Education: A Shot of Oxygen

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However democratic U.S. education may be, it still discriminates against one minority. In secondary schools, the able student is too often forced to keep pace with the slow. In college he either repeats what he already knows, or must catch up on things he should have had before. Should he be sent to college sooner, or should he be given different work in school? Last week a study, made by 130 teachers, professors, presidents and principals of twelve colleges and 27 secondary schools, suggested what might well be the best solution to date.

With $189,000 from the Fund for the Advancement of Education, the 130 educators went to work more than a year ago, under the direction of a central committee headed by Presidents Gordon K. Chalmers of Kenyon College and William H. Cornog of Philadelphia's Central High School. The first thing they decided was that even the brightest students can be hurt by going to college too soon. Then they began devising advanced courses that pupils could take in school for full college credit. Last week the twelve participating colleges formally approved the recommendations made for courses in English, mathematics, Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, German, chemistry, biology, physics and history.

Magic to Moby. In each of these fields, the educators recommended a tough intellectual diet. Suggested reading in the literature course ranges from Moby Dick to The Magic Mountain. Students are expected to understand the use of metaphor and symbolism, to recognize the great literary themes (e.g., "Christian atonement" in Lord Jim, "the defiance of Lucifer" in Moby Dick), to be familiar with various literary devices. The Latin course takes them through Cicero's De Senectute, Livy, Sallust, some of St. Augustine and Horace. The Greek course covers Xenophon, Plato and Homer. In mathematics, students plunge into calculus; in German, they will read such authors as Schnitzler, Heine, Hesse, Lessing and Schiller. Finally, before going to college, they must pass special examinations. Among the types of questions suggested:

"Write a brief essay on humor and slapstick in Plautus."

"Evaluate the integral

∫ x3 4x2 3x -1 dx"

x-2

"Explain briefly why AgCl dissolves in NH3(NH4OH) solution but does not dissolve in dilute nitric acid."

"Claude Bernard . . . referred to the blood of vertebrates as their 'internal environment.' Write a 300-word essay justifying this point of view."

"I Can Hardly Wait." Last week President Chalmers and his committee had reason to believe that such advanced courses will do more than help able students. They will also raise the intellectual sights of the U.S. secondary school in general, which has too long been tailored to the mediocre. So far, 16 of the 27 schools connected with the study have been giving advanced work on an experimental basis. Among the results:

¶ The Brookline (Mass.) High School has 90 students taking one or more advanced courses in history, creative writing and mathematics, has found that bright pupils can cover two years of algebra in one.