Among my high school’s roundabout virtues was its unrelenting emphasis on academic research. I’m not kidding. As early as 9th grade, teachers in history and English assigned meaty papers that required us to refer to books, periodicals, scholarly journals, and more. We dove into card catalogs, old-fashioned journal
It seems quaint to think that, just a few decades ago, rock music drew disdain for being sordid, louche, and Satanic. The nation’s kids were being corrupted — introduced to sex, drugs, partying — to the soundtrack of power chords, drumbeats, and the whoosh of hairspray. Tipper Gore and PMRC went
(Content warning: Mildly crude language and heaps of irony.) In observance of the recent reboot of “Beavis and Butt-Head,” I would like to revisit the supremely obvious, but also hilarious, disclaimer that preceded every episode. It warned that the titular idiots’ antics “would cause a person to get hurt, expelled,
Every theater production goes through weeks of rehearsal. Football teams practice formations and plays dozens of times before running them in games. Chefs create tasting menus, militaries run drills, surgeons do internships, and pilots fly simulations. No one is expected to get it right — whatever “it” may be — on the
Wealthy high school students enjoy an astonishing array of advantages, from private schooling to tutoring to vacation homes. But they do not have a monopoly on intellect.
High School
The typical high school curriculum renders Americans geographically illiterate. Our ignorance about the world and about each other has finally taken its toll, in the unlikely form of Donald Trump.
Academics
Today, the long-awaited redesign of the SAT exam takes a step forward with the debut of Khan Academy's online SAT preparation program. The redesign responds, in part, to some harrowing shortcomings of the current iteration of the exam. As reported at a session I attended at last fall&
You scored 5’s on all but one of the six AP exams you took as a junior and sophomore. You won the history department award, and took second regionally in Public Forum debate. SAT scores? Through the roof. You worked like crazy to earn outstanding grades. You carried a
Culture
You know the moment when you ready yourself to leap to your feet at the end of a symphony, only to hear that glimmer of a violin note that keeps you glued to your seat and safe from mortification? That was me a few weeks ago at the College Board