Posted on 01/06/2005 7:58:45 PM PST by Kevin OMalley
I've been getting asked more and more about my position that high school is a waste of time and my recommendation for parents to give their children a choice to skip high school. This is in response to the liberal agendas now prevalent in high schools as well as the simple fact that such a strategy would give kids a 4 year head start on their peers. Below are some useful links for investigating this option. I will repost my own experience under that.
http://parents.berkeley.edu/advice/school/equivexam.html
UCB Parents Advice about School Taking the High School Equivalency Exam Advice and recommendations from the UCB Parents mailing list. This page is brought to you by UC Berkeley Parents Network Back to: Advice about School & Preschool --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How does GED differ from CHSPE? What's an R-4 Affadavit? 16-year-old wants to drop out & take the GED
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sp/documents/faq.pdf
California High School Proficiency Exam (CHSPE) Frequently Asked Questions — FAQs
http://www.hsc.org/chaos/teens/tests.php
Tests (CHSPE and GED) By Wes Beach Tests provide a limited means of measuring test-taking ability and maybe other things. Don't let them be any kind of measure of who your kids are. They can, however, serve important practical purposes such as high school completion or college admissions and credit.
There are two tests by means of which to earn a high-school-diploma-equivalent certificate: the California High School Proficiency Examination (CHSPE) and the General Educational Development (GED). The CHSPE has a narrower focus and tests skills and knowledge in reading, math, writing, and language. The GED includes these areas and also tests in science and social studies. Opinions vary about which test is more difficult, and different perceptions probably arise from kids with different strengths. The GED is more widely known and may be more readily accepted, although it is a myth that the CHSPE Certificate is unacceptable outside California.
In California (different states have different rules), anyone 18 or older can take the GED, and there are exceptions for somewhat younger people under some circumstances. It is administered by adult education schools in public school districts and is offered frequently. Contact your local adult school for information on the GED or call the GED Office at the California Department of Education at (800) 331-6316.
The CHSPE may be taken by anyone who, on the day of the exam, is 16 or older, or has finished the tenth grade, or is enrolled in the second semester of the tenth grade. This exam is offered two or three times a year at test sites throughout the state. CHSPE information bulletins can be found at high schools and libraries or at http://www.chspe.net/. For questions not answered in the bulletin, call (866) 342-4773. There is a great deal of misinformation about the CHSPE floating around, especially within the public schools. Check the official bulletin to confirm anything you hear. A student who passes the CHSPE still has the right to attend public high school if desired.
If a CHSPE or GED certificate is to be used for admission to college, entering the military, specific job requirements, etc., be sure to check at the source (the colleges, the military, the employer, etc.) regarding their policies.
Preparation books for these exams can be found in bookstores and libraries.
The College Board/Educational Testing Service offers a number of exams that can support college admission and/or can lead to college credit:
The PSAT, a shortened version of SAT I, is usually taken by high school juniors. If a student is in high school at the time he takes this test, he is automatically entered into the National Merit Scholarship competition. The PSAT is administered by high schools on their campuses; non-enrolled students may be allowed to take the test. Contact local high schools. SAT I (possibly along with SAT II) may be required for admission to four-year colleges and universities. There are two parts to SAT I: verbal—analogies, sentence completions, and critical reading questions—and math at the high school college preparatory level. The SAT's (I & II) are given at test sites throughout the state; sites are listed in the application booklet (see below). SAT II is a set of separate tests on high school subjects—world history, chemistry, French, etc. Advanced Placement: Colleges often grant credit for sufficiently high scores on AP exams. These exams are final exams in college-level classes taught in high school and are given at high schools at the end of the courses; students who have not taken the courses may be allowed to take the exams. Colleges also grant credit for good scores on CLEP exams. These exams are generally easier than AP exams, are given at test centers throughout the state, and cover the content of more than thirty college-level courses. ACT (formerly American College Testing) offers the ACT, a somewhat broader college admission test that colleges may use instead of or in addition to the SAT. The ACT consists of four sections: English, math, reading, and science. Even when SAT/ACT scores aren't required, they provide one way (there are others) to demonstrate academic ability and acquired knowledge in the absence of a traditional transcript. It may be possible to gain admission to the schools your kids choose through testing alone, and impressive test scores always add strength to a college application. Just as in the case with the SAT/ACT, good scores on AP and/or CLEP exams can support a college application. Check carefully with colleges of interest for their policies regarding credit. Classes that prepare students for these tests may be offered by high schools, adult schools, community colleges, and private companies.
