#596 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Wednesday March 1)
Good morning,
When Harvard Westlake hired a new head of school and solicited comments from the community back in 2014, I responded with my thoughts. I received neither a response nor acknowledgement of receipt. Here is a redacted version of four concerns about school/life balance, cheating, and the ubiquity of Advanced Placement courses.
There is no doubt that the kids at schools like these are incredibly well prepared for college. It is my observation over the years that Harvard-Westlake graduates possess more critical thinking and writing skills than many graduates from some of our greatest universities. Academic excellence and rigor are the coin of the realm, at the expense of personal growth and emotional safety. But the focus on grades and individual performance tends to crowd out collaboration, collegiality, personal and social growth and ethics and responsibility. While I believe the school has established a great reputation for academics, I think some other important values receive short shrift. These comments, I suspect, could be applied to a number of other similar schools around the country.
The Performative Art of the Honor Code
When the students begin in seventh grade, they are met during the first week with a ceremony imbued with pomp and ritual, with robed prefects and a somber mood, demonstrating the gravitas of matriculating to the institution. Each student is called upon to sign a book pledging their fealty to the Honor Code. The ceremony, occurring as it does so early in the students’ high school careers, really is focused more on ceremony than on the values underlying that code and the personal choices that should emanate from the embrace of that code. Essentially, it is performative, rather than instructive.
The Freedom to Be a Teenager
I have heard time and time again that time management is a critical skill imparted at a a school such as this. What is meant is managing the workload from a variety of demanding classes. What we should care about is balance and managing not only work time, but leisure time, personal reading time and “growing up time.”
Advanced Placement and its Corrosive Effect
I think much of the stress among students stems from the slavish focus on Advanced Placement classes. Parents learn eaerly that it’s “all about your weighted GPA.” Because there are limitless options, kids find themselves graduating with as many as 12 such classes, putting those kids who seek balance at a decided disadvantage when applying to college. Meanwhile, I think there is enough literature out there to suggest teaching to an AP test is not the best way to learn.
Why not put a cap on the number of AP or Honors classes that can be taken in any one year and over the course of high school. By doing this, kids would be compelled to make choices and take APs in areas of interest. They could out of the grind of senselessly rigorous classes that sap them of their free time. Plus, at the end of the day, since we know that colleges often compare students from the same high school, if everyone takes fewer AP courses, all should benefit.
Cheating
I can’t think of anything my wife and I have drilled into our children’s heads more than personal responsibility and ethics. At Harvard-Westlake, we have a real problem. Cheating is rampant. My kids have told me that when a proctor leaves a room or isn’t paying attention, papers are exchanged and conversations begin. I think at a minimum we need to have exams proctored so that the urge to get a “leg up” in a competitive environment does not manifest itself in cheating. Non-proctored tests are invitations to cheating in the competition-filled environment that is Harvard Westlake.
Collective Punishment and Dangerous Behaviors
Kids are privileged and have access to drugs and alcohol. I am convinced the biggest problem is not among the students, but among their parents. Some kids have parents who are inattentive or want to be the “cool” parents. Some parents provide the alcohol and parties often are held when parents are out of town. The result is kids throwing up and being taken to emergency rooms. [Note: this was written before the fentanyl crisis, which makes matters only worse]
The school’s response is to cancel students’ dances. But cancelling students’ dances isn’t the answer. It is among the few annual traditions that the students relish. These traditions and expectations are part of high school. Collective punishment is unfair. There are ways to address these sorts of things more creatively, such as (a) restricting late night after parties, (b) having chaperoned events on campus and (c) having a fixed pick up time that requires an adult to sign the student out.
But how about getting even more creative? Kids will always get themselves in trouble and overdo things. Adults are a different matter—perhaps they should bear the consequence. I would consider the assessment of a fine against any parent at whose home where these parties have taken place.
Flexibility
When kids have to miss class for whatever reason, there is little consistency. In some cases, teachers almost view this as an opportunity to create additional pressure, imposing their own, often arbitrary, rules. A school-wide standard for what constitutes an excusable absence is required. Requiring a student to engage in a series of negotiations with each teacher creates an unnecessary burden on the student.
Homework for Homework’s Sake and Tests that May Not Test
There has been a fair bit of literature on the efficacy of homework, particularly rote memorization of dates and repeated filling out of endless math packets. Suffice it to say that the level of homework required is daunting. It should not be that students are up past midnight on their homework.
I have a sense that there often is minimal learning in the classroom. Lectures often amount to a teacher regaling them with political diatribes or wandering off the subject, expecting them to educate themselves on the substantive material on their own.
These were some of my observations eight years ago. I am told there has been some movement in these areas. That’s a good thing. But in light of the teen mental health crisis that plagues our nation, much more can and should be done.
Have a great day,
Glenn
From the archives: