High School Equivalency Exam

Perhaps you both will agree that many, if not most, high schools are poorly run academic disasters. Avoiding violence is a real problem here locally, never mind getting an education. The District moves "students" who have committed felonies from one high school to another.

Unfortunately, it does not seem politically correct to separate serious students from the thugs. If I had a magic wand, I'd put the problems in a boot camp setup with ex-Marine drill instructors, who could teach their pupils in any way they saw fit, as long as they didn't leave permanent scars or injuries.

But we have to deal with what we have. Home schooling by some, private school for others and perhaps someday vouchers to allow choice and promote excellence.

My wife teaches in community college and gets some home-schoolers who are taking advanced courses their parents can't teach. Here they can go for free but they are the last to register and must be at least 16. They don't participate in campus life (what little there is in community college) so I don't see it as a threatening atmosphere.

Her classes have students from 16 to 70. Much of the difference between the oldest students and the college freshmen is in their prior education. Since she teaches a foreign language, she finds that she often has to teach the younger students English grammar. (They have no clue about the structure of English.) The older ones are aghast at the ignorance of the younger ones although most of the home-schoolers have had better preparation.

Cool. I was pretty darn confused.

I meant more the content of math than the level of competence that will be tolerated.

But heck you make a good point.

When I was in high school it was a traditional for Seniors to spend their last few weeks scrambling around looking for the few extra units they needed to fulfill their graduation requirements. It always seemed to come as a shock to them that they were short.

My parents, however, insisted that I take a full schedule every year and actually pass my classes. Thus I entered my senior year needing only one required, and one elective class. I could have finished this up in one semester. But when I suggested to my mother that I could graduate early I got a resounding, "NO!"

I took two full semesters of classes instead. I do understand why my mother wanted me to remain in high school. I was almost a year younger than my fellow classmates and was still only seventeen when I entered college.

I have to wonder if leaving high school early and going on to college wouldn't have been the better choice.

Our daughter just started her first Community College course last week. It's a two week Writing class that meets every day from 8-noon. She'll get a semester's credit for it!

She's a homeschooled Junior, and in the Spring semester will take Intro Chemistry, which is essentially a high school level Chem course, but one which is required of ALL students who have not had hs Chem. and want to take the Chem Class with the lab work. When she has completed the Chem with the Lab, she'll go on to take Physics. I'm using the Comm. Coll. for those courses, like the Sciences, which are more difficult to manage at home because of restrictions on buying lab supplies, chemicals, etc.

I have her registered with a high school in Maine for transcript and diploma purposes. The school considers a one semester college course as a full year's high school credit, so the college classes are doing double duty for both high school and college credit!

So glad you got the chance to teach yourself Alg. 2. When our #2 son was in the seventh grade, he was bored with the Math at the Catholic school he attended, so Sir SuziQ taught him Alg. 1 at home. In the 8th grade, he got the opportunity to go to the local Catholic all boys school to take Algebra 1. He, and two girls in his class, were chosen to go., but as he'd already had Alg. 1, we wanted him to take Alg. 2. The head of the Math Dept. was a friend of ours so he arranged for there to be an Alg. 2 class at the same time as the Alg. 1 class the girls would attend. He passed with flying colors, and over the summer taught himself Geometry, passed the final given to the summer school students, and started the ninth grade in Pre-Calculus. He took AP Calculus BC in his soph. year, and in his Junior year, took advantage of the opportunity to take Math at Holy Cross college! By the time his Senior year rolled around, he was tired of going back and forth from the college to the school, that he didn't take any math at all!

Both our older sons attended that Catholic high school, and our youngest son is enrolled there now. It is a rigorous school, and it instills responsibility in the boys so they come out (most of them) well behaved young men.

Our daughter didn't want to return to school, so she'll be finishing up high school in 2006, with several college classes under her belt!

In some states, a sixteen year old CANNOT take the GED. Otherwise, there would be far too many smart kids dropping out and going directly to college. The teacher unions don't allow it.
***I think in California it's probably true as well, unless the kid drops out of high school. It's a bizarre twist, but we might be able to take advantage of it.