Guides and preparation materials can be found in libraries and bookstores. Explanatory and application materials from the College Board and ACT can be found at high schools, colleges, and libraries, and also can be obtained directly from the College Board at (510) 873-8000 or at http://www.collegeboard.org; SAT tests will be changing within the next few years. To keep informed of those changes, check the website http://www.collegeboard.com/about/newsat/newsat.html. Information about the ACT can be obtained at (916) 631-9200 or at http://www.act.org. Information on the GED is available at http://www.acenet.edu/calec/ged.
http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/archives/000064.htm
College Confidential: Does CHSPE = GED?
Question: When colleges say that they accept GEDs, what does that mean for the CHSPE? Do they accept that credential as a high school diploma? If not, what should I do?
At the California High School Proficiency Examination (CHSPE) Web site (www.cde.ca.gov/statetests/chspe) you can find an Information Bulletin and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the CHSPE. California law states that the Certificate of Proficiency provided to students who pass the CHSPE is equivalent to a high school diploma. In other words, institutions that are subject to California law and that require a high school diploma must also accept the CHSPE. (However, the Certificate of Proficiency is not equivalent to completing all course work required for regular graduation from high school.)
Therefore, if you've received the CHSPE Certificate of Proficiency, your certificate would be equivalent to a high school diploma. The Certificate of Proficiency is not equivalent to completing all course work required for regular graduation from high school in California. However--and this is a good caveat for most general college-entrance-related questions--you should always check with the admissions offices (or admissions sections of the Web sites) of those colleges to which you are considering applying. This is especially important if you're interested in colleges and universities outside of California that may not accept the CHSPE or may not even be familiar with it.
ping
I was going to post your example on this thread, but I see you beat me to it.
Interesting discussion regarding NEA's proposals...
NEA's Plan for Reducing School Dropouts/ Slavery for 18 to 21 year olds
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1759212/posts?page=191
My husband dropped out of high school, and took his GED. He lived and worked on his own, and decided he needed to go to college. He put himself through, starting first with a community college and Cal Poly.
Now, he is the director of software engineering for firm in the Silicon Valley.
Back in the early 80s at Texas A&M, many of our professors were foreign. Some had such thick accents, I couldn't understand a thing. I was first a Chemical Engineering major, and it was full of foreign profs. Then I switched to Computer Science, and it didn't have many foreign profs. I also did much better in Computer Science.
ping
ping
Exchange posted on another thread regarding fast tracking:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1785156/posts
Public school lawyers say parents have no say if public schools teach homosexuality
World Net Daily ^ | Feb. 14, 2007
Posted on 02/14/2007 10:26:32 PM PST by SeasideSparrow
To: Kevmo
What you should demand are VOUCHERS.
WHY subsidize this ****?
Fast tracking is all fine and good but you are PAYING for this ****? Stop FUNDING IT!
66 posted on 02/15/2007 12:30:02 PM PST by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God) .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]
What you should demand are VOUCHERS.
***We already covered vouchers earlier in the thread. They're as neat as velcro, but not every high school kid can exercise that option TODAY. This fast tracking option can be done by almost any motivated high schooler TODAY at a low budget, to boot.
WHY subsidize this ****?
***Well, first of all, by "subsidize this ****", do you mean to replace some swear word, as in subsidize this filth? Or is it some kind of new punctuation scheme? So the question I'll answer is, "why subsidize this?" The answer is patently obvious once you look through the thread, and that is that it DOES NOT subsidize any further funding into education for the child, and in particular if a child opts out of high school, that school would LOSE its funding.
Fast tracking is all fine and good but you are PAYING for this ****? Stop FUNDING IT!
***OK, so again with the 4 star**** thingie, which I find confusing. Thanks for pointing out that fast tracking is all fine. I would urge you to read through the material because you would come to the conclusion that if a large percentage of kids were to take advantage of this approach, schools would soon see a dramatic decrease in funding. So we are NOT paying for this ****. If you really want to stop funding it, consider the fast tracking alternative as one of the means for accomplishing your goals.
My son also skipped H.S., got his GED and then went on to Community College and earned his AA Degree (On the Dean's List) a year before he would have graduated from H.S.
