Lawrence on role models

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Marcus Cardenas

What do you do with a student like Joe? No, I don't know what his last name is, it could be Mama for all I care. Joe is a fictional student -- let's say he's in the 8th grade -- but fictional only in the sense that I made him up. We all know or have known a Joe. Joe is an honor roll student, his teachers like him and overall he's a good kid. 

But he doesn't always turn in his work. He doesn't get as many A's as he used to. Joe's bored and unmotivated. His teachers and counselor are concerned. They say he's easily distracted, he continuously finishes his work before the rest of the class and he's doing so with little effort. Their solution is to move him up to honors.

You see, Joe has been in "regular" classes throughout his educational career. Both he and his parents are apprehensive about this decision. His parents don't want him to develop an "I'm better than you" attitude toward his friends. Joe doesn't want to be separated from his friends, the same group of kids that he's had in his classes for years. Especially when this group of kids includes his best friend, Bud. 

We all know a Bud. Like Joe, Bud is also bored and unmotivated. Bud isn't as "bright" as his friend Joe. In fact, Joe's homework has often been the reason for Bud getting by with a fairly good grade, if you get my drift. 

Well, Joe ends up moving to some faster paced classes, and by graduation day he ...

It doesn't matter. The debate here is whether this system works for everyone involved. In his new gifted classes, Joe was presented with opportunities that Bud only got to hear about. 

What is "gifted?" Or should I ask how do grown-ups determine who is "gifted"? Has Bud missed out on an opportunity of his young lifetime? Has the world missed out on Bud, future Nobel Prize winner or Supreme Court justice? 

The way the education system is set up now, at least in Texas with its student academic placement programs, we have a Darwinian method of progression. Those who are the brightest will survive and evolve more effectively than others. 

Is placing Joe in a class that moves at a more comfortable pace for him the right way to go? In our capitalist nation, you bet it is. So why might some of you find this hard to agree with? Probably because you're confusing knowledge with age. "Grade" as in "8th grade" is a misnomer. It's not a grade. It's an age group. Students should learn with others who share their same learning capacity rather than who share numbers of birthdays. 

Face it. Unlike the tests these kids are drilled to prepare for, the students are not standardized. I've said this before. Joe just "catches on" faster than Bud. Bud will eventually get to do the fun things that Joe did a year or two earlier. There just needs to be assurance that he understands everything necessary for him to get full enjoyment of the more advanced assignments. Does this mean Bud has to stay in school until he's 25? Not if he's given the choice to get out after a certain age, say a good stable number like 18. (I know what you might be thinking, but we can talk about making schools operate more like a college another time.)

Couldn't we just blame the teachers, you ask? A little, but it's just not as effective an argument as it used to be. After all, there are eventually too many holes in a dartboard for them to stick anymore. This debate is about an education system we've been stuck with since schooling was seen as more of a necessity than a privilege. And if you think I've covered all the ground necessary for this topic in this small a space, then I must be gifted.