My mother graduated from high school in 1949. I finished in 1969 and my three children graduated in 1996, 1998 and 2001. All of us read Dickens' Great Expectation as well as Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, and Hamlet. I lucked out of the Scarlet Letter when my eleventh grade English teacher assigned Wouk's The Caine Mutiny. As much as I love to read and write, I hated my English classes.
For all of us the math courses came in the same order as did the science classes.
Now I understand that there is something to be said for all of us to share in similar educational experiences. It connects the generations and provides a common language. That reasoning is sadly outdated and irrelevant. So much has changed and the educational canon needs updating.
Admittedly I am not a fan of Dickens but the rest of my family enjoyed reading the ninth grade assigned novel. I just think that there have been new books written since his day that would appeal to the modern student. Allow students to choose what they would like to read and introduce them to what is happening now. Maybe they will be moved to read the "classics" in order to understand some of the literary references.
Let students work through the science and math courses in the manner that suits them. Allow them to pace themselves and own their learning. Offer more courses that would meet the state requirements. If students take a class and don't have the necessary background, let them take the time to acquire it, even if their learning path resembles a wandering path.
The factory model of education no longer serves its population and ideas from the homeschooling, private and charter school sectors need to be incorporated into public education. The time for change is now.
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