Educated to the core
PATRICIA PLUMMER wants to put the state's high school students on a smoother road to college. The chancellor of the Board of Higher Education, Plummer is proposing a new curriculum called MassCore. It recommends that high school students take four years of math, four years of English, three years of science and of history, and two years of a foreign language. MassCore also calls for AP classes, a senior project, online courses, and other enhancements.
Critics argue that not everyone needs four years of math. But this is a weary dodge. It is increasingly a world of high-tech jobs. And while many workers may not use quadratic equations, they will need the underlying skill that algebra teaches: how to learn challenging technical material.
For now, Plummer and David Driscoll, the state's education commissioner, are soft-selling MassCore, encouraging districts to use it instead of pushing for a mandate. But nearly all students should be enrolled in these courses to prepare for careers and for civic engagement in a global society.
In fact, MassCore's foreign language requirement is too modest. American students should be aggressively pursuing fluency in a second language. On Tuesday, the National Research Council issued a report saying that the US Department of Education should have a "high-ranking official" oversee a stronger federal effort to increase foreign language learning. It raises the implicit question of what public grade schools can do to prepare students to master Spanish as well as "critical need" languages such as Arabic and Farsi.
Many students already take a full slate of college prep courses, but they tend to live in the suburbs. A statewide survey, to which 79 high schools responded, found that urban schools were lagging. Fewer than half of the 15 city schools that responded had a pre college curriculum.
To better implement MassCore, high school juniors could take the Accuplacer test. It's a placement exam that colleges use to place their students. In high school, Accuplacer could help juniors see what math class to take in senior year. It might be a review of Algebra II or a pre-calculus class. And if the Legislature provides funding, students could be dually enrolled, taking high school classes as well as a higher-level math class at a local public college.
The goal is to ensure that high school seniors are ready for college work and won't get stuck in remedial college classes.
For MassCore to succeed, the state also has to strike gold, finding more math and science teachers who can teach advanced courses and motivate under achieving students.
From K to 12, public schools should be infused with cultures of opportunity, classes and activities that help students achieve much more than they thought possible. MassCore is a good step in this worthy direction.
