Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
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What makes a “rigorous” high school?
Sunday’s New York Times has a good detailing of the problems of making federal education policy in our fractured national system of locally-controlled schools.
The story says Congress wants to encourage study in the sciences with scholarships, but only wants students who have completed a rigorous course of study in high school.
Who defines rigorous? it’s supposed to the the U.S. education secretary. But it’s not going to be easy. One idea is to qualify high schools in the State Scholars Program. Or they could piggy back on standards used by states to determine if some top students earn “advanced” diplomas. For state’s that not doing either of those, they might look at who offers advanced placement and international baccalaureate courses.
Critics of federal involvement of education say this could be a power grab, one that leads to federally-guided high school curriculum. But proponents say approaches like this could give more schools incentive to upgrade the quality of their course offerings.
What do you think of this move by Congress?
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Teaching and Learning
Comments
By Dave
January 23, 2006 8:38 AM | Link to this
And how many of these congreemen have completed a “rigorous” curriculum? It’s amazing how many folks with NO science background, are quick to try to dictate the science curriculum for the nation.By Mary
January 23, 2006 6:55 AM | Link to this
“Rigorous” should apply to the adults planning the curriculum and the school system more so than students. The talents and natural curiosity of many students are being wasted because of how we adults have designed our schools and educational priorities. Many of our brightest students sit through repetition from year to year and are conditioned into low achievement. I believe middle schools and high schools need to be using more teachers who have had experiences in fields outside education. (fat chance with today’s climate!) The adults need to focus on what all needs to be learned and set up the system to move students along. I know some will say this sounds like a production line with a conveyor belt, and in some respects it is. However, the current system is worse. The conveyor belt is simply stalled or moving at such a slow pace for the traditional 13 years of K-12 education for many students.