To begin, I am currently a teacher at Uni and a parent of a Uni graduate. I’ve been teaching at Uni for the past twenty-five years. The age discrepancy issue and questions regarding it have been around for many, many years. I’ve also chaired or been on the admissions committee approximately seven times, and we always deal with the age/grade level issue in our decision making. There is no easy answer regarding optimal age stratification of incoming students. Oh yeah, and I adore all three of the authors of this article.
The clear assumption at the start (and end) of the article is that the older kids have greater maturity and the best choice would be for the school to move toward classes largely made up of older students. I think the situation is more complex than was presented in the article.
I'll start by addressing many of the points brought up in the order they are presented.
Statement 1: Are students who skip a grade expected to grow up too fast? What negative impact does this have on the student and the Uni community as a whole?
Response 1: I think a small proportion of our younger students (6th grade admits) are more likely to be diagnosed early in their careers with ADHD or learning disabilities, and have more significant organizational issues than their older counterparts. They tend to improve academically over their Uni High career. On the flip side, an equally small proportion of their older counterparts (7th grade and high school admits) are more likely to be brought up at grade level meetings regarding motivational or interpersonal issues. Those motivational and interpersonal issues often continue and become more pronounced over time.
Statement 2: It’s one thing to be able to solve quadratic equations and fill in bubbles on a standardized test, but it’s an entirely different matter to know how to interact both professionally and socially with adults and peers.
Response 2: The professors on campus who hire students of mine to work during the summer report better reliability and work performance from those who’ve skipped a grade, and are more likely to hire those students again than their older counterparts.
Statement 3: While an 18-year-old and a 16-year-old may be in the same class, both applying to college and preparing to leave home at the same time, does that mean they could have a healthy relationship?
Response 3: I think the fact that Uni is so small and because kids are together for so many years that dating is almost incestuous. Hard to answer that one...
Statement 4: Uni's athletic programs could be even better if students were at the same developmental stages as their competitors at other schools.
Response 4: Agreed, though if one looks at the dropout rate in sports as kids progress through the years as they become more deeply involved in fewer activities, is it possible that we’d have even lower participation in sports at the higher levels with a consistently older class? Part of the beauty of Uni is high the participation rate in such a wide array of activities. The PE folks, who run a SUPERB program, are certainly better able to answer that than I am.
Statement 5: No student is going to lose anything by not skipping a year, by completing seventh grade in a regular middle school. If anything, you’ll be even smarter and more prepared.
Response 5: Or will you have an additional full year of lowered expectation, development of poor study habits and exposure to negative influences? I can give you a pretty good opinion regarding what is the case for kids growing up north of Urbana who attend Urbana Middle School…
Statement 6: Older students are prevented from fully maturing while younger students are expected to grow up too quickly.
Response 6: Upon what do you base this statement?
Statement 7: Uni parents often have a reputation for being "pushy," for pressuring their children to get perfect grades and test scores and to eventually get into top-ranked colleges. Based on our own observations, parents of students who skipped a grade tend to be the ones who most fit this description.
Response 7: This statement may be more cultural (even within ethnicity) than age based. Kids from recent immigrant families tend to come in with a greater focus on academics, while others who have been in the country for a longer period of time are more likely to focus on students being well rounded. This is a pretty clear observation made by students for the entire time I’ve been at Uni.
Statement 8: Because of the presence of so many young students, grinding, the usual preferred way of dancing at most other schools, is not allowed.
Response 8: I think we all know better than that. ‘Nuf said there. Maybe I'll change my view when students present a grinding demonstration to the families at the Orientation Picnic. That was pretty clever, wasn't it :) ? And when did we start doing things because other high schools do them? Very un-Uni...
Statement 9: If you’re allowed to drive home after the dance without permission, why do you need permission to drive home early?
Response 9.1: Liability, a school that is part of a university that has specific expectations regarding supervision of minors. We follow university guidelines.
Response 9.2: The assumption by your parents is that you are at a school function and are under supervision. You can leave the school grounds before the end of the activity, but the university and Uni want your parents to know when you are no longer under school supervision. Liability and your safety are key here. No one has died due to school negligence because a student was thought to be under school supervision when they were actually elsewhere. That wasn't the case a few years before I started at Uni.
Statement 10: With students graduating at the age of 16 or 17, where does this leave them?
Response 10: With a whole myriad of choices and opportunities... Rotary Youth Exchange, volunteering in various parts of the U.S., working for a year. All are now available fairly inexpensively. Seven students from the class of 2008 are currently involved in gap year opportunities. You’ll be much richer for the experience, better able to make important choices, and more easily put things into perspective than your classmates who didn’t take part in these gap year opportunities.
Statement 11: Our suggestion is that future subfreshman classes be composed of almost entirely true eighth graders, with a few exceptions.
Response 11: Peer group in any situation is highly correlated with success. This seems to be a step backward in increasing likelihood of the most positive opportunity for the younger kids.
Statement 12: Not only does the admittance of a lot of sixth graders into the subfreshman class create an unusual environment for a high school, it also takes away spots that could be given to seventh graders who won't have another chance to apply as subfreshmen.
Response 12: The current system allows students to apply twice for a slot at Uni as well as apply for high school slots. Students can always apply as freshmen or sophomores or juniors.
Statement 13: Being more selective with the younger students could allow more qualified candidates to be admitted.
Response 13: I think this statement would be more accurately re-worded as, ”Being more selective with the younger students would allow a larger number of less qualified OLDER candidates to be admitted.” I don't think this is to the school's advantage.
Nicely done article, everybody! Excellent food for thought regarding an issue without an easy solution. It is this type of conversation that really makes me proud to be a part of Uni.
