<p>I’m from California and I think the language requirement is useless. I studied abroad in Germany for a year my senior year of high school and learned more German in a month (or less!) there than Spanish in 4 years of high school (German wasn’t offered at my high school). I barely remember any Spanish now. In fact, I now associate Spanish with boredom and have zero interest in it. My Spanish teachers weren’t even particularly bad or anything - it’s just that the classroom experience is really divorced from the real, living language. Most people are just taking it for the requirement and don’t care that their accent is terrible (myself included for Spanish) or are just not very good at language X. The problem is that in foreign language classes the level of the students around you affects you more than in other classes like math or history.</p>
<p>I wasn’t aware that GCSEs could be that broad. I did O-Levels in maths, additional maths (covers nearly all of what the Brits call C1 and C2 for A-Level maths), English, a language and the three sciences. Everyone had their subjects pretty much picked out for them. You’re either in science, arts or economics. There’s also a stream which allows one to do DT instead of biology.</p>
<p>On the surface, it looks good but I’m not entirely convinced on the depth of the subjects. The syllabus for arts/humanities subjects - I only have first hand experience with CIE - look rigorous enough, especially English literature and history, but those for mathematics and the sciences are shaky at best. I didn’t learn much from my studies in A-Level math, physics and while I studied it, chemistry. I find A-Level Maths and Physics to be very, very poor preparation for further study at university, in disciplines that make use of or are related to these subjects. The A-Level maths syllabus is essentially a mathematical methods course which helps no one. The math department of the university of Manchester sees this as a problem and as such, has a compulsory first-year module called “Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning” which uses Eccles’ text of the same name, to make up those deficiencies.</p>
<p>I also don’t know how things are in the UK, but everywhere else where an external body administers exam, there seems to be this obsession about grades. Sure, they are important but so is learning the material. People have a tendency to focus more on improving exam technique and increasing the % of A*s achieved in their schools, as opposed to actually instructing students. Students, in general, also seem to prefer to be coached, rather than taught. A good way to get rid of that mentality would be to reduce the number of written exams and add in an oral exam to compensate for it. Something like Oxbridge interviews. If not that, then at least, changing the style of questions and marking would be a good way to start! Decrease the focus on computations (math/science) and increase it on reasoning.</p>
<p>The bottomline is that I am glad that there seems to have been some changes at the GCSE level (not sure when those happened) but there still has a lot of work to be done.</p>
<p>As the author of the article that started this thread , I don’t know where to start commenting
My one option of a grade 7-14 really argues that for some students full time school is just too confining for them, so if there was a more formal way for them to work part time and go to school part time and just take more years to conplete a diploma I think it would save a lot of kids from dropping out.</p>
<p>I think people are absolutely completely missing the point of teaching foreign languages in school. </p>
<p>You’re not necessarily supposed to attain fluency in school, you’re not necessarily supposed to remember all the vocabulary in school, heck - it’s okay if you can barely speak a few sentences in that language. The point of learning a language is not just to teach you how to communicate in the language, but it also teaches you many, many critical thinking skills that can be applied to your English/native language skills as well as numerous cognitive benefits including but certainly not limited to more flexible and better abstract thinking skills, a more advanced English vocabulary, better understanding of English grammar, and increased intellectual development. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You can easily just google “benefits of learning a language” and get a crazy amount of results.</p>
<p>Personally, I think Latin is the best language for doing so all this. I’d even like to see Latin re-instated as a mandatory requirement for graduation in schools, but I know that’s never going to happen. But while Latin may have a lot of benefits over most modern language, there is one benefit to teaching real-world languages and that’s teaching the appreciation and tolerance of other cultures - something wayyyyy too many kids (and adults) lack in the world today.</p>
<p>“Despite what we now know about the power of learning through talking and doing, we persist in expecting students to learn by listening.”</p>
<p>The author argues that the teaching approach, teacher talk and student listens, has failed to generate enough students that meet an academic level of standard. However, using the same approach, schools in other countries, like South Korea and India, educationally rank top two in science and mathematics. So why is there a difference in result?</p>
<p>Bard College at Simon’s Rock, the early college, has the right idea. It takes highly motivated, bright, out of the box students finishing 10th or 11th grade, who are just simply bored with high school and starts them on a rigorous academic BA program. High school drop outs…college graduates. This year in Forbes “30 to watch under 30”, four of them were Simon’s Rock Alum. Changed my daughter’s life…went from bored teen to engaged, independent academic. Check out their website. They get what bright teens need!</p>
<p>Some schools are so distressed over state requirements, poor scores, behavior issues, etc. that they use the top kids to shore up their reputations, pushing them into more and more competitions when they are already overworked in their IB programs, extracurriculars, community service, possibly work, and family commitments. Smart kids need sleep too. Actually, they might need more rest than other kids because all that thinking can be tiring. Seriously.</p>
