joyce on wed 13 aug 08
>
>Elizabeth said:
>
>There are a lot of kids that don't need to be in school past 10th grade.=A0=
> They need to be in trade school and it just isn't there for a lot of kids =
>and that is why they drop out and get jobs, or on the job training, or trad=
>e school, whatever you want to call it.
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>You're talking to the choir here, Elizabeth. I am in total agreement.
>
> It's
>a bigger problem in California than in some other states since our students
>are legally required to attend school until age 18 or graduation, whichever
>comes first. They may leave school at 16 IF they pass a comprehensive
>test that is far more difficult than the GED, and IF their parents are in
>complete agreement.
>
>Very few students actually follow through since it seems to be widely
>known that the test is meant to truly demonstrate that the student does
>in fact understand the information, which is tested at a high school
>senior level.
>
>At least when I was working, each year we often had a student or two
>pass the test in order to enter MIT or Harvard or Stanford etc without
>completing their senior year. In a few situations the students began
>their freshman year at the targeted school as a student AND teaching
>at least one class. One young man also taught Russian at their local
>high school while attending the university. He was a non-native Russian
speaker.
We did have alternative programs which served some students well.........
a Regional Occupational Program which allowed hands-on training
by experienced professionals within the community.... the medical
careers , retail merchandising and auto shop programs seemed to
have the most success. We also have an alternative high school
which serves the same need for other students; it, by the way, also
had a fine art program. Still there were too many students who
just sort of whiled away their last two years, marking time until they
were 18....... could join the service and "be free of all this sh**. I
loved the innocence of that last line, which I heard many times.
Joyce
In the Mojave desert of California U.S.A.
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