To begin, I am currently a
To begin, I am currently a teacher at Uni and a parent of a Uni graduate. I’ve been teaching at Uni for the past twenty-five years. The age discrepancy issue and questions regarding it have been around for many, many years. I’ve also chaired or been on the admissions committee approximately seven times, and we always deal with the age/grade level issue in our decision making. There is no easy answer regarding optimal age stratification of incoming students. Oh yeah, and I adore all three of the authors of this article.
The clear assumption at the start (and end) of the article is that the older kids have greater maturity and the best choice would be for the school to move toward classes largely made up of older students. I think the situation is more complex than was presented in the article.
I'll start by addressing many of the points brought up in the order they are presented.
Statement 1: Are students who skip a grade expected to grow up too fast? What negative impact does this have on the student and the Uni community as a whole?
Response 1: I think a small proportion of our younger students (6th grade admits) are more likely to be diagnosed early in their careers with ADHD or learning disabilities, and have more significant organizational issues than their older counterparts. They tend to improve academically over their Uni High career. On the flip side, an equally small proportion of their older counterparts (7th grade and high school admits) are more likely to be brought up at grade level meetings regarding motivational or interpersonal issues. Those motivational and interpersonal issues often continue and become more pronounced over time.
Statement 2: It’s one thing to be able to solve quadratic equations and fill in bubbles on a standardized test, but it’s an entirely different matter to know how to interact both professionally and socially with adults and peers.
Response 2: The professors on campus who hire students of mine to work during the summer report better reliability and work performance from those who’ve skipped a grade, and are more likely to hire those students again than their older counterparts.
Statement 3: While an 18-year-old and a 16-year-old may be in the same class, both applying to college and preparing to leave home at the same time, does that mean they could have a healthy relationship?
Response 3: I think the fact that Uni is so small and because kids are together for so many years that dating is almost incestuous. Hard to answer that one...
Statement 4: Uni's athletic programs could be even better if students were at the same developmental stages as their competitors at other schools.
Response 4: Agreed, though if one looks at the dropout rate in sports as kids progress through the years as they become more deeply involved in fewer activities, is it possible that we’d have even lower participation in sports at the higher levels with a consistently older class? Part of the beauty of Uni is high the participation rate in such a wide array of activities. The PE folks, who run a SUPERB program, are certainly better able to answer that than I am.
Statement 5: No student is going to lose anything by not skipping a year, by completing seventh grade in a regular middle school. If anything, you’ll be even smarter and more prepared.
Response 5: Or will you have an additional full year of lowered expectation, development of poor study habits and exposure to negative influences? I can give you a pretty good opinion regarding what is the case for kids growing up north of Urbana who attend Urbana Middle School…
Statement 6: Older students are prevented from fully maturing while younger students are expected to grow up too quickly.
Response 6: Upon what do you base this statement?
Statement 7: Uni parents often have a reputation for being "pushy," for pressuring their children to get perfect grades and test scores and to eventually get into top-ranked colleges. Based on our own observations, parents of students who skipped a grade tend to be the ones who most fit this description.
Response 7: This statement may be more cultural (even within ethnicity) than age based. Kids from recent immigrant families tend to come in with a greater focus on academics, while others who have been in the country for a longer period of time are more likely to focus on students being well rounded. This is a pretty clear observation made by students for the entire time I’ve been at Uni.
Statement 8: Because of the presence of so many young students, grinding, the usual preferred way of dancing at most other schools, is not allowed.
Response 8: I think we all know better than that. ‘Nuf said there. Maybe I'll change my view when students present a grinding demonstration to the families at the Orientation Picnic. That was pretty clever, wasn't it :) ? And when did we start doing things because other high schools do them? Very un-Uni...
Statement 9: If you’re allowed to drive home after the dance without permission, why do you need permission to drive home early?
Response 9.1: Liability, a school that is part of a university that has specific expectations regarding supervision of minors. We follow university guidelines.
Response 9.2: The assumption by your parents is that you are at a school function and are under supervision. You can leave the school grounds before the end of the activity, but the university and Uni want your parents to know when you are no longer under school supervision. Liability and your safety are key here. No one has died due to school negligence because a student was thought to be under school supervision when they were actually elsewhere. That wasn't the case a few years before I started at Uni.
Statement 10: With students graduating at the age of 16 or 17, where does this leave them?
Response 10: With a whole myriad of choices and opportunities... Rotary Youth Exchange, volunteering in various parts of the U.S., working for a year. All are now available fairly inexpensively. Seven students from the class of 2008 are currently involved in gap year opportunities. You’ll be much richer for the experience, better able to make important choices, and more easily put things into perspective than your classmates who didn’t take part in these gap year opportunities.
Statement 11: Our suggestion is that future subfreshman classes be composed of almost entirely true eighth graders, with a few exceptions.
Response 11: Peer group in any situation is highly correlated with success. This seems to be a step backward in increasing likelihood of the most positive opportunity for the younger kids.
Statement 12: Not only does the admittance of a lot of sixth graders into the subfreshman class create an unusual environment for a high school, it also takes away spots that could be given to seventh graders who won't have another chance to apply as subfreshmen.
Response 12: The current system allows students to apply twice for a slot at Uni as well as apply for high school slots. Students can always apply as freshmen or sophomores or juniors.
Statement 13: Being more selective with the younger students could allow more qualified candidates to be admitted.
Response 13: I think this statement would be more accurately re-worded as, ”Being more selective with the younger students would allow a larger number of less qualified OLDER candidates to be admitted.” I don't think this is to the school's advantage.
Nicely done article, everybody! Excellent food for thought regarding an issue without an easy solution. It is this type of conversation that really makes me proud to be a part of Uni.
Mr. Stone