a good school. Not to mention that colleges would have more endowment money to spend on fewer students, thus lowering tuition and increasing the quality of schools.
-Less disillusionment by students. Note that I'm not saying that I think stupid people don't deserve to succeed. I'm just saying that it's unfair to egg people on and tell them they are doing great when they are actually awful students who try hard. It would be better to give them the cold, hard truth and let them make of it what they will, instead of telling them to go to college where they will drop out after a year and a half after spending thousands upon thousands of dollars.
-Less convoluted grading policy. Between the ever-fashionable "rubric" system and the subjectivity of grading based on effort, the current grading systems in our nation's high schools are unstandardized and often indecipherable.
-Lower college dropout rate. Nobody gives a shit about your "effort" in real life. It's a matter of whether you deliver or not. If only those who actually perform well enter college, the vast majority of those people will continue performing well.
My suggestions for how to fix this:
*Instead of needing an education degree with a certificate in the field they teach, high school teachers ought to be required to have a degree in their field with a certificate of education. High school teachers, for the most part, are pretty lousy at teaching. The only exceptions are those teachers who actually have a degree in their field. Funny how that works.
*National standardized grading in public schools. With every class in the United States requiring equivalent grading, grade fudging becomes far more difficult. I would suggest the following:
-Grades in all classes must be required to maintain a bell curve distrubution.
-For writing courses, 4 pages per week for freshmen, 6 for sophomores, 8 for juniors and 10 for seniors. The material will be graded keeping in mind the quantity that students are regularly required to write. In addition, a term paper of substantial length and content will be required semesterly. The papers will be graded at the discretion of the instructor, who will be audited to make sure they maintain a bell curve in the grades.
-For literature courses, 200 pages of reading per week would be the standard, though it could be changed by some number to reach a more appropriate breaking point in the literature. Students would also be required to write two papers per term of substantial length and content. The grades in literature classes will be determined by both the grades on the papers and on contribution to in-class discussion (which must be fitted to the bell curve).
-For math courses, problem sets will be given weekly of appropriate length. In addition, 3 in-class quizzes as well as a midterm and final exam will test students' knowledge and understanding of the material. Once per semester, students are required to complete a math based project, using what they have learned to solved a relevant complicated and challenging problem with real life implications.
-For science courses, weekly problem sets will be given much the same as mathematics. For more qualitative sciences, such as biology or anatomy, students will be required to write prompted essays in the problem sets about major phenomena or scientific systems that they are studying. These problem sets in addition to 3 in-class quizzes as well as a midterm and final exam will test students' knowledge and understanding of the material. Once per semester, students would be required to perform some task of a scientific nature, approved by the school's faculty as challenging and relevant. This could be a project in which the student conducts original research and publishes their findings, a project in which an extensive report is made on modern research, a project in which a specific phenomenon is researched in depth and its implications described, or something of the like.
-For courses in the visual arts, students are expected to produce high quality work demonstrating acceptable levels of craftsmanship and ability. Being a very subjective area, the number and nature of assignments may vary. Students are expected to create an organized and professional portfolio for the class.
-For the social sciences, grades will be determined by in class discussion participation as well as weekly prompted critical essays on the current topic. A term paper of substantial length and content will be required semesterly. Students will be required to take both a mid-term and final exam.
-For music and performance courses, students are expected to both exhibit professionalism and academic expertise in their work. Obviously, courses at a lower level would have looser standards for the student's performance. Students will be required to present a piece quarterly, and will be graded on its merit.
-Other courses are expected to provide students with similar challenges and opportunities, with fair straightforward grading and a reasonable amount of work.
*Mandatory rigorous coursework. All courses will be difficult and challenging to students. There will be no taking easy courses just to get an "A". Perhaps there will be some sort of remedial track for students who do not want to take difficult courses, or who have extreme difficulty in a certain area. These classes would not count towards high school credit, and would purely be offered for the benefit of learning. (For freshman, classes will be offered to catch up remedial material. However, the pace will be even faster than that of the difficult classes- only the material itself will be easier. This is because below high school, class content is less regulated. However, students are expected to catch up ASAP on anything they are behind with.)
*A passing exam senior year. It will be comprehensive, covering many subjects. Scores will NOT be sent to colleges, but students will not be able to graduate until they receive a score of "A". They will be offered at the end of each semester, and twice each summer (for those who did not pass during their graduating year). The topics covered will be:
-Mathematics (through calculus)
-English language
-English literature
-World History
-Any one offered language, chosen by the student
-Two of the following, chosen by the student:
::Physics (calculus based)
::Chemistry (calculus based)
::Biology
-One of the following, chosen by the student:
::US History
::Economics
::US Government
-One of the following, chosen by the student and prepared beforehand:
::An art portfolio
::A musical composition or performance recording
::A piece of creative writing
::Some other demonstration of artistic ability
The student will be allowed to forgo two sections of the exam. For example, a student planning on going into art might forgo math and one science, and take an exam consisting of English lit and writing, spanish, world history, biology, US history, and their art portfolio. A score of 90% correct on each section of the exam is enough to pass, and the exam can be taken one section at a time. That is, if the first time a student takes it he gets an A on math, science, economics, german, and his musical composition but gets an 80% on english and world history, he can go back the next time the test is offered and just take english and world history. The exams are pass/fail, and the grade is not recorded other than whether the pass was achieved.
*A solid system of credits and class numbering system. Class numbers will be straightforward and identifiable.
00xx ... remedial course
0xxx ... introductory course
1xxx ... intermediate course
2xxx ... advanced course
3xxx ... independent study
Remedial courses: 1 credit
General introductory courses: 4 credits
Courses in special topics: 3 credits
Independent study: 1-9 credits, evaluated by advisor. Most studies will fall in the range of 1-4 credits.
*A wide variety of required courses. Students should take courses in at least seven different areas, since that is the minimum required number of subjects that their passing exam will involve.
*Grade point average is no no longer a retarded 0.00 to 4.33 scale. Instead of an A-F grading system, students will get marks in their class on a scale from 1 to 10. 5 should be the average on the bell curve. Passing and failing of a course is determine by the success on the final exam, which makes up 40% of the course's grade. If the final exam is passed (according to the grade curve), the class is passed. You could even get a 1 in a class but still pass it by passing the final exam. It would hurt your GPA real bad, but you wouldn't have to retake the class. The GPA will be the average of the number scores received in all your classes, weighted by credit value (that is, a 4 credit class would count 4/3 as much as a 3 credit class towards your GPA).
*Students are given ample free time to pursue their own interests. Busywork is not given. Students can expect the same amount of work every week- a paper in their writing class, some reading in the literature class. This will give them the ability to schedule specific work times once they learn how long it takes them to do the specific amount of work, and leave them the maximum amount of free time outside of school. Participation in extracurricular activities is highly encouraged and rewarded by the school. For active participation in a viable extracurricular activity for one semester, a student can earn up to 1 credit with a mark of a 10 with both the recommendation of the faculty moderator in charge of the activity and their guidance counselor's approval.
Now that I think of it, I should just start my own school.