I think most states have laws that kids can't take the GED before their normal graduation time.
***Hopefully you found the right loophole below.

The "other" best option, ") would be to call oneself a homeschool student, and take "dual track" courses at the local community college. These courses would be applied to his high school graduation and his future college degree. This is certainly legal in my state. I think you can take up to 29 hours this way, but I'm not sure as to the exact amount.
***So, once a kid has 29 hours under his belt, he's wasting his time if he doesn't take the GED and move onto college?

"Unfortunately, it does not seem politically correct to separate serious students from the thugs."
***Well, this forum is one of the last places one would look for politically correct thinking. However, this proposal drives right down the middle of sensible economics, freedom of choice, hard work generating rewards, and mainstream americans who want to push themselves. It's simply the right thing to do.

Oh, I don't disagree with your proposal, but it would still only solve the problem for a minority of students.

"it would still only solve the problem for a minority of students."
***I doubt that, but I'll take it. A few years ago there was a debate on vouchers where some catholic priest was challenged by the liberal opposition. They kept saying that the problem was public schools were saddled with the riffraff students, the worst of the bunch. The priest was asked if he would take the lowest 5% as a test of whether the voucher system would work. He said, "I'll take that challenge." The liberals had nothing to say after that, and had to completely change tactics. So I'll take your challenge of helping out a minority of students.

"I suggest you visit several high schools in small towns in the south. Start with Summerville, SC."

***How about if I start with Irmo High School in Columbia?

Islamist Threat to Public Schools in Columbia, South Carolina?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1300024/posts?page=1

Florida Law Lets Pupils Forgo High School

http://www.watleyreview.com/2003/090903-2.html

Of all the ways attempted to free up space in Florida's crowded classrooms, this one could be a dream come true for high schoolers in a hurry: a diploma without attending school.

Supporters of a law granting a high school diploma to anyone who asks said it will help curb crowding in Florida's schools. Critics fear it will deprive high school graduates of extracurricular activities and valuable classroom skills, such as reading.

The state's top education official is already warning that the new law essentially enabling students to forgo school is not for everyone.

``It was meant for a small group, a band of students, who were not only mature enough but smart enough to obtain a high school diploma based on their life experience,'' Education Commissioner Jim Horne said. ``It's not an attempt under class size pressure to do away with high school. Although, we are offering a $500 cash incentive to any student willing to sign up for the program."

The fast-track graduation law was among several measures passed this spring in the wake of a voter-approved amendment requiring the state to take immediate action to start reducing class sizes and educational spending. Under the option, students can graduate with upon turning eighteen provided that they can demonstrate "life experience" to a panel of examiners in a brief 10-minute oral exam.

"This program could save Florida millions," said Horne. "It's a win-win situation: students are delighted to take home $500 cash, and the state saves thousands in trying to educate them."

No other state has tried a similar program, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Texas started offering scholarships this year to students who stay home their senior year, but only those who complete a gun safety course.

``Kids are having a hard enough time as it is in college,'' said Okeechobee County School District Assistant Superintendent Lee Dixon. ``Do we really want these kids entering college or the workforce with no appreciable skills?"

"They already are," responded Horne. "At least this way we save some money."

Florida state officials declined to comment on speculation that this program is an attempt to wrest the title of most-mocked state from California. Florida held this position for two years following the 2000 presidential election, but was displaced thanks to California's surreal gubernatorial recall.

"I'd think this program would give Florida a pretty good shot at taking the crown back from California," said Dixon. "They may have Gary Coleman on the ballot for the next two months, but we'll have these kids kicking around the state for the rest of their lives."

Copyright (c) 2003 The Watley Review, all rights reserved.

Volume 1, Issue 17, September 9, 2003

More young geniuses skip high school, opt for college

http://www.uh.edu/admin/media/topstories/2001/05/hc052101geniuses.htm

By LYNN BREZOSKY
Associated Press
May 18, 2001, 11:18AM

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- From the back, he looks like any other college student measuring electron spin, with his thin wavy hair in a ponytail halfway down his back and his shoulders hunched over a flickering oscilloscope screen.

