Should Kids Be Able to Graduate After 10th Grade?

[lesliepear]

High school sophomores should be ready for college by age 16. That's the message from New Hampshire education officials, who announced plans Oct. 30 for a new rigorous state board of exams to be given to 10th graders. Students who pass will be prepared to move on to the state's community or technical colleges, skipping the last two years of high school.

Looking back at my education, I think academically I probably could have done this easily since I was on a honors/accelerated track. But I probably would have wanted to go away to college. I was lucky at college since I ended up falling into a group of peers like me who were on the fringes of the high school social circles, but good students. I wonder if it sixteen I would have gone the same way.

It's hard to predict with Alan - I think he is handling his kindergarten material easily - but an extra year of preschool and watching educational TV helped in that. Will he be ready for college at 16? If he did go to community college at 16 and went somewhere else for the last 2 years - maybe he'd do fine, maybe not.

Thoughts?

jpallan - I'd like your thoughts on this since you are a former NH resident and I know you started college early.

Comments

[harinakshi.livejournal.com]

I was ready at 16, I was actually upset that there wasn't some sort of program for me to go into so I could graduate early.

[jpallan.livejournal.com]

There are many universities who set up these programmes. I enroled at the only one that only enrols students of secondary school age, Simon's Rock, but there are many others, some of which enrol students as young as 11. Most have been around since the 1960s.

[jpallan.livejournal.com]

I'd be concerned about many things here.

1^st, do they intend to continue to fund education for them for another two academic years? What of those students who wish vocational training rather than academic? If they can pass the school-leaving exams, are they free to pursue technical training without qualifying in other areas? What of those students who wish academic training not available in the N.H. technical college system? Is this to be funded?

2^nd, school-leaving is allowable at the age of 16 as it is now, yet current regulations require special petitioning to take the school-leaving exam. (I know because I had to petition to take the G.E.D. at 16, so I could enter the technical college system, even with college credits completed.) So, what of students who do not pass the school-leaving exam at that age?

Lastly, as an honours graduate of the N.H. technical colleges, I can tell you this — the classes were no more academic in nature than those offered at my prep school. So placing the students in these classes seems more a way of condensing academics taught at the same level of instruction, rather than allowing them further advancement.

A more practical solution, in my opinion, would be to set these school-leaving examinations and group the students according. Students who passed the exam would be free to elect vocational training in the technical college system or further training in the academic university system, with the option to qualify into full degree programmes after a year of satisfactory study. Students who did not pass the exams would be given an opportunity to retake the examination the following year and the next, which would encompass the end of 5^th and 6^th forms, at which point they'd graduate anyway. I'd be especially keen on seeing these students receive intense academic counselling and vocational counselling.

Another option here would be to reform the junior colleges at the same time. If they're offering instruction in line with what high schools offer, clearly the offerings should be taught in mixed groups of both juco and high school kids. This could be extremely favourable for those students who are most likely to fall by the wayside and enrol in these juco classes ten years from now anyway.

[catyak]

The main problem with starting early is what you're allowed to do. In the UK if you're 16, while it's legal to get married and/or have sex (no requirement for both), you're not allowed to drink alcohol or drive, both of which are legal for those aged 18, the more common age for further education. This makes some of the social functions of being a student more difficult.

Not everyone is emotionally ready for the different environment at 16 (some aren't at 18, but they're considered adults in law at that age). Ultimately if you're too far below the age group of your peers, you'll find it harder because you'll either be barred from social activities by law or not yet ready to cope with them.

[luscious-purple.livejournal.com]

There are so many entangled issues -- financial, emotional/maturity, career-related....

I was always on the honors/accelerated track too, but my mother made it clear to school officials that she would not let me skip any grades, but instead keep me with the kids my own age.

And to be honest, I'm glad I spent four years in high school, because I was "behind" socially and I would not have been ready for college any earlier.

I could tell you the story of a guy who got his Ph.D. from Princeton at age 21 and has A LOT of social issues. I used to see him around at science fiction conventions, but I haven't the last couple of years -- I think everyone in the fandom community stopped speaking to him because they're disgusted with him. When you get kicked out of a sci-fi club, you KNOW you've got problems.

[lauredhel.livejournal.com]

Correlation doesn't equal causation, though. I had a friend in med school who started at 16, and did plenty fine throughout, socially and academically, going straight into his chosen career path.

[mayna.livejournal.com]

hmmm that's interesting. I wonder why they don't just do the post-secondary enrollment option like they have here (of course HERE, they pay for it!)

[steve98052.livejournal.com]

I probably could have skipped high school entirely, and I think that's true of a lot of people. But I went through it for a couple of reasons. One reason was social – I probably would have felt like a misfit if I had gone straight from ninth grade to university.

But the social situation probably wouldn't have stopped me if not for the other reason. High school was free, and for those classes one could take in either high school or university the teachers were better in high school. For example, a high school calculus class is typically a small classroom with one of the school's best teachers, while in a university it's typically either an auditorium class with a junior professor or a mid-sized classroom with a grad student who spends more time in English-as-a-second-language classes than on lesson planning. Similarly, my high school Spanish classes included a lot more classroom education than the corresponding university classes.

[njvinnie.livejournal.com]

I think we, as a society need to stop infantilizing kids. It takes too damn long to "grow up" as it is, and even many colleges "baby" students. I can't tell you how many times I've seen downright criminal behavior tolerated on a college campus, where in the "real world" people would be losing jobs and/or going to jail.

Could every 16-year old handle college? Probably not, but there are a lot of 18- and 20-year olds who can't either. Let 'em sink or swim! If we get the next generations used to more responsibility sooner, maybe we can lower the drinking age back to 18. ;-)