Majors for high-schoolers aim to focus learning
More states are requiring 'career pathways' to lower dropout rates and engage students better.
from the October 4, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
In Florida, half of each student's eight elective courses each year must be in their major. Eighth-grade students take a survey to determine their interests and strengths.
This survey identified law as an interest area for Sarasota High School freshman Taylor Paige. In a phone interview, she said the survey gave her a better sense of what she wants to do in the future and now finds it easier to choose courses. "I wanted to do a law major, because I like [the TV show] 'CSI:,' " she says.
Fellow Sarasota freshman Craig Thompson said by phone that he has known he wants to be a commercial airplane pilot since he was 11 years old, so the career survey wasn't as useful for him. However, he says a relevant major will "probably look extremely good on for my résumé or college application."
Florida students can choose a new major each year or keep the same one. But not all districts or schools offer the same majors. Those decisions are made based on staff skills, student interest, and local needs. For example, in areas hit hard by hurricanes, schools more frequently offer majors such as architecture and construction.
"We were hearing back from students that they didn't feel their high school courses were very relevant, so we wanted to engage them more in setting their educational priorities," says Lillian Finn, the state's director of secondary reform.
She expects the concept of majors will continue to spread. "We're excited to be in the lead of what I think is going to become a nationwide idea."
Yet, as far as improving students' ability in college, research has shown that a rigorous, liberal arts-style core of education is more important than narrow, discipline-specific knowledge, Dr. Humphreys says. Instead, she lauds creating learning communities and broad career clusters like the program at Brighton.
Brighton headmaster Toby Romer says the school needed to try something different to boost its academic record. And the pathway program is yielding results.
At the large urban school, 20 percent of students have disabilities, 20 percent are learning English as a second language, and more than 90 percent are minorities. Since the pathways were implemented in 1998, the school has seen an increase in the percentage of its students that pass a state-wide exam, from 10 percent to 75 percent. Two-thirds of Brighton students go on to two- or four-year colleges.
Increasingly, the pathways are partnered with local businesses and universities that can provide curriculum advice as well as internship and job shadowing.
Health professions pathway senior Jasmin Santana requested to go to Brighton for its pathway program, even though her commute is an hour each way. Not only has she learned more about healthcare careers, she also spends one evening a week at Harvard with other Advanced Placement biology students. Jasmin says the experience has helped her envision attending the university in the future. Although no one in her family has gone past high school, she will apply to Harvard, as well as other local universities, to achieve her goal of becoming a pediatrician.
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