The boyish voice exclaiming, "Neat!" gives him away. Jackson Reed is 14.

At 2 1/2, he was memorizing books. By 6, he was mastering algebra and hating school.

"I became cynical about halfway through first grade," Reed remembered during a conversation in the Union College campus center. "We were doing these speed tests, like `2 plus 2' ... I would get half of them wrong. Of course, I didn't care. But everyone would constantly harass me."

In the annals of world genius, there have always been Jacksons -- children so smart there is nothing to do but send them to college and hope they thrive.

In the past, they have been consistently rare, said Cliff Adelman of the National Center for Education. The number of university students under 18 has corresponded neatly with the nation's birth rate and college attendance rate. In 1997, the latest data available, just 2.4 percent -- or 353,000 of 14.5 million high school students -- were enrolled in higher education.

Yet those who specialize in academically gifted students say they have observed a recent surge in the numbers of those at four-year schools, a trend they credit to more college-educated families, more enrichment programs, home schooling, and even to higher IQs.

Reed's mother pulled him out of school when bullying started at age 8.

"He was definitely picked on," said Janet Reed. "He thought differently and he was different. You know how kids are."

Private school cost too much, so education became a family project involving everything from Internet course work and mail-order lectures to Mom's old college textbooks.

At 12, he got a 1540 on the SAT; 1600 is a perfect score on the college aptitude exam.

Last year, he entered Union, a small campus of 2,000 students known for educating future computer scientists, biologists and engineers. It's also only about a half-hour drive from the Reeds' Troy home. All of that is important, Janet Reed said. "Basically, this is his high school."

Math professor Julius Barbanel said he talks to Reed on the same level as he would a colleague.

Student Greg Schwanbeck, 19, who has been Reed's occasional lab partner, said he tries to treat Reed as an equal -- who's really smart.

"I learned early on in physics that you definitely want to fit in with those at the top of the physics pecking order," Schwanbeck said. "He's right up there."

Kids are a lot brighter than they used to be, according to Julian Stanley, a psychologist who started the Center for Talented Youth at Johns Hopkins University back in 1972.

"When I went to high school, there was no calculus, there was no physics," said Stanley, who is 82. "Now it's a lazy bright kid who doesn't take calculus. It used to be we collected butterflies and catalogued them. Now they have to do something that looks like a Ph.D. dissertation."

While Stanley defends the best public high schools as being very good, the Center for Talented Youth is increasingly referring students to college campuses. And colleges are opening their doors to the younger students, even tailoring a few programs by setting up mini-campus centers, counselors and supervised dorms. Sensing a market, some universities are assuming the role of super-accelerated high schools.

"Maybe it's the competition to get the best and brightest," said Linda Brody, director of the center's Study of Exceptional Talent. "We're seeing it more and more. It's a trend."

Four years ago, after a summer program at Duke University that she describes as "three weeks of pure bliss" with "other nerds that were just like me," Danielle Correll left school after the eighth grade to enter Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Va. There, she triple majors in art, international relations and French.

The social life, Correll said, was the best part of her experience.

While some young students can handle being on their own in college, most experts don't advise it. Reed still lives with his family, and while he appears comfortably detached from the wild side of campus life (he said going to a fraternity party would be "an anthropological exhibition where one is as Jane Goodall among the apes"), his parents aren't about to set him free to experiment.

Stanley has seen students get lost.

One student enrolled at Johns Hopkins at 14, after being valedictorian of his high school. "He really fouled it up," Stanley said. "At the end of the year he sold his microscopes and bought a guitar and headed off to California. He was trying to act 18. He wouldn't take a bath. He was a pain in the neck."

The jury is still out as to whether fast-track kids have markedly more successful lives. A longitudinal study affiliated with the Johns Hopkins program and now being continued at Vanderbilt University is tracking more than 5,000 students as they progress through life.

Reed sees many possibilities for his future -- technology, web design, particle physics, theoretical math, topology in logic. Correll has taken a civilian job with the U.S. Navy, where she'll be negotiating international contracts for aviation weapons systems.

But fast track is no guarantee.

Michael Kearney made the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest college student, graduating from the University of South Alabama at 10 with a bachelor's degree in anthropology.

