Law lets students forgo senior year

[RitaZ.]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/09/08/early.graduation.ap/index.html

One of the concerns mentioned in the article is that the students looking into this option are probably the ones who need the senior year the most.

What do all think about this?

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

Originally posted by RitaZ.
One of the concerns mentioned ... to see the standards for graduation reduced.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I think this is horrible. I am soooooo against it. In order to do this accelerated track the student will miss out on the enriching classes like drama, band, or art. In addition, there are higher level classes that can be taken as electives that will be also missed out on.

You may say that these electives are not important but I do believe that these classes make for a more rounded student, that perhaps allows that student to learn more about themselves before making a decision on a college major.

At the University of Florida for example (I am not sure if this is for all state universities) a student HAS to declare his or her major right from the beginning. You are put on a track program and it makes it much harder for you to change your mind later on.

Sure there may be students who are already goal orienteted and may have other outside activites to help them along, but for the average student who just doesn't want to be in school any longer than they have to, this will be detrimental.

 

[helenabear]

I guess I am one who doesn't see quite as much problem with it. Our highschool let a select few graduate in three years as well. They had all their class requirements met, graduated with honors and even took electives like band, choir and a few others. THe ones I knew who did this though, had friends in the upper classes mostly and felt like they were left behind. The only problem I see with this is the reduced credits. If I knwo people who can graduate in three w/o reducing credits, they shouldn't be needing to do this for others. If they found a way to not make them reduce the credits I think this is fine. I am not sure I would have ever done it because I had a bond with my class and I wouldn't have wanted to leave early for that reason alone.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Remember, this is in the State of Florida, where we do not have the best educational track record when it comes to the public school system. I don't need statistics to tell me that. When I moved here between my 9th and 10th grade years from Pennsylvania, I spent 10th and 11th grade covering a lot of what was covered in 9th grade. I am ashamed to admit this, but I even recycled literature papers (and got better grades).

 

[bsnyder]

I see absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Most students will never opt to do this. For the few that do, they are the kids that are more than ready to move on to college.

They are allowed to skip several elective credits, including physical education, art and life management courses.

Big deal. For the student that will use this option, these types of courses would be a total waste of their time.

My older DS had a high school friend who I could see would have greatly benefited from this program. By the time he was entering high school, he had his own computer business that was netting six figures annually, and throughout his high school years he had an internship with our local Merrill Lynch office as an analyst. He made wonderful grades in the challenging courses, but the "filler" stuff, like phys ed, and art, were just a drain on his GPA.

And I'm not advocating doing away with requiring those courses for the majority of students.

 

[RitaZ.]

I guess I don't really understand what students this statement pertains to..... why do they NEED their senior year?

I think Miss Jasmine answered this question.

Sure there may be students who are already goal oriented and may have other outside activites to help them along, but for the average student who just doesn't want to be in school any longer than they have to, this will be detrimental.

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

Originally posted by RitaZ.
I think Miss Jasmine answered this question.

Then those students should not be selected for the program, IMO. If they keep the requirements the same and accelerate through, then students that "just want to get out faster" still have to satisfy all of the requirements for graduation.

You would find out in a hurry who your motivated students were!

 

[HeyMickey]

I would have done it. My high school already has a somewhat similar program in place, but there's so much red tape that I just decided not to bother.

In fact, since I started taking high school classes young (algebra in 6th grade), all I would have had to do to graduate a year early would have been to take junior and senior English at the same time. Because I was taking classes out of my grade, I never took the "art, physical education, and life management courses". But I've played the viola for 10 years, was a competitive gymnast for 11, and I think I'm managing my life quite well thanks

There are definitely people for whom this will work. A lot? No, probably not. I don't think the plan itself is quite so terrible as the fact that Florida schools have been reduced to doing this.

 

[bsnyder]

Here's a link to the Florida Department of Education website, with the specifics on this program:

http://www.myfloridaeducation.com/commhome/newgrad/2grad-tap.pdf

I really don't see this program being attractive to the "average student who just doesn't want to be in school any longer."

The core requirements are actually more challenging than those in the regular 4 year non-college prep track.

And I can't see it having more than a negligible impact on the class size amendment challenges. But I think it will benefit a small number of students, by allowing more flexibility to accomodate their needs, which are sometimes much different than the "average" student.

 

[RitaZ.]

Bet, thanks for the link. I'm going to read it later.

 

[LisaTx]

I skipped my senior year twenty years ago and I don't think it ruined my life.

I did not like my high school. I was bored in classes. I was fighting with my mom all of the time. My sister-in-law saw an ad in her local paper for a university that was accepting early admissions. I went for a visit, interviewed with the Dean of admissions and was accepted on the spot.

My high school did not allow me to get a diploma because my chosen university was not one with which they had a reciprocal agreement. To this day I am technically a high school dropout.

I entered college at the age of 17 with 21 hours of credit. Some were standard tests the college gave all incoming students, some were clep tests I specifically studied for and passed on my own.

In case you're wondering, things worked out great! I occasionally think that it may have been fun to experience the prom and other special senior year activities, but I don't regret my decision for a minute. I have my college diploma, a wonderful DH, who I met at college, and two fabulous kids.

It's not for everybody, but for me it was the best decision of my life!

 

[Poohlovr]

Call me wierd......
I graduated in three years,when I was 16, although I skipped my junior year, as opposed to my senior year.
I diidn't want to miss prom and all of the other senior year events .

I did it because I honestly didn't feel I was getting anything from high school at that point. I knew what I wanted to do with my life, career wise (a nurse, which I am ) and there was not a single class offered that was going to help with that.

