Re: stress in high school students


"Ericka Kammerer" <eek@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:y7-dnZr8d_pz4LXanZ2dnUVZ_hCdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Beliavsky wrote:
On Oct 31, 6:19 am, Clisby <clis...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

If the real goal of PE is promoting physical fitness, it seems to me
kids should be able to test out of it - at least in high school. If
you can run a mile in less than 10 minutes, do X number of
pushups/situps, etc. - you're already fit enough - go take a class that
will actually accomnplish something.

I'd like to "raise" you and use "testing out" more broadly.

Many states now have high school exit exams, which students can
typically attempt for the first time in 10th grade. Presumably they
cover material that should have been learned by the end of 9th grade.
I think students ought to qualify for high school diplomas and
admission to state universities once they have passed the exam,
regardless of what grade they are in.

I doubt that these tests as they are currently
designed provide a good substitute for a HS education.
Typically they are testing only for minimal basic proficiency.
For instance, the English tests could determine whether
you know a participle from a gerund, but likely provide
no evaluation of whether you are capable of writing a
decent term paper or essay, whether you have any research
skills, or a bunch of other things essential to success
in college.
There is, of course, a test for a high school
diploma (GED) already, but it also tends not to be well-respected
because it really isn't geared to discriminate among higher
achieving students. Leveraging the current state exit exams
isn't likely to be much more successful/respected than that.

A high enough SAT score serves the purpose you want already, especially if
you have decent SAT II scores as well. It's not widely advertised, and you
give up significant financial aid, but many schools will accept a student
who hasn't completed high school, but is, say, 80%+ on all sections without
a problem. I don't know how many schools would take a CTY student at age 12
as a full-time, on campus student, but at, say age 16, it's really not hard
to find schools which will waive the policy.

However, what both DH and I found was that patching together a program
locally was a more cost-effective alternative. A mishmash of dual enrollment
and AP classes let both of us enter with significant credits already
completed, plus extremely generous scholarship packages, where when we'd
applied for full, early admission a few years later, the response had been
"Sure, we'd love to have you, but you're not eligible for financial aid or
scholarships since you haven't finished high school". And for me, at least,
that extra two years of taking private lessons and music classes helped
considerably, because the level of skill expectation at a University school
of music really doesn't have a cap.










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