State releases list of 440 high school majors that will be o
Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 6:47 am
State releases list of 440 high school majors that will be offered
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - By Jean-Paul Renaud - Sun Sentinel - sun-sentinel.com
The Florida Department of Education on Monday released a list of 440 high school majors that will be offered to school district's across the state -- from sports sciences and emergency services to peer counseling and medicine.
As part of Gov. Jeb Bush's education reform, all freshmen next year will be required to choose a major. While they will be allowed to switch areas of interest as much as they want, students beginning in 2011 will be mandated to graduate with one of their chosen majors.
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This list will be offered to school districts so they can begin picking which majors to offer in their high schools. In the spring, 8th graders will be asked to pick from a list of majors offered at their new school.
The idea, based on college majors, is to discourage students from dropping out by making high school more interesting. The major requirement does that by engaging and challenging students and getting them to set goals, said Education Commissioner John Winn.
``Not all the majors are career-oriented, but they're designed to take elective courses in a series so that you leave high school with a competency or a readiness for additional training in a career area or college or you just develop a competency in an area that you love like dance or music,'' Winn said.
Florida ranked 43rd among the states with a 66.7 percent graduation rate in 2002-03, according to the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress report. State officials claim a 71.9 percent rate for 2004-05, but that includes special diplomas and dropouts who later receive General Education Development (GED) diplomas.
The majors program, part of the wider-ranging A-Plus-Plus law designed to increase the rigor as well as relevance of middle and high school, will be phased in over four years. Students in this fall's freshman class will be the first required to choose majors.
The full range of academic and vocational majors cannot be offered in every school, but the approved list is designed to give students as broad a choice as possible. Some, though, will have to settle for a second or third choice if their school doesn't offer their top pick.
Many majors are highly specialized such as ceramics, culinary journalism, sports and recreational turf operations, digital arts, automotive collision repair and refining, boatbuilding, motorcycle service technology and fire sprinkler technology.
Others are broader, including American studies, behavioral science, carpentry, dance, college studies, English, liberal arts, mathematics, science and history.
Some of the least demanding subjects, such as assistant landscape technician, are limited to special education students.
Most of the courses already are offered as electives at various schools.
The Florida Department of Education plans to help current eighth-graders make their choices on a Web site before they get to high school. They will be able to look up the high school they will attend, view the majors it offers and make a choice, all online.
They can change their majors every year without penalty.
``The law says the students need to be enrolled in a major, but that doesn't mean they have to graduate with a major,'' said Cheri Pierson Yecke, state chancellor for kindergarten through 12th grade.
The major program doesn't change the state's graduation requirement for 16 core academic and eight elective credits.
The core credits include four each in English and math, three each in social studies and science and one each in fine arts and physical education-health.
On the Web: Florida Department of Education: http://www.fldoe.org
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - By Jean-Paul Renaud - Sun Sentinel - sun-sentinel.com
The Florida Department of Education on Monday released a list of 440 high school majors that will be offered to school district's across the state -- from sports sciences and emergency services to peer counseling and medicine.
As part of Gov. Jeb Bush's education reform, all freshmen next year will be required to choose a major. While they will be allowed to switch areas of interest as much as they want, students beginning in 2011 will be mandated to graduate with one of their chosen majors.
LocalLinks
This list will be offered to school districts so they can begin picking which majors to offer in their high schools. In the spring, 8th graders will be asked to pick from a list of majors offered at their new school.
The idea, based on college majors, is to discourage students from dropping out by making high school more interesting. The major requirement does that by engaging and challenging students and getting them to set goals, said Education Commissioner John Winn.
``Not all the majors are career-oriented, but they're designed to take elective courses in a series so that you leave high school with a competency or a readiness for additional training in a career area or college or you just develop a competency in an area that you love like dance or music,'' Winn said.
Florida ranked 43rd among the states with a 66.7 percent graduation rate in 2002-03, according to the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress report. State officials claim a 71.9 percent rate for 2004-05, but that includes special diplomas and dropouts who later receive General Education Development (GED) diplomas.
The majors program, part of the wider-ranging A-Plus-Plus law designed to increase the rigor as well as relevance of middle and high school, will be phased in over four years. Students in this fall's freshman class will be the first required to choose majors.
The full range of academic and vocational majors cannot be offered in every school, but the approved list is designed to give students as broad a choice as possible. Some, though, will have to settle for a second or third choice if their school doesn't offer their top pick.
Many majors are highly specialized such as ceramics, culinary journalism, sports and recreational turf operations, digital arts, automotive collision repair and refining, boatbuilding, motorcycle service technology and fire sprinkler technology.
Others are broader, including American studies, behavioral science, carpentry, dance, college studies, English, liberal arts, mathematics, science and history.
Some of the least demanding subjects, such as assistant landscape technician, are limited to special education students.
Most of the courses already are offered as electives at various schools.
The Florida Department of Education plans to help current eighth-graders make their choices on a Web site before they get to high school. They will be able to look up the high school they will attend, view the majors it offers and make a choice, all online.
They can change their majors every year without penalty.
``The law says the students need to be enrolled in a major, but that doesn't mean they have to graduate with a major,'' said Cheri Pierson Yecke, state chancellor for kindergarten through 12th grade.
The major program doesn't change the state's graduation requirement for 16 core academic and eight elective credits.
The core credits include four each in English and math, three each in social studies and science and one each in fine arts and physical education-health.
On the Web: Florida Department of Education: http://www.fldoe.org