Even the ones who DO want to go to college... I think you don't have the experience of being in a room full of kids that age. Even bright ones are still often emotionally chaotic. Adults paying for college are not going to want too many little kids in there giggling and yelling out cheeky remarks at random intervals. It's tiresome. I see it even in high school classrooms with a mixture of kids from 9th to 12th grade.... those 9th graders, no matter how intelligent they may be, can be real little jerks sometimes. The 12th graders look at them like a Doberman looks at a yappy chihuahua just before it attacks. Now imagine a Doberman who is paying his own way.
Oh! I see! K-12 schools are really prisons for children whose only crime was to be born. /s
For example, I did **not** say “put them all in college”. Did you read the words that I did say? “Post high school training, work, and/or college”?
Next, the ACT, SAT, and GED exams are ***voluntary*** exams. Only the students and parents who wanted the option would be taking these exams.
It is unlikely that children who hate school and hate working hard would do well on these exams.
For those who have been studious enough to pass the SAT, ACT, GED, or community college placement exams, these are very students who are very unlikely to be “yelling out cheeky remarks”. Any student who did that would be asked to leave the classroom. Period! No questions asked. And...They would be shunned by the other students, too!
Finally, why should hard working and intelligent students be forced in to a highly **ABUSIVE** environment that no adult would tolerate simply because they haven't reached some magic age?
I’m struggling to understand why you seem so aggressive and negative toward wintertime’s idea. Their suggestion simply offers more freedom of choice for academically motivated students and parents, not a mandate for all. My guess is that those who hate school would not be able to pass the test, and therefore would not be “free-ranging” in the streets.
Also, as a former “non-traditional” graduate student (and a former middle school teacher) I find many points of disagreement with the conjecture in your second paragraph.
Personally my only major concern would be IF a 13 yr. old student would choose to attend a brick & mortar classroom (vs. a virtual one), that they may be vulnerable to “predatory” situations.
The bottom line is, parents and students deserve more freedom of choice in deciding how to craft an education plan that best suits their child’s individual needs.
Most 13-14 year olds would still be in school if we made the requirement to end compulsory education after passing a qualifying test.
However, compulsory education should end at age 16 whether or not one has passed a basic test for competency in reading, writing and math. At age 16 kids should either be headed to college or to a trade school. This is the standard expectation in most other Western countries.