<p>We liked the idea of Simon’s Rock, but my son wanted to go to MIT, so it didn’t seem an option. Plus, I really wanted to finish raising him. Same reason I didn’t let him go to the Texas math and science magnet in Denton. Don’t regret it, but I think he would have really thrived at Simon’s Rock.</p>
<p>There is definitely a need for something different in regular public schools. It is much too narrow in the approach to teaching and what it offers. Everyone does better with choices. </p>
<p>I like the idea of vocational training. One poster noted that there are a lot of people that are not academically motivated. They just want to get finished with school and get a job. Unfortunately the choices of jobs available are not good with just a HS diploma. But, if there was more actual job training that would be different.</p>
<p>That doesn’t mean that the training has to end at HS for those kids that are learning vocations, it could continue and become more specialized if the student is interested. Every kid needs to learn a certain amount of basics but for those that are only in school because the law requires it, they should have other choices.</p>
<p>Simple dual enrollment with CC would be great too. When kids have choices(anybody really) there is more dedication and more interest. Why not let a 15 year old begin the study of auto mechanics or carpentry? They would learn a skill instead of graduating in a few years to go and look for a job at a fast food joint.</p>
<p>I think vocational training is important as well; our current system has resulted in hundreds of mediocre colleges filled with students who are likely only there due to pressure from their parents or because it’s what’s acceptable/expected. As a result, the value of a college degree has decreased significantly and the competition to get into the more prestigious colleges has escalated to a completely unhealthy level, as illustrated by the existence of websites like this one. </p>
<p>I would create a vocational public school track where students may choose to go after 8th or 9th grade, and I would have it last maybe two years so more students who would otherwise drop out at 16 or 17 would complete their secondary education. The curriculum would be heavily vocation-based and include apprenticeships or internships like in the German system. Rather than emphasizing the college search, the schools would emphasize the career search and have more extensive career resource centers. Graduating students would also have the option of completing high school or a GED, or maybe there would be a feeder program into local community colleges so students could complete an associate’s degree.</p>
<p>@bleach340:
I can’t help but disagree with you greatly. Vocational schools may not get you far, but it’s better than a “parking lot attendant.” Of course, a college degree on average would earn you a lot more over your lifetime, but that’s not what everyone is cut out for. Some people just detest books and learning, and we can’t assume that everyone values college.</p>
<p>And our teachers aren’t the main problem, it’s the parents. Of course, posting this in a parents forum I expect a few calls for my head on the chopping block, but it’s true. Parents simply do not motivate their children enough. The difference I see between the grades of my friends are mostly a function of the requirements set by their parents. Parents that ask their children to get A’s and offer rewards upwards of $100 per A often have children that do not get A’s. Those that have a non-negotiable requirement for their children to get A’s often have children that get A’s. Children are most of the time unable to motivate themselves at all and teachers are POWERLESS to force them. They can threaten to fail them, but often, their threats are ignored entirely. Ultimately as a parent, it’s your job to teach your child to motivate themselves. The motivated student will be determined to find every way to achieve. The unmotivated student will be determined to find every excuse to use.</p>
<p>At my school right now, the curriculum is being changed drastically. Essentially you take two years worth of high school and put it into one. Everyone takes two semesters of English, foreign language, and math with one semester for science and history leaving two blocks for electives. At the end of your 10th grade year you take the ACT and if you get below a 23 you go to the local community college (either that or take community college classes offered on campus) to get a degree to essentially go into a career that does require that you go to a four year university. I think it’s kind of like a vocational degree or something, but you finish high school early. If, however, you make a 23 or above on the ACT and you want to go into a career that requires you go to a four year university you finish up high school and take upper level classes to get into college. Another difference is the instead of having algebra I and II, geometry, etc. you take Core Math which is essentially a combination of algebra I and II, geometry etc. The same applies to English. </p>
<p>The grading scale is also being changed, instead of having hundreds of grades put into the grading book, only eight grades will be put in per semester. For sophomores and below, instead of getting As, Bs, Cs, or Ds, they will be getting a 1, 2, 3 or 4 put in the grade book based on a curve with the bottom 25 percent of grades becoming a 1 and the top 25 percent of grades becoming a 4. A 4 is an A, a 3 a B, a 2 a C, and a 1 a D so essentially no one fails, but they won’t pass you unless you have a 2.5 GPA. I don’t know what will happen if the highest grade is, say, a 45 or if the lowest is an 89 but apparently it’s all a good idea. Whether or not I agree with that statement, I have yet to decide.</p>
<p>That’s really interesting, as the system seems to be changing to become more like the UK system, with less academic people leaving after 10th and the school offering core subjects, as we do here for basically everything. We just have maths, English, History et generally instead of seperating them so people take more of a broader range of subjects.</p>