--- Kevin Tarr <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: <snippage><snip>At a certain age, I think it was 12, the students are ran through a battery of tests. If they do good, they are pushed towards more education. If not, they are put into a trade type school. If a parent feels his kid should be in the academic track, they can send them to a private school or get tutoring to help them continue. I'm sure it's easy for a child to want to go the trade track. If the student has behavior problems in the academic track, they can be easily kicked out. So right there the teachers and administrators have more power and control. If a kid is kicked out, he can go to a trade school, or a private school.
When the kids were 18, they took another set of tests. Those with good grades could go to free public college. Those with lesser scores had to pay for college, whether public or private, or start working.
I think developing "trade-oriented" vs. "academic-oriented" programs makes sense; the trick would be to keep it from being discriminatory toward minorities. I don't see why someone who has loved being a 'tinkerer' and enjoys fixing leaky faucets should be forced to sit in a classroom all day, not-learning trigonometry and iambic pentameter. Plumbing is a portable, valuable vocation which allows self-employment as well as union/contract work.
But as some people who were poor scholars as kids later become motivated to return to academia, I'd like to see flexible programs, including at least one year of classroom/campus environment (the rapid flow and "off-on-neat-tangents" experience is tough to reproduce without face-to-face encounters, IMHO), for these adult students. [I don't have any experience with community/junior colleges; can anyone comment on whether they could (or already do) fulfill this role?]
Debbi who cannot remember a time when she didn't want to *know*...'most everything! :)
NYC has some specialized high schools that run a vocational track as opposed to an academic track. Frex, Aviation High School focuses on the aviation industry, training airframe and powerplant mechanics; Westinghouse for electricity and electronics; Mabel Dean Bacon for the nursing profession; Food and Maritime Trades for the food and seagoing industries; etc. Many of these schools require prospective students to take entrance examinations, so they were not used as 'dumping grounds'. I think that the most effective of these types of schools partner with the trade unions and industry to provide students with apprenticeship opportunities.
john
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