Personally, I had a blast in H.S. but those were the "Glory Days" of Public Schools. The schools were safe, pleasant and delivered an excellent education for the most part. The things I liked were cruisin' in my Chev. Conv. and a chasin' girls, girls, girls!
Lots of kids here take AP classes in their junior and seniro years (some sophomore). They can then start college with all the Freshman courses out of the way and begin with the standing of a sophomore. I recently read of one local kid who graduated from UVA (no slouch school) after a little more than a year thanks to all his AP credits.
On the other hand, it was a public high school teacher who recommended one of my sons just go straight for his GED when he was in 9th or 10th grade.
The right path will differ from student to student.
Things are different now.
"Things are different now".
Tell me about it!
Good article about CLEPs on another thread, looks like they could really help with this program.
CLEPs - One Homeschool Senior’s Experience
Home Educator’s Family Times ^ | July 17, 2007 | Lydia Rule
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1868184/posts
Posted on 07/18/2007 8:09:27 PM PDT by DaveLoneRanger
CLEPs may sound too good to be true, folks, but I’ve taken two of them so far and am working on a third. The credit is just as good as any college, and way less expensive. It’s a fantastic way to rack up some preliminary college credit even during high school.
Read more about CLEP testing
List of CLEP examinations available:
Composition and Literature
* American Literature
* Analyzing and Interpreting Literature
* English Composition
* English Literature
* Freshman College Composition
* Humanities
Foreign Languages
* French Language (Levels 1 and 2)
* German Language (Levels 1 and 2)
* Spanish Language (Levels 1 and 2)
History and Social Sciences
* American Government
* Human Growth and Development
* Introduction to Educational Psychology
* Introductory Psychology
* Introductory Sociology
* Principles of Macroeconomics
* Principles of Microeconomics
* Social Sciences and History
* U.S. History I: Early Colonizations to 1877
* U.S. History II: 1865 to the Present
* Western Civilization I: Ancient Near East to 1648
* Western Civilization II: 1648 to the Present
Science and Mathematics
* Biology
* Calculus
* Chemistry
* College Algebra
* College Mathematics
* Natural Sciences
* Precalculus
Business
* Financial Accounting (New in 2007)
* Introductory Business Law
* Information Systems and Computer Applications
* Principles of Management
* Principles of Marketing
1 posted on 07/18/2007 8:09:29 PM PDT by DaveLoneRanger
My ex-brother-in-law quit school at 16. When he was about 19, he went down to the local four-year college and asked the dean if he could take college classes while working for a GED. The dean said yes. He now is the vice president of finance for a pediatric home care company. Does pretty well too.
My high school was among the worst in the nation at the time, even though it was in a “good” neighborhood, because there were forced busing policies from the areas that had high concentrations of minorities (and they closed down the schools in the minority districts). It was a mess caused by well-meaning liberal administrators. Basically the school had the same problems as inner city schools without the teachers nor administrators having the slightest idea of how to deal with it.
A woman who taught in my school wrote a book about her experience, titled “My Posse Don’t Do Homework”. It became a hit movie: “Dangerous Minds” with Michelle Pfeiffer.
***I recently ran across the Wikipedia entry for this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlmont_High_School#Dangerous_Minds
[edit] Dangerous Minds
The novel My_Posse_Don’t_Do_Homework (ctrl-click)”>[[My Posse Don’t Do Homework]] by LouAnne Johnson and subsequent movie Dangerous Minds were loosely based upon her experience as a teacher at Carlmont in the 1990s.[3] Most of her students were African-Americans and Hispanics bused in to Carlmont from East Palo Alto, a then-unincorporated town at the opposite end of the school district from Carlmont. With the closure of Ravenswood High School in East Palo Alto in the early 1970s, much of its predominantly African-American and Hispanic student body was bused to other high schools in the Sequoia High School District, including Carlmont, which had an equally predominantly Caucasian population at the time. A subsequent ‘Open Enrollment’ policy in the school district permitted East Palo Alto students to attend high schools closer to home, space permitting.
ping
You see, he “let” you. That should have been up to your family, not some bureaucrat. I’m glad he did something right though.
My children entered college at the ages of 13, 12, and 13. Age wasn’t an issue. Few of the students or teachers even knew they were as young as they were. They just assumed they were 18.
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