Schools across country prepare to start having students graduate "early"

[Katarina Witt]

Dozens of public high schools in eight states will introduce a program next year allowing 10th graders who pass a battery of tests to get a diploma two years early and immediately enroll in community college.

Students who pass but aspire to attend a selective college may continue with college preparatory courses in their junior and senior years, organizers of the new effort said. Students who fail the 10th-grade tests, known as board exams, can try again at the end of their 11th and 12th grades. The tests would cover not only English and math but also subjects like science and history.
The new system of high school coursework with the accompanying board examinations is modeled largely on systems in high-performing nations including Denmark, England, Finland, France and Singapore.

I really question the sentence in bold. I never thought of those education systems as especially "high performance".

Here is some good information on education in France, from a French perspective:

http://www.understandfrance.org/France/Education.html

Here is Wiki's:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seconda...tion_in_France

[golfgal]

We pretty much have this in MN already. Kids don't technically "graduate" from high school early but starting their junior year they can take classes at 4 year colleges/universities that count for high school and college credit. You can take one class or all of your classes at the college if you want. Many kids graduate from high school with 2 full years of college credits under their belts--for FREE. It still allows kids to participate in high school activities-sports, music, etc. too. I think it is a great compromise and a better way to go then sending your academically advanced students to community college.

[Ivorytickler]

Given that a bachelors degree has become what a high school diploma used to be, this is the next logical step. In my last go round in college, I was shocked what passes for a college class these days. I had to take a 300 level math class that was very elementary yet many of my classmates barely passed. This is all part of the dummying down of education.

[Katarina Witt]

At my kids' high school, a few kids graduate early every year, generally at the end of the first semester senior year. One student I know who did this was actually being expelled, so they let him graduate instead. Some few want to start college early, or join the military. I also know of a student who had been held back when she started kindergarten, and she was the oldest in her class. She took summer classes so she could graduate a year early, which was actually when she should have graduated. The major difficulty is fulfilling the 4 year requirement for language arts, which can be dealt with by taking some electives in LA.

[sebladj09]

Originally Posted by PurpleLove08

My high school allowed 11th and 12th graders to take classes at the local community college. I thought it was a great idea.

Of course I agree with you about students being educated to not need to take remedial classes in the first place. It's kind of a no-brainer.

My high school also offered this, starting with the sophomores (going into their junior year) when I was graduating. I have got the priviledge to have them in some of my college classes as well. They have to go through several tests to "qualify" for it too so you aren't getting the kids who aren't serious about it. There have been students who graduate from high school already having an associate's degree, how awesome would that be?

[Bob's Burgers]

The school districts get paid money for each student. Why would they let them graduate early?