Though at 14 he earned a master's in biochemistry from Middle Tennessee State University with a thesis focusing on cancer research, it was after being rejected for graduate enrollment by Duke, Emory and Vanderbilt universities.

Age in itself isn't necessarily impressive, Harvard Law School Dean of Admissions Joyce Curll explained. Law in particular is a field where life experience weighs as heavily as anything else. Business is another.

"We look at what they have accomplished," she said. "People don't need to be in a hurry."

Gifted Kids

http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/atc/20020715.atc.05.ram

Many states have set standards for what every child should know at the end of high school. But what about kids who've mastered all that material in junior high school, or elementary school? NPR's Mandalit Del Barco reports on a measure California lawmakers are considering that would allow high-achieving students to skip high school and go straight to community college.

Acceleration: Valuable high school to college option

http://www.ditd.org/Cybersource/record.aspx?sid=11412&scat=902&stype=110

Author(s)

Robinson, N. and Noble, K.

Attributes

Acceleration, Early College

Source

Gifted Child Today, Prufrock Press March and April 1992

Description

This full text article by Nancy Robinson and Kathleen Noble provides some practical part-time acceleration options, as well as full-time acceleration options, and introduces the University of Washington's Transition School and Early Entrance Program. Not accelerating a gifted child causes them to abandon the intellectual pursuit and become at-risk for difficulties. Two options for acceleration are the High School Baccalaureate programs and specialized schools.

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6/29/2004 12:21:00 PM

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For the young person whose intellectual development is markedly above average, the pace of ordinary secondary school classes can be deadly, "like going through every day in a slow motion movie." according to one student. To a 12-year-old with an IQ of 150, whose mental development in important ways resembles that of the average high school senior, six more years of junior and senior high school can seem forever. This discouraging perception leads many students to "turn off," abandoning the intellectual pursuits that once held so much promise of self-fulfillment and becoming at-risk for a variety of difficulties: marked underachievement in school and consequent exclusion from the colleges of their choice; irritability, discontent, and depression; and for some, substance abuse, suicide, or delinquency. Even students who remain focused academically, who control their impatience and earn good grades, are not immune to the lack of challenge in the ordinary curriculum, a situation which practically guarantees that they will not acquire the habits of thought or study they will need to fulfill their potential as first-rate scholars and innovative problem-solvers of the future.

Challenging secondary programs do exist. Some students are fortunate enough to attend college preparatory high schools that are intellectually demanding and invigorating, although these programs do not usually target gifted students per se. For others, the high school International Baccalaureate program provides a serious academic program and may lead to some college credit. Specialized and accelerated schools like the Bronx High School of Science, Hunter College High School, or the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics may obviate the need for additional acceleration, because such schools are typically attuned to the individual talents of students and make available opportunities to proceed at their own speed.

For most highly capable secondary school students, however, acceleration toward and into work at the college level is a more feasible avenue to achieve an optimal educational match, an appropriate fit between readiness and opportunity (Robinson & Robinson, 1982). Some students can profit from acceleration across the board, while others need it in some domains but not others. Some need to move very rapidly toward college while, for others, entering college a year ahead of schedule is more appropriate. Options are needed, and fortunately are available, to match the characteristics of various students.

Part-Time Accelerative Options
For the bright and mature student, folklore to the contrary, the senior year is often the hardest to endure. Students who utilize part-time accelerative options generally plan to leave high school about a year early, often having fulfilled some of their high school requirements with college courses which have earned them credit at both levels. Among the part-time options available in most communities are the following:

Planning a high school curriculum that omits some graduation requirements but fulfills the entrance requirements for the colleges of choice.

Skipping or compacting the steps in sequential courses such as mathematics or language, sometimes with a bit of independent work or tutoring to smooth the transitions. Many students can, for example, undertake algebra without the customary "pre-algebra," or can work ahead of classmates during French I in order to move directly to French III the following year.

Utilizing Advanced Placement courses and examinations eligible for credit once the student enters college. (Note that students are not required to take AP courses in order to take the examinations, though they certainly help.)

