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I like the idea of kids working on what they need to work on and reaching mastery before moving on to the next level. That makes a lot more sense to me than struggling along into the next grade for no other reason than that you are the right age for that next grade.
It seems like the logistics could be quite hard to figure out.
I wonder about special needs too. Would this mean that kids who have learning disorders might be less likely to receive services (because if they're struggling with a concept, you can just get away with have them do it over and over again... ? )
^^^Living in Colorado and being a bit closer to the situation than most on this board, I would say "no", it doesn't impact special ed. This district is to be commended for thinking "outside the box".
I like this idea for the elementary years. It allows stronger students to move on instead of being bored.
I'm not so sure about it after grade 6 or 7. My kids were in a middle school (6-8) where some of the kids were 16 and 17 years old and supposedly doing remedial work so they could move on to HS. Mostly, they caused trouble.
In theory its a perfect practice. The way education should be handled.
But in practice, im sure it could cause difficulties (especially in when handling college admissions and the like).
The elementary school I attended back in the 70's did this, and is still doing this. One of the teachers from the high school in that district did her master's thesis comparing the kids from that one elementary school to the traditional elementary schools in the same town and found that the kids that came out of the 'gradeless' school did no better or worse then the kids from the traditional school.
Having gone through the school myself, I would not send my children to that school. The school had a lot of self directed learning and quite frankly, we spent a lot of time just goofing off during the day vs really learning anything. For a good student they can overcome that pretty easily but for average or below average students it is a nightmare in the older grades.
Personally I think every kid should be home schooled. With modern technology you could make the entire classroom online (think MIT open courseware), the kid learns everything online like one big classroom for all the kids. Have maybe a couple hundred teachers. To assess the students just give them a test and they can go to the higher levels. You could also make the curriculum more diverse. I think the child' best talents should be supported. So you would learn the basics like reading/writing/basic math but also many other subjects. If the kid likes science he should also be activly learning mechanical engineering, electrical engineering etc.
As for socialization activities, there will be various clubs in the community. Probably lots of volunteer stuff or maybe some sort of project. Could be anything. Parents, families, the child and the community will decide what is best.
I would also revamp the entire college system. These days college is nothing but organized book reading practically. Get rid of that. Instead, have the student read the books before they go to to college. When a student wants to go to college, they'll take an entrance exam. If they want to study electrical engineering then they take the electrical engineering exam. If the student is accepted to the school they will be expected to know the concepts already. The student will be doing research and advancing the field rather than organized book reading. Just think of it as turning college from book reading to more of an apprenticeship type thing. The student going to college to be a nurse will already know the concepts and in the college that person will apply the concepts to the real world. It would make a college education a lot more valuable and it would get rid of that pesky, "I don't have any real world experience." after graduation dilemma. It would also foster a new wave of ingenuity, creativity, and entrepreneurship. Maybe a student will be studying how to develop a new solar panel, cheaper, more efficient etc. He builds the model in the lab as a test. It works. That student could then go and bring that project to market and start a company. That is what this country needs.
Lets start embracing technology to revamp our education. We have the technology. We have the solutions. Lets start using them!
I believe this form of education
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That is how I run my little homeschool. I think it's a marvelous idea, and if all schools were like that, I might consider sending my kids to one!
Yup, that is probably one reason home school kids are significantly smarter than public school kids. Home school is free market style. So of course it builds the best product. I say education should be from a grass roots level, not a big government policy.
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I think it's a marvelous idea, and if all schools were like that, I might consider sending my kids to one!
