HI all, just curious about a few things. As parents of high schoolers, what do you feel are your biggest pain points? What could be done better?
Not exactly sure what you are getting at…
I think one thing that could be done better is for parents to understand the math tracks that their schools have (which are in the curriculum guides)…parents don’t look at say how their student who is in Alg 1 as a freshman can get to calculus as a senior…often they realize their students should have doubled up/taken a summer course too late.
What are pain points?
“I think one thing that could be done better is for parents to understand the math tracks that their schools have (which are in the curriculum guides)…parents don’t look at say how their student who is in Alg 1 as a freshman can get to calculus as a senior…often they realize their students should have doubled up/taken a summer course too late.”
Amen!
In our school district, the “super advanced” math track (where your kid starts HS in Algebra 2+) was determined in 3rd grade. High school math curriculum was not on any parents’ radar at that point.
The “Advanced Track” (which allows your student to start HS with geometry) was determined at the end of 5th grade. Again, most parents weren’t aware of all the ramifications. Luckily DD switched schools in 6th, and they put her in this track.
Algebra 1 is the regular track. There is no honors boost for Algebra 1 and those students are not on track to take any calculus. No honors-level math classes are offered in the summer, and the non honors classes lead to AP Stats at best, but not to calculus. There is no clean-and-clear way to jump tracks. Over 400,000 students take one of the AP Calculus exams each year. STEM-hopeful students who don’t have some calculus are likely to be at a disadvantage (both in the application process and in their first year of college).
We’re relieved it worked out for DD, but we’re aware that more transparency, with more opportunities to accommodate late bloomers and slower STEM learners, might have made a positive difference for others.
I hate the expression “pain points” , which is business slang for areas that need to be improved upon to make the business run smoother or more successfully.
Lets leave that lingo for use in business. What you want to know are areas for improvement in the high school process. The biggest problem I saw in my son’s high school was that while the counselors were over run with too many kids to keep track of and assist in the college process, they did little to use technology to improve their productiveness.
Students had to always meet live with counselors instead of having some type of portal that they could log into to enter information.
Too many kids and not enough counselors. “Back in the day” when I was in school, our counselors would sit down with us each year and actually talk about what our goals were and what we both wanted and needed. Our counselors (and most of the administration) also taught classes and knew the students. Today, my kids’ counselors probably couldn’t pick out most of them in a lineup. Even when it comes to college recs, the counselors distribute a brag sheet for the students to fill out.
D20 was diagnosed with ADHD as a high-school student, so had no formal plan in place. Now, the school is so huge, that we have no idea how to even get started with accommodations - and all she really wants is extra time to complete assignments so that she has a weekend to get them done.
Putting too much emphasis on EC design and not enough on EC enjoyment. That is, asking “How will this look?” vs “Do I enjoy this?” when picking places to invest what limited time is available.