Enrolling in challenging summer programs which yield high school credit, such as those offered in connection with the regional talent searches.

Taking correspondence (occasionally, televised) courses for high school or college credit. This option usually works best if two or more students take the course with the support of an adult who helps keep them on track.

Enrolling in community college or university courses at a nearby institution concurrent with high school during the summer or the regular academic year, either going beyond course sequences completed in high school or as a way of exploring new areas.

Independent study of a topic of interest is not strictly an accelerative option, although it can be extremely valuable and deserves encouragement. It is important to distinguish between meeting academic requirements through mastery of an accepted curriculum, in or out of class, and self-directed study. Independent learning can be a source of pleasure (and profit) throughout life, and students deserve time and energy for such endeavors. Yet, it is generally more effective in meeting academic requirements at an accelerated pace to follow a coherent curriculum than to attempt to create one de novo.

Full-Time Accelerative Options
Almost every college and university has some provision for admitting students one to several years early; on almost every campus, one can find a few very young students. Yet, although they have achieved an academic match, those who have entered more than 1, or possibly 2 years early, may find themselves socially and emotionally out of step with their regular-age classmates.

A number of special programs do exist, however, that encourage and support early entrance to college. These programs tend to enroll sufficient numbers of bright students to provide both a social match in the form of a peer group, and an educational match in coursework. They provide a variety of models.

Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia, for example, enrolls gifted young girls one to four years early in a small liberal arts college with peers who are equally young and equally bright. Simon's Rock of Bard College takes students as young as tenth grade. The Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science at the University of North Texas enrolls college students who are exceptionally talented in mathematics and science, during what would have been their junior year in high school. At California State University, Los Angeles, The Early Entrance Program is modeled on an early version of the program described below. Finally, the Matteo Ricci, a joint program of Seattle University and Seattle Preparatory School, though not particularly devised for gifted teenagers, compacts high school and college into a 6 year program.

The University of Washington's Transition School and Early Entrance Program
The Early Entrance Program (EEP), created by the late Halbert Robinson in 1977, is another such effort to provide an optimal match for adolescents with advanced academic abilities. The program enables highly capable young people of middle or junior high school age (maximum is 14 years at entry) to accelerate their education radically, entering he University without attending high school at all.

Early Entrance students are teenagers with high intellectual ability and the motivation to embark upon university level coursework. They are a diverse and lively group from widely different backgrounds. They are selected on the basis of scores on the Washington PreCollege Test (similar to the SAT), Stanford-Binet IV, a 20-minute essay, achievement test records, class grades, teacher recommendations, and extensive interviews with students and their families. Each year, up to 15 young people enter the Transition School, a self-contained, "one- room schoolhouse" on the UW campus. Students enroll full-time in the University at the beginning of the next year. By admitting a sizable group of students and providing an active support system, the program furnishes a warm peer setting, facilities which are a home base, and a special advisor (who is also a psychologist and UW faculty member) so that students can mature, personally and socially, at their own pace.

Most students live with their own families in the Puget Sound area, though many commute relatively long distances by bus, ferry, or carpool. Some from distant parts of the state live with relatives or other families. Eventually, as sophomores or juniors, many move into dorms or group living situations on or near the campus, but the program remains a family affair, with far more contact between staff and parents than is true for most UW students.

The Transition School curriculum does not aspire to encompass the entire body of knowledge to which students would have been exposed during their missed four or five years of secondary school. Rather, it focuses on what appear to be the essential skills and knowledge needed to excel at the college level, as well as an exposure to enough of the wisdom of the ages to foster appreciation and aspirations.

Transition School develops skill in close reading and discussion of great literature through a few choice examples of genres from various eras, and concentrates on developing each student's ability to write clear analytical prose. One class a week is devoted to review of grammar, syntax, and mechanics for better understanding of how the language can work to convey subtle meaning. The history class teaches students to hone their critical reading, writing, and high-speed notetaking skills while studying the development of western civilization. Transition School mathematics is designed to prepare EEP students for calculus; most entrants have completed a year of algebra, so the class focuses on second year algebra, precalculus, geometry, and the basics of probability and statistics. Through lectures and laboratories, the physics course teaches students to analyze scientific problems and to attach concepts that are not immediately obvious, and serves as preparation for a variety of nature science courses. In addition to these classes, students are provided with a weekly individual tutorial in writing and study skills. Physics is dropped Spring Quarter so that all students will be able to enroll in at least one UW course during their initial year. Some, indeed, outgrow one or more Transition School courses and substitute UW courses before the year is over.

