FL high schoolers will have to declare majors

[allisolm]

Link

"Florida high school students will be the first in the nation required to declare majors and minors like college students, as part of a sweeping education overhaul bill that Gov. Jeb Bush signed Monday."

"A major could include traditional academic subjects like English and math or a vocational field such as carpentry or auto repair. Students still have to pass a core curriculum."

What do you think about this idea? I know that when I was in high school (during the dawn of time), we didn't have majors, but we did follow "tracks". I recall college bound, normal, and distributive education as available curriculums.

 

[junkerman123]

It's not bad I guess...but in my HS we basically had a choice over 1 elective a semester. (2 electives and an english class of choice senior year)

Not exactly enough variability to allow for majors.

 

[archiloco]

Originally posted by: allisolm
Link

"Florida high school students will be the first in the nation required to declare majors and minors like college students, as part of a sweeping education overhaul bill that Gov. Jeb Bush signed Monday."

"A major could include traditional academic subjects like English and math or a vocational field such as carpentry or auto repair. Students still have to pass a core curriculum."

What do you think about this idea? I know that when I was in high school (during the dawn of time), we didn't have majors, but we did follow "tracks". I recall college bound, normal, and distributive education as available curriculums.

it's a bad idea, there is so much they need to learn before they can make that decision (highschool freshmen students dont' need to have that added pressure)

 

[The Batt?sai]

Yorlenis Rodriguez, 16, who has decided to spend her senior year studying nursing at McFatter, praised the program.

mcfatter 😀 lol

 

[nakedfrog]

I would have had no idea what to have picked. I wasn't even sure what I wanted to do when I was 20.

 

[oboeguy]

Ridiculous. Kids have enough trouble learning basic material in subjects and now they want specialization? Bah! It sounds like a way to cover-up deficiencies in weaker areas by allowing a student to choose the one thing s/he is good at doing. Anyhow, HS is too basic to discard some of it in favor of specializing in one thing, IMO. Hooray for citizens who aren't remotely well-rounded!!!!!111 🙁

 

[PowerMacG5]

Here's my question, will they still require the kid to take loads of classes they will never use again, or will it be more like college where the bulk of your work is in the field you choose?

 

[junkerman123]

I hope one of the avaliable majors is "doing absolutely nothing"...which is what I pretty much majored in anyways in HS

 

[So]

LOL, how idiotic. It has long been my opinion that one of the STRENGTHS of the american educational system was that we DIDN'T try to make people specialize until college. I've known so many who would have been slotted into the bottom of society in HS but shaped up in the college environment...

 

[Red Dawn]

All the Nerds would major in Computer Science though down in Florida it might be Computer Science in relation to NASCAR.(which would actually be cool)

 

[GeneValgene]

initial gut reaction thinks this is a bad idea...

but the more i think about it, the more it might work. think, high school doesn't prepare anyone for anything, and for many lower income families, there is no future or possibility in going to college. why not use tax dollars now, in high school, to train people with a specific trade that they can use to make a living after getting their diploma? for example, auto repair, carpentry, etc...

 

[EyeMWing]

My school basically had this. You'd either elect to take the college prep curriculum, or one of like 4 or 5 other ones. IIRC, they were Agriculture (my school was the "magnet" school for agriculture, lofl), Business, "Technology Education" (this covered such a broad range of stuff... From woodshop to CAD to TV/Radio broadcasting), Journalism.

It was simply just a ploy to get you to target your elective credits instead of spam them across the board. I actually completed all of them except Agriculture, since the requirements for a lot of them overlap, and I entered 9th grade with like 5 credits already.

 

[Jeff7181]

Sounds great in theory, but in high school VERY few students have the mental maturity to make life decisions like this. If a good portion of people end up in a career unrelated to their college major, imagine how many people will end up in a career unrelated to their high school major. So what's the point? I think it's a poor attempt to increase the quality of public education. Instead, stop telling kids they're special and that being average is fine and under average is ok. That's doing a disservice to them... they should be encouraged to try harder and to push themselves.