Acceleration+Article

Does Acceleration Put the Brakes on Socialization?

The question that haunts so many students at any level is, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” This question obsesses the minds of everyone, especially students at the high school level. The amazing thing about this question, though, is that it has no wrong answers. When asked this question, I would give the answer that I want to be a writer when I “grow up,” however, another student would say that they want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a sound engineer, or whatever they decide they want to do with their life. Furthermore, just as everybody would give a different answer, everybody will move at a difference pace towards obtaining the goal they have set forth in their answer. For instance, if a student decides that they would like to go to law school, they must first recognize the fact that they must do well enough in college to get into a law program, and well enough in high school to get into a prestigious college. Once this goal has been set, the aforementioned person would have to try to set him or herself ahead of the curve, academically, throughout middle and high school.  How is it that these goals can be pushed through the school system //by// the school system? The answer is simple: place them into higher level, or accelerated, classes. This is precisely what is going on in my high school right now. Three years ago, my freshman year, the standards for graduation were raised, meaning that in order for a student to graduate, they must now obtain four credits each of Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and English. Previously, all the cores listed only required three; spare English, of which four credits were always required. Due to this new policy, students began accelerating themselves in order to have an “open” senior year. There are very few students, however, who are working ahead in order to perhaps participate in a dual enrollment program at a local community college. In fact, there are several middle schoolers who take three classes, English I, Spanish III and Algebra II, at the high school currently, and will obtain high school credit for doing so, assuming they pass said classes. These students sat down with me to talk about the program and how they feel about it.  Through our discussion, I learned that perhaps the program is not as bad as I initially thought. These students are all doing very well in their classes, and they say that they do not feel at all intimidated by the high school students. However, a major piece of their lives is missing: social interaction among people older than themselves. Psychologist, Erik Erikson, describes the role of adolescence as providing an answer to what one’s true identity is. In other words, the people with whom a person socializes begin to shape who that person becomes. The issue found with accelerating middle school students to a high school level, is that they begin to experience a lack of socialization with age level peers While, yes, they communicate with each other, they do not communicate with enough people to create a person for themselves.  Aside from the middle school students, I spoke to high school students who share classes with the younger students, and they told me that the younger kids all talk to each other, or they remain silent; silence is a more common occurrence. They also told me that the younger kids seem to be very anti-social and in fact, even seem to show some fear towards high school students, though they denied it upon being asked. One thing the older students do understand, though, is that what these younger kids do and how they act is very much reflective upon the middle school, and the acceleration program overall. One of the high school students I talked to even said, “They’re under pressure and stress… to do well in the program. [Their teacher] is counting on them.”  The teachers do place a lot of trust and hope in these younger students, just as stated above. An English teacher at the high school put it very simply when she said that “acceleration can be a good thing if the student can handle it,” and pointed out that it buys them more time and opportunities for an academic future. Another staff member said that kids should be pushed as far as they can go, but that those in charge of the program should be careful in doing so. “[They need to] take into account whether or not kids can handle it socially, as well as academically, and they need to be willing to ‘pull the plug’ as necessary. If the work is too much for the student to handle, then try to simplify the schedule for next year.” Many of the adults within the school seem to agree that it is a good program to have here, however some students seem to think otherwise. One student in particular, a senior, mentioned that she does not agree with the program of acceleration, due to a lack of available classes within our school building. She lamented about how this year’s junior class (the Class of 2013) was pushed so far in Spanish, that now they are taking AP Spanish and being left without a class to take next year, should they want to continue. Though, there is a plan within our school to offer an alternative Spanish class.  My opinion, however, has been the hardest thing for me to find an answer to. I agree mostly with the teachers: this program is a good thing if it is used wisely. The emphasis, however, needs to be placed upon the words, “used wisely.” My high school does a very good job at handling the acceleration and knowing which students can handle it, and which cannot. In years to come, however, and within other school districts, things may change and it may take a downward spiral if too many kids try to accelerate themselves. A similar situation may happen again as what happened with the Spanish classes, and then the graduation requirements may need to be raised again. Of course, doing that could land us right into an endless cycle. My final words on this topic are as follows: accelerate where necessary, but note that it is a ‘slippery slope’ and we need to take major caution while doing so.