An early entrance program is not the right match for all highly capable students. They must be willing to work very hard during their first year; both they and their families must be prepared to cope with the challenges of a demanding educational program. After that, with their momentum up and their skills finely tuned, students generally find UW courses much less stressful, though no "breeze." Approximately 85% of students who enroll in Transition School proceed to the EEP. These students, known affectionately as "EEP'ers," tend to be highly motivated and self-disciplined: most had a history of being good students and earning high grades in elementary and junior high school, and they continue these habits as undergraduates. They have developed a variety of academic and extracurricular interests.

But these young people are not "nerds" or "geniuses" who read or program computers all the time. Rather, they are real people who face the same emotional and social issues with which their peers are confronted, as well as some challenges that are unique to them. For example, Transition School students, like gifted students everywhere, are unaccustomed to having to work as hard in school as even average students do, and all have to make the initially difficult adjustment of completing 4 hours of homework a day after 4 or 5 hours of classes. Nor are they used to being surrounded by equally capable peers, and during their first few months, most struggle with feelings of inadequacy before relinquishing the need always to be top of the class, as had always been their Position before. (Indeed, "top" and "bottom" of the class cease to have much meaning to them.) Students in both the Transition School and the EEP often deal with skeptical or negative attitudes on the part of other people who cannot understand why someone would elect to skip high school. Further, as two EEP'ers said, "inside the University community, many people expect us to be more out of the ordinary than we are," and place demands on students that they may not be able or willing to meet.

After Transition School, EEP'ers generally become well integrated into the University community and add regular-age UW students to their circle of meaningful and satisfying friends (Janos, Robinson, Carter, Chapel, Cufley, Curiand, Daily, Guilland, Heinvig, Kehl, Lu, Sherry, Stoloss, & Wise, 1988). Gradually, as they begin to choose majors and to associate with others who have similar interests, they turn up less and less frequently in the EEP lounge, though most continue to visit from time to time. The EEP advisor remains their official academic adviser until they choose a major, and serves as a resource not only before but after graduation.

EEP'ers' undergraduate grade point averages tend to be much higher than those of regular students (3.5 to 3.6 vs. 3.0) and approximately 95% of students who complete the Transition School and enroll in the EEP graduate from the UW or another institution of higher education. Indeed, about 20% of the students transfer in their sophomore or junior year to other (usually highly selective) colleges. A study conducted a few years ago with four groups of students (EEP'ers, students who had qualified for the program but had elected to enter high school, National Merit Scholarship finalists who entered the UW at age 18, and students matched for pre-entry test scores who entered at age 18) showed that EEP'ers were as well adjusted as the three non-accelerated comparison groups, and most closely resembled the National Merit finalists (Janos, Robinson, & Lunneborg, 1989; Robinson & Janos, 1986).

Of course, not all students are paragons of mental health and achievement, though in this they are no different than the comparison groups cited above. A study of "underachievers" (with grade point averages below 3.0) suggested that family and adjustment issues underlay the problems experienced by most such males, whose performance tended to be quite erratic. Most of the low-achieving females, on the other hand, were choosing to pursue, for at least a time, a social agenda, and were on a steady upward academic trajectory. The numbers were small, however, and the gender distinction may have been a chance occurrence. (See Janos, Sanfilipo, & Robinson, 1986.)

Although we are currently engaged in conducting a follow-up to ascertain more clearly the long-term effects of radical acceleration, we do know that most of our former students are doing well. Most appear to be satisfied with their choices and satisfied with their lives. Most have strong circles of friends of varying ages. By far the majority entered the graduate schools of their first choice and are proceeding toward doctoral degrees (PhD, ill, or MD.) Some are using their extra years to pursue additional graduate work, with the kind of opportunity to achieve a synthesis between fields that is seldom open to those who are older. (One, for example. is completing law degrees in Japan and the United States in order to practice and teach international law. Another, with a PhD in geophysics, did a postdoctoral academic fellowship and a MAS Congressional fellowship to prepare for a career in science policy. Several have pursued PhD's in addition to MD's.) Some have taken the time to work and study abroad. Most are able to complete all or most of their graduate education before taking on family responsibilities.

