That sounds like a great idea. I love reading articles on education just to frustrate myself a little more with what people think are great ideas for the young people growing up in this country. My pet frustration of the day is how some schools are now expanding options for the “middle tier” of kids. So maybe I’m a little biased having been in honors/AP classes for my academic career. But I do not believe in catering to the so-called middle tier at all.

Perhaps what this system really needs are classes that cater to the fact that students are different but I don’t think we should be dragging the best and brightest down into the masses. If we have gifted and talented programs they are there for a reason! There are so many bright kids even in those classes who are not challenged enough. To drag them further down is criminal, in my opinion.

What this education system needs are people who think logically. Let’s think about it the so-called middle-tier are having issues because you have too many kids in classes that are too large for skill sets that are too diverse. If you simply cut down the class sizes and put kids that are on the same page in the classes that will solve all sorts of problems. I remember one of the best classes I took was my 3 person AP French Literature class. We learned so much in that one year because we were all on approximately the same level and could actually get through massive amounts of material and our teacher could cater to our actual needs. But she also wouldn’t let students into the class if you weren’t ready to take it, which I think makes sense.

In fact, in my high school they had 4 sets of classes. The ones I was in which were part of a special program that you had to apply to get into, much like college except there was no application fee required. Then there were honors classes that were part of the “regular” school and regular classes and special education classes. I think that system actually worked fairly well. Surely, some of the teachers in the “regular” school could have been better and that is something I feel very strongly that needs to be worked out.

But I don’t think that smart children should have to have their classes infiltrated by students who are not ready for those courses. It doesn’t help when you get into college and you have to compete with students from other countries who are the best and the brightest. It doesn’t help when you are in the work force and you are competing in a global economy. Not to mention a global economy that is currently crumbling so being the best is even more crucial. Being mediocre is not something to strive for and it is not something to cater to. I am all for pushing one’s boundaries but I don’t think compromising standards to allow more students into difficult classes is the right direction to be going in.