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About the author

Brian Kirwin

The right wants to jeer him. The left wants to censor him. Moderates usually want both. Brian Kirwin is a political consultant and public relations strategist in Virginia Beach with a lightning-rod flair. Brian also serves on the VB Arts & Humanities Commission and frequently appears on Hampton Roads theatrical stages, if only to prove that all actors aren’t liberals. Kirwin’s columns stir up debate and hit the political scene with no punches pulled.

Comments

6 Responses to "Extreme Makeover for Education"

1. 

   Jerry Z June 15, 2011 13:51 pm

   Homeschooling allows for some of what you recommend. One of my children had different subjects in 3 different grade levels at one time. We are looking at starting my oldest child in TCC this fall (one class to start), even though it sounds like they are trying to discourage it (he is 15). They have had (and I believe still have) younger students which were homeschooled. They are not necessarily particularly smart, just educated enough and with a high enough maturity level.

2. 

   valentinus June 15, 2011 14:39 pm

   In my view grade school and high-school should be oriented towards mastery of reading, writing, math (up to basic algebra) and general problem solving skills. They got it right in the past. Studies like science, history etc can be introduced in that context. Any specific training of the kind Brian refers to can be handled in post high-school training schools or colleges which too often now have to provide remedial high school. Above all get rid of the leftist tripe eating up months of study time.

3. 

   Steve Vaughan June 16, 2011 09:56 am

   Val- I sort of agree with you about emphasizing a core curriculum. However, I’d think history and science at a least at a basic level have to be part of that core curriculum. We’d like high school graduates to be prepared for citizenship, whatever their future educational plans, so they need to at least have very good grounding in American history and government, which they don’t seem to be getting now. There’s also a base level of proficiency in science that we’d expect from an educated person. (I once sat open mouthed as a long-time friend, a college graduate, talked at a party about how the sun revolved around the earth). An elementary logic course, which goes to your “problem solving” point, would also be good.

4. 

   valentinus June 16, 2011 10:45 am

   SV,

   Sorry I wasn’t clear. There should be a certain core knowledge requirement in various disciplines as you say. But I meant that they would be introduced in the context of quantitative or verbal comprehension and expression to constantly reinforce (overlearn) these essential skills. You are also right on the spotty knowledge these days. But the school systems are getting worse as we speak. A niece in PA had to contend with teacher on-the-job slowdowns and worse for a school year and a half at her high school over salary disputes.

5. 

   LittleDavid June 17, 2011 08:30 am

   Jerry Z,

   My youngest, my only daughter, graduated from Kellam High when she was 15 and enrolled in TCC with a full slate of courses at the same age. Our experience in getting her enrolled is that TCC’s computer program would not accept such a young age for a student. We had to take the original high school diploma in for them to see and then they called Kellam to verify it was authentic before allowing her to sign up for classes.

   There are no orange buses that take kids to college and my wife had to take her in and then show up to ferry her back because she was too young to have a driver’s license.

   Eventually, she ended up graduating from ODU with two engineering degrees, civil and environmental.

   I will also point out that Brian K proposed allowing early graduation in his linked to piece. My daughter is proof that such an outcome is already possible, however early graduation is not allowed unless the student meets all of the requirements for graduation.

6. 

   Jay D June 19, 2011 22:10 pm

   Kirwin, I am impressed … actually not a bad idea! In addition to matching to proficiency levels (instead of age), why not also incorporate parts of the Germany’s model that outputs both college-ready students AND highly skilled industrial workers. We already support specialized schools for the performing arts, technology, etc.
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Magnet_schools_in_Virginia
   Why not also prepare our future manufacturing labor force for non-college level highly skilled industrial work?