I was in the chorus, took all of the required art, had three years of Latin, and was active in a few clubs, so, feel I am fairly well rounded. Another year of high school just didn't fit into my plans.

The only problem was starting nursing school when I was 16; their was a minimum 17 yr old age requirement, but, after phone calls to admissions, high SAT scores, and completing my Advanced program classes, they waived that rule and away I went.

Havn't noticed any detrimental long term effects after all of these years.....

 

[nsyncraider17]

I'm a junior in high school, and I could easily graduate this year if I wanted to. Many of my friends and I were in an accelerated program in jr. high, that essentially allowed us to skip 9th grade, but when we entered the high school, we were "freshmen with sophomore standing" as opposed to true sophomores. If we wanted to, we could talk to a counselor about graduating early, but my friends and I decided to stay with the class of 2005. We still have all of the same graduation requirements as the rest of our class, but most of us will have met them all after this year. If I had decided to graduate early, I would have skipped my freshmen year, not my senior year...I would do all of the "senior things" this year.

I plan to take only band at the high school next year, and then take classes at a local college, and the school will pay for it.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I'm sorry. I can't sit back and say this is a good thing. If this State had a better public school system (and I am NOT including the State University System, which I feel is a great system) then this program would not be such a problem for me. But here we are with school hours already cut, classrooms overcrowded (and really this won't help much), a HUGE teacher shortage (to the point of you don't even have to be certified to be hired and placed in a classroom) and now we have a movement to push kids through school. Kids grow up too fast as it is.

Those advanced students could have already been placed in an accelerated program, called dual-enrollment meaning they were taking high school classes and college classes at the same time. So those students were already being served. This just opens it up to the others who want to get out quicker who may not be as prepared.

Looking at the plan the only difference between the college prep and the career prep is the level of math. Plus I am concerned that only the natural sciences need to be taken.

Using myself as an example...by the time I reached my senior year I really only needed 2 classes to graduate. I filled in the rest of my schedule not with easy classes to just breeze through but ones that would enrich me and better prepare me for college. I was done with my math requirements but still went ahead with a higher level class. I used that as an opportunity to retake a chemistry class to achieve an even better grade as at that time I was considering pharmacy as a major (I did later change my mind because I realized I am not really a science person. ). I also took a third year of a foreign language. I'm trying to recall my other courses, I was also in American Musical Theatre (which was like Drama class but with the singing ) Ok that was a fun a class for me. Looking back I should have just dual enrolled but I really do think these classes helped me better prepare for my college transistion.

Edited to add: Also there is a large percentage of Florida students going into college (I believe it's around 50% but it could be a little less) that need to have remedial english and/or math classes before they can take classes for credit. That is a very scary statistic.

 

[buffett010]

I, like Poohlvr, graduated early. I, in the 10th grade, was taking all my senior year courses. I went to a very small school (only about 40 in a class) and started there my sophmore year. Needless to say, it was very difficult to make friends with people who had been together their entire lives, many of whom were related to each other. Thus, I elected to take my senior English at our local 4 year university, where I tested out of their basic English level courses and was taking courses with juniors at the college. As I was only 16, I opted to work full-time for a year while also holding a part-time job in order to make money to help pay for my tuition at a private 4 year university in Ohio. Again, at the university, I tested out of many first year courses, including English and French, and went on to take 21-24 hours per quarter. Finally, I graduated from college with a 4 year degree in only 3 years, and did this while working at least 30 hours a week. I am a public realtions professional, although I am fortunate enough to be a stay at home mom for the time being as my husband has a well-paying position. I still volunteer my services to various organizations in town, and plan on returning to college to get my master's degree when my son is in school himself full-time.
So, I think the program should be based on each individual and their goals. It can be beneficial to some students.

 

[aprincessmom]

When I was in High School in the dark ages (1970s) I had the option of graduating a year early because I had met all the state's credit requirements. It wasn't because I was on an accelerated course or because I planned it that way, it just happened. Instead of taking electives like "Intro to Life" which taught you how to do laundry and balance a check book and fill out a job application, I took AP English. Instead of taking "How to use the Library" which taught you how to look up information in the library, I took Latin and Spanish. Instead of taking photography which taught you how to load film and take pictures (no developing techniques), I took Biology 3. Instead of taking typing which spent a semester teaching you to touch type, I took a classical literature class. By filling my schedule with courses that interested me I ended up with all my needed academic credits in my junior year.

But because I didn't know this until it credit check which happened too late to apply to colleges on time I ended up staying for the senior year, taking meaningless elective courses and boring myself senseless with classes like those mentioned above. It was incredibly challenging to stay focused, especially because I needed to get good grades in those meaningless (to me) classes because they contributed to my total GPA. Talk

So for those who want to I say let them.

 

[RitaZ.]

Also there is a large percentage of Florida students going into college (I believe it's around 50% but it could be a little less) that need to have remedial english and/or math classes before they can take classes for credit. That is a very scary statistic.

There is one fact that needs to be brought up, there are students that need to have remedial classes when entering college because English is their second language. I'm talking about kids that have been in the US a short time and haven't mastered the English language yet. I was one of those students (ok, that was 19 years ago) that had to take remedial English classes in college before taking classes for credit.

Things aren't "black and white" when it comes to education issues or anything else in life for that matter.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Rita, I understand students like this, but the fact is that a large percentage of that percentage aren't in the same situation that you were in. I understand that in this state there are a lot of people with english as a second language, but I still say that statistic is very telling.

I will not send my child to public school (if I ever have one) and I wish I could convince my DH's ex to send the kids to private school (even if it meant more $$$ from us).

And I will be voting for a 1 cent increase of the sales tax in Brevard County to go toward our schools.