Do you agree with this school system? How can I help change it?

Question

In my middle school we have ac (advanced content) and regular classes. (plus special ed but that's unrelated)

I have all ac classes now, but I had a regular content reading class for a while since they had no room in the AC one for me.

anyway, the class was just amazing. it was so incredibly easy i was disgusted. now I am not a genius, there are many smarter kids than me. MANY. but the class was way too easy. I got perfect 100's on every assignment. We had open book tests...yeah. I got a lot of homework done for other classes in that one, but still it bothers me how easy it was.

My ac classes are hard, but not incredibly hard. We do have some assignments that are quite frustrating, but it is definitley at least 5x harder than the regular class.

I do not agree with this school system. The regular classes are much too easy and I don't think that these kids will be prepared for college and/or highschool. I feel bad for them. Who agrees/disagrees with me and what can I do..?

Answer 1

Some people have trouble even making it to graduation. I've seen a lot of kids drop out because they couldn't do the stuff in their regular classes. Some people have learning disorders that make it hard for them to focus or learn things as easily as you. You belong in the harder class but the reason there are two classes is because not everyone is as good as you are. These kids are learning at the pace they can. You found it easy because you don't belong there. You do not need to change it, if it was horribly not working then the school would see this in the test scores and the classes that have come before you. You are not the one to say at what pace everyone should learn at. Keep focused on your own path. You have an advantage that some of your classmates do not have. If you start trying to tell them their class is to easy you will come off as a snob and it will seem like you are mocking them. Open book tests are actually pretty good because in some subjects you aren't going to be expected to memorize everything. You were in a "content reading" class. They want to know how well you can find answers and find information. This helps when you don't need to read a whole book, you just need to find the solution to one problem. Why read a whole book about plants when you only need to know about one kind of plant in chapter 8?? You may think it is silly and you can memorize everything if you want to, they are just trying to help these kids pass.

Answer 2

I disagree. Not everyone will go to college and the system isn't suppose to have 100% college attendance because we need people to work the lower jobs. As for the level difference, remember that you are an advanced student and have a higher level of thinking than the regular kids. You don't belong in that class and that's the entire problem.

Answer 3

You have to remember that the regular classes weren't designed for students of your calibre. Naturally if you go from an advanced class to a mainstream one, you'd find it easy.

As for open book tests... they actually give a better indication of the students' performance than a regular test... but that's an argument for another time.

Answer 4

Not everyone is on the same level. That is why they have different levels. And not everyone learns the same way either. For some students, what you find easy is actually hard for them. The "No Child Left Behind" act has created a necessity for different levels of academics. Everyone MUST succeed. (No matter what.)

Answer 5

You can't do much except maybe talk to your guidance counselor. They teach to the test so they can be accredited.