It is important to note, however, that these students are not all "off-scale" in their ability. Indeed, on the Stanford-Binet IV administered to entrants in the years, the average scores have been impressive but not astounding: 144 in Verbal Reasoning, 140 in Quantitative Reasoning, and Composite Score 144. Some students are so astoundingly bright that the Stanford-Binet fails to reflect their true intellectual capability, but these are the minority. None, of course, are weak, though unusual students have had composite scores in the 120's. On the PSA T administered shortly after admission, when most are 3 to 4 years younger than the usual age of high school juniors, mean verbal score in the past 5 years has been 584 and mean mathematics score 613. Those who succeed are highly motivated and they are organized in their approach to life tasks. Many are also highly creative writers, artists, musicians, dancers, actors, or adventuresome computer "hackers." They appreciate the gift of time and use it with relish. The experiment seems to be working.

We have presented in some detail a model of radical acceleration to the college level that represents one end of a broad continuum of options, a smorgasbord from which to choose one or more that fit a particular student. Indeed, especially if students are entering college without the support of a coherent program such as this, a more moderate approach may well be more appropriate. (See Brody & Stanley, in press.)

The success of the Early Entrance program does, however, serve as a reminder that the conventional ways of doing things may not be the only ways, and that calendar age is only one criterion to consider in creating an optimal educational and social match for a student who is ill-served by the ordinary high school curriculum.

It is also wise to remember that, for the teenager who is "different," educational decisions are a series of compromises. There may not exist a perfect solution. One's goal should be a compatible setting, one that energizes and inspires, nurtures and provides support for the student to cope with life's challenges as they come along. As one EEP'er said, "They will just have to have the senior prom without me."

References

Brody, L.E., & Stanley, J.C. (in press). Young college students: Assessing factors that contribute to success. In W.T. Southern & E.D. Jones (Eds.), Academic acceleration of gifted children. New York: Teachers College Press.

Janos, P .M., Robinson, N.M., Carter, C., Chapel, A., Cufley, R., Curland, M., Daily, M., Guilland, M., Heinvig, M., Kehl, H., Lu, S., Sherry, D., Stoloss, J., & Wise, A., (1988). A cross-sectional developmental study of the social relations of students who enter college early. Gifted Child Quarterly, 32,210-216.

Janos, P.M., Robinson, N.M., & Lunneborg, C.E. (1989). Markedly early entrance to college: A multi-year comparative study of the academic performance and psychological adjustment. Journal of Higher Education, 60, 495-518.

Janos, P.M., Sanfilipo, S., & Robinson, N. (1986). Patterns of "underachievement"in markedly accelerated university students. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 15, 303-313.

Robinson, N.M., & Janos, P .M. (1986). The psychosocial adjustment of youngsters in a program of marked academic acceleration. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 15,51-60.

Robinson, N.M., & Robinson, H.B. (1982). The optimal match: Devising the best compromises for the highly gifted student. In D. Feldman (Ed.), New directions for child development: Developmental approaches to giftedness and creativity. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Permission Statement
Permission to reprint this article has been granted to The Davidson Institute for Talent Development by Prufrock Press, P.O. Box 8813, Waco, TX 76714.

This full-text article is provided as a service of the Davidson Institute for Talent Development through its GT-CyberSource (www.gtcybersource.org).

The Davidson Institute for Talent Development is a 501(c)3 nonprofit operating foundation founded in 1999 by educational software entrepreneurs, Bob and Jan Davidson. The mission of the Davidson Institute is to recognize, nurture and support profoundly intelligent young people and to provide opportunities for them to develop their talents to make a positive difference.

For more information on the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, please visit www.davidson-institute.org, or call (775) 852-DITD.

