A major debate: should high school students have to declare majors?What do you want to be when you grow up? If you're a Florida teen, you'll have to decide soon. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician, and was the 43rd Governor of Florida as well as the first Republican to be re-elected to that office. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the younger brother of current President George W. recently signed a law that requires ninth graders to choose a "major of interest" and then take four yearlong year·long adj. Lasting one year. Adj. 1. yearlong - lasting through a year; "attending yearlong courses" long - primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or courses in that subject area during their high school careers. Students will also have to fulfill ful·fill also ful·fil tr.v. ful·filled, ful·fill·ing, ful·fills also ful·fils 1. To bring into actuality; effect: fulfilled their promises. 2. their standard graduation Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the associated ceremony. The date of event is often called degree day. The event itself is also called commencement, convocation or invocation. requirements. Major choices range from traditional subjects, such as math and English, to vocational training courses, such as culinary cu·li·nar·y adj. Of or relating to a kitchen or to cookery. [Latin cul  n arts and auto
repair. The new law also stipulates that middle school students take a
career education class to be promoted to high school.
Bush hopes the law will foster academic achievement. Some people, however, give the law, part of Bush's "A-Plus-Plus" education plan, a failing grade. A Major Success Bush says the plan will be a lesson in real life. "[It] prepares middle and high school kids for the challenges ahead of them. Our students will now take charge of their future, realizing the decisions they make today shape their tomorrow" he says. Theresa Willingham, a Florida educator, agrees. "The world moves a lot faster now, and ... [a lot of] careers in technology and science require a lot of background," she told Current Events. Bush and other Florida lawmakers hope the law will keep kids in school. If students can focus on their interests, they say, kids won't drop out. Florida's graduation rate is less than 72 percent. Not-So-Minor Problems For some Florida residents, however, the new law is a sore subject. Ninth graders are just too young to decide their futures, opponents say. "I would never have known [what major to pick]" says Florida senior Kellie Gerardi. "I couldn't even pick the classes I wanted in ninth grade," she told The Palm Beach [Fla.] Post. "I ended up switching them all around." State Rep (programming) REP - A directive used in IBM object code card decks (and later PTF Tapes) to REPlace fragments of already assembled or compiled object code prior to link edit. . Shelley Vana of Palm Beach voted against the plan. "You shouldn't have to decide what you want to do as a career that early," she told Current Events. Vana worries that the major mandate will keep kids from taking a variety of classes. "High school should be about exposure to many ideas. It's important to create a well-rounded student," she said. Florida high schooler Michael Worley agrees. "By pressuring [students] to say what they want to do, it could end up narrowing their opportunities," he told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, owned by the Tribune Company, is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and all of Broward County. Its main competitor in this area is the Miami Herald, out of neighboring Miami-Dade County to the south. . What do you think?. Take part in an instant current Events poll on this news debate at www.weeklyreader.com, and make your opinion count! Get Talking Tell students that an academic major is a concentration in a particular subject area. Ask: why might Florida require ninth-graders to declare majors? Why might some people oppose that idea? Notes Behind the News * Florida's A-Plus-Plus education law requires middle school students to complete 12 core academic courses (three each in English, math, science, and social studies), as well as one course in career and education planning. * The major mandate begins in the fall of 2007. In order to graduate, students must earn 16 core academic credits and eight elective elective non-urgent; at an elected time, e.g. of surgery. elective adjective Referring to that which is planned or undertaken by choice and without urgency, as in elective surgery, see there noun Graduate education noun credits. Four of the elective credits must be in their major. The remaining four elective credits may be used to pursue a minor or for other elective classes. Students may change their area of emphasis. * Bush's earlier A-Plus plan for Education judges schools based on how their students score on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or the FCAT, is the standardized test used in the primary and secondary public schools of Florida. First administered statewide in 1998[1], it replaced the State Student Assessment Test (SSAT) and the High School , administered in grades 3-11. Doing More Have students research two or three careers they might be interested in. The Bureau of Labor Statistics Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) A research agency of the U.S. Department of Labor; it compiles statistics on hours of work, average hourly earnings, employment and unemployment, consumer prices and many other variables. has an excellent Web site for students: http://www.bls.gov/k12/ |
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