SOUTHLAKE – Anwesha Majumder, 13, just finished a rigorous year of
geometry, a year or two ahead of many of her eighth-grade classmates.
MONA REEDER/DMN
The Weaver family's three children (from left: Kiah, 15, Kody, 13 and
Tyra, 18) have different perspectives on their education.
Fellow eighth-grader Aubrey Fink took Algebra I instead. Like the
geometry class, it adds additional credit to her high school grade-point
average. But she didn't feel mature enough to take the class in seventh
grade, even though she qualified.
The girls each feel the pressure of tackling advanced classes. But in
Southlake Carroll, the pressure to perform well in such courses became
too strong.
So the district recently scaled back. Starting with this fall's
sixth-graders, the advanced middle school math classes will not carry
the additional GPA weight.
The decision illustrates a growing nationwide debate among sociologists,
educators and parents about how to address the pressure many
high-performing students feel. And it leads some experts to assert that
while preparing for college by taking challenging classes is important,
it's not the only thing that ensures future success.
"There is such a culture of fear around these types of classes," said
Denise Pope, who holds an annual seminar at Stanford University called
"SOS-Stressed Out Students Project." "We should be saying to our kids
that middle school is a safe place to try new things and harder classes.
And if you fail, it won't be counted against you double in high school."
Dr. Pope, a lecturer at Stanford's School of Education, started the
effort last year to address problems associated with academic stress.
Organizers say that for some kids, school has become a place to perform,
not a place to learn.
"Sending a message that you're weighting high school GPAs in middle
school is the wrong way to go," Ms. Pope said.
Offering challenging high school classes in middle school is not a new
trend, especially in high-achieving school districts. The classes must
be offered in lower grades, some educators say, because they prepare
students for high school Advanced Placement classes that help ready them
for college.
Nationally, the issue tends to focus on whether or how to weight
advanced classes taken in high school – not middle school.
Area districts
A handful of school districts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area weight high
school classes taken in middle school.
Plano and Arlington consider some math classes to be high school
courses, and students receive additional credit toward their GPAs for
taking them.
Highland Park and Carrollton-Farmers Branch give high school credit for
the classes but don't add the additional grade weight.
In Carroll, tracking high school GPAs in seventh grade was just too much
for some families. But doing away with the additional GPA credit also
raises a fairness issue.
"There will always be people who believe a course is a course. If it's
weighted at one level, it should be weighted at every level," said Jan
Morgan, Carroll's assistant superintendent for instructional services.
"But you have to ask the developmental question: Is it worth saddling a
seventh-grader with a potentially damaging grade on his GPA if he
doesn't do well?"
Tough decisions
Carroll school board member Sherri Williams says that deciding whether
to enroll one of her children in the high-level math program in seventh
grade was one of the hardest parenting decisions she's made.
"I didn't want to put too much pressure on them, but you want the
opportunities," said Mrs. Williams, whose son will take calculus as a
junior this fall. "Taking away the weighting of those classes ensures
that everyone enters the ninth grade on an even playing field with their
GPA."
Anwesha pushes herself because her older sister graduated from Carroll
as a salutatorian. She says the harder classes aren't so bad once you
get used to them. She says she spends her little spare time researching
on the computer – not chatting online with friends.
"I wish I could just concentrate on now," Anwesha said. "But college is
where you're going; it's what you're working toward. It's something that
you do."
Aubrey, 14, and her friend Graclyn Glazier, 14, say that with athletics,
volunteer work and the advanced classes, they wouldn't know what to do
with too much free time. Both girls said they are harder on themselves
than their parents are on them.
"One day when I didn't have homework or volleyball, I was totally
bored," Aubrey said. "I don't know how to relax anymore."
'Cookie-cutter kids'
Dr. Alvin Rosenfeld, a New York child psychiatrist and father of three
children, lectures around the country about the over-scheduling of
today's youths.
He worries that society tells children and parents that higher
achievements at a younger age – with "connect-the-dots,
one-size-fits-all accomplishments" – ensure success.
"You have to know yourself and know your children," said Dr. Rosenfeld,
author of The Over-Scheduled Child. "We're being driven by an
external vision of what defines success. Why are all of us so anxious
and insecure? We're in the middle of a madness, and it's very hard for
parents to step away from that.
"The most individualistic society in the world is raising the most
cookie-cutter kids."
Dr. Rosenfeld said many colleges and universities contribute to the
pressure problem by requiring the upper-level classes and stellar GPAs
to qualify for admittance.
In Texas, the top 10 percent of high school students are guaranteed a
spot at any Texas public university. Lawmakers passed the law in 1997 to
keep college campuses diverse after a federal court had ruled that race
could no longer be used in the admissions process.
Educators and parents said competitiveness for college would still drive
many students to produce the best grades in the most difficult classes.
Mrs. Williams said researching colleges for her children became her "new
career."
She doesn't want to pressure her children, but she's learned quickly
about how competitive college admission can be.
"It's good to know what you're up against, but it's over the top right
now," she said.
Southlake parent Carita Weaver said parents need the freedom to
challenge their kids without pressuring them to succeed at everything.
She has three children: Tyra, 18, who graduated from Carroll High this
week; Kiah, 15, who will be a sophomore next fall; and Kody, 13, who
will enter the eighth grade.
Mrs. Weaver was a high school valedictorian. But her kids say you'd
never know it, because she doesn't dwell on it.
Mrs. Weaver welcomes Carroll's decision to remove the weighted credits
in middle school.
But she's still troubled that her daughter Kiah's report card listed her
high school class rank at the end of her freshman year, a move
anti-pressure advocates warn against.
The Weaver children say that their parents have made education a
priority but that they've also preached balance.
Tyra competed on the track team and got good grades, but she wasn't on
as fast an academic track as her younger sister. She'll attend Spellman
College in Atlanta this fall.
Kiah is on the drill team and ran track this year with her sister. She's
taking the advanced math classes and will take pre-calculus in the fall,
along with two AP classes. Her sister says Kiah "does her homework on
Friday night."
Kody says he likes math and will take Algebra I in the fall. But he also
plays video games and rides his bike with friends after school.
"Every kid is not the same," Mrs. Weaver said. "These kids have a lot of
bases to cover. But not all the bases are intended to be covered by
every kid."
E-mail lfox@dallasnews.com
What's the impact of taking middle school classes that add credit to
high school grade-point averages? Here's a possible scenario in the
Carroll school district:
John takes Algebra I as a seventh-grader and scores a 93 in the class.
After adding the class's value of seven points, the grade toward his
high school GPA is 100.
A classmate, Helen, takes Algebra I in the ninth grade and makes a 100
in the class. She does not receive the additional seven points because
Algebra I is not considered an advanced class if taken in the ninth
grade.
Who could potentially come out with a higher high school GPA? John,
because he satisfied more course requirements earlier in his schooling
and is free as a junior and senior to take Advanced Placement classes,
which carry an additional 10 points per class.
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