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Contributed by: DITD Team Member 9/23/2000
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This is a great resource for helping you understand and evaluate the various options for a child who is rapidly advancing through his or her grade-level material.

Contributed by: Parent 6/29/2004 10:42:00 AM
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I was a gifted student who fell through the cracks. I graduated at the top of my elementary school in Queens and went to Hunter High School, testing 9 out of 10 on their essay. At 15, I was very interested in college and dreamed of going to Yale and getting a degree in Theater, but by the time I was 17, I was fed up with the whole process. It was far more interesting to work in professional theater and learn about life first-hand. I started to come late or not at all to school, and was failed in two subjects although I passed all the tests and even got 80-something on the Regents exam. Being failed for attendance and subsequently being told that I needed to see a psychotherapist eventually caused me to drop out of school entirely. I never really regretted it, but I am seeing now how I took my intelligence for granted and was sadly neglected by my parents and my teachers, since I now have a little boy and I am living through school again through my child, who is not as gifted as I was. I wish someone had sent me abroad in my junior year or to college at that time. I am an administrative officer of a theater and have never really needed a degree of any sort, but it's terrible to realize how mistreated I was. I wish there had been more studies of this sort around when I was in school, and educators had seen that I needed to be encouraged and promoted, not failed.

Cop out alert!

I was just like that boy in there.

I was always very physically tough so the kids would just get older kids and more of them to beat the tar out of me.

So I compromised a little, I learned to swear in conversation, act much less sensitive/perceptive than I was and not to use my vocabulary (that would often get me in trouble). Nor to question the concepts that we would be taught in class or to make the teacher look incompetent.

I had absolute hatred from both students and teachers alike.

My family wanted to place me in a private school but they were/are outrageously expensive.

When I was approaching man size (grade 8) I was too much trouble to try to beat up but I still didn't fit in.

I went through high school just barely passing for spite then smoked my last year and the SAT.

I am doing my pH.D now and am on the conveyor belt to go to medical school or be a professor (or just about anything at all).

My point is that a person will likely excel in any environment if they have the goods.

But I know that what I had to go through took a chunk out of me, in more ways than one. Plus I would have achieved much more, maybe I could have really helped society or made advancements. I am doing this now and will certainly achieve more but it will not be nearly what I could have done if I was not in that horrible environment.

It is imperative that a person who is gifted be fast tracked or placed in a special program. To allow the stagnation of these people is harmful to them but more importantly the entire country.

I can't see why anyone would have a problem with kids moving on more quickly if that is what the kids want to do.

Follow the money...

As a successful "high-school dropout"--I took the GED at 17 and enrolled in college--I was appointed to a committee that had the mission to discover the causes of the high dropout rates in our city.

What a shock it was for me to learn that dropping out of High School to begin college "costs the school district federal funds" and "lowers the graduation rate" which "reflects poorly on the district". So the committee voted 9-to-1 to recommend raising the legal dropout age to 18. They have not succeeded in persuading state legislators, yet, but in 1998, the dropout definition was changed to count "students who leave high school without graduating to enroll in Community College or a GED program."

In NC, teens can take the GED when they are 16 years old. There are two ugly caveats: (1) The state law requires the student to drop out of High School officially, prior to registering to take the exam (link); and (2) Officially withdrawing also means losing the legal right to drive. If teens under the age of 18, they cannot drive unless they have a diploma or are enrolled in High School.

Some resources on success rates, etc of GED candidates are available at this link.

Specifically, vpintheak, these ridiculous restrictions and laws have been put in place to keep public school enrollment levels overly inflated. Warm bodies mean cash, jobs and pensions. Furthermore, there is a genuine concern among well-meaning liberals that kids must have a minimal level of education in liberalism before entering the working world and/or they hold a genuine belief that public schools provide good educational experiences to any child who wants to learn.

"Plenty of older returning students are settled, and make better grades than the kids right out of high school. They are there because they know what they want, not because it's the next pit stop after high school."

I agree with you. The part of the post you quoted was quoted by me in a previous post made by yet another poster.

I know I did much better at school when I returned after years in the work force than I did when I went right after high school.