Should Middle Schools Be More Like High Schools?

I am a senior in high school. In my english class, we just did a writing assignment on improvements that we believe the educational system needs.My groups proposed improvement was exactly what Florida is doing. I totally agree with the system. MIddle school curriculum should be cut out and more rigorous high school courses should be instilled. Middle school was waste a of time for me. I can not recall anything that I learned the prepared me for high school let along college. This system will enable students to compete with kids of other countries. This system should be implemented everywhere.

courtB of MO 7:30AM October 11, 2009

dumb liberals suing becaue their kid is not as smart or hardworking as other kids. I believe it! I feel sorry for educators.

sell of TX 11:06AM March 06, 2009

There is a lot to be said about the AGE-APPROPRIATE curriculum that toured as "best practice". The further in time Education/Psychology gets from Piaget, the more research is done that proves his PSYCHOLOGY THEORY was just a slice of the possible truth. Far too much credence and practice on children is placed in the limited samples that Piaget used; apparently he had a great publicist.

Let children give things a try. The whole premise of Schooling at the moment is that ADULTS KNOW BEST, despite reams of research with results that prove, "the learner himself/herself knows best; although he/she might not be able to express it in educator/psychologist jargon".

Both my uninformed classroom experiences and subsequent reading of research literature convinces me that if a child (or adult) wants to learn something, his or her chronological age isn't going to prevent it. There are some physical skills that are unsuitable (e.g. infants driving 2000 pound cars) but when it comes to symbolic thinking, toddlers can hold their own with most adults. I've explained ∂r/∂t to seven year-olds and they understood it well enough that they were drawing graphs about it for the next two weeks - everything from racing toy cars to ripening fruit to learning math tables. What a learner can comprehend really depends on previous experiences, thoughtfully- structured current experiences and the discussions around the two.

When children are supported in learning conceptually using "concrete metaphors", (often in the form of discovery or exploratory experiences) then much is possible. In fact the earlier that learners wrestle with many concepts; the sooner they comprehend complexity, chaos and the likes of theoretical math with the power to better describe the functioning of the self-organizing world and civilization.

mary.russo 9:33PM February 28, 2009

Honestly, I thought this article was going to talk about how the pressure to succeed and perform at high levels at a much younger age. But no, it turned out to be an offensive one.

By stating that "...some education experts are concerned about this trend in Florida and in other states is leaving minority students behind.

Why would you automatically assume that offering advanced classes you would leave "minority students" behind?

It is actually the "white" students who are minorities in that Florida school, since they only make up 23% of the student population.

If schools offer registration to advanced (high school classes) to everyone then there is no problem. There will always be different kinds of students those who excel academically those who don't, and there are alot in the middle. Just because "white" students make up the majority of the advanced classes doesn't make it discrimination. If other students aren't up to the standards, ability wise, then they don't and shouldn't be in advanced classes.

But high school classes in middle school is a little bit dicey. The brains of MOST middle school students have not matured enough to grasp abstract material such as Algebra II.

Ceeana of AZ 2:39PM February 26, 2009