Expectations Across the Board (Developmental Approaches)

1. Expectations Across the Board (Developmental Approaches) How expectations change from elementary to high school. Alexis Steig

2. Overview • Every child who is educated through our very basic public school system has roughly the same expectations as far as the progression of their education. The very purpose of education is to build up knowledge and experience that will be useful in everyday life once you graduate from high school. And because we can’t cram 10-11 years worth of knowledge in 1 year of kindergarten, we have to space the learning out into levels. But how do the expectations for each level differ? Alexis Steig

3. Elementary • In kindergarten, you’re not expected to know a whole lot- about anything. That’s why you’re taught the basics first and then you go from there. Kindergarten is, in a sense, the step before the actual step. This seems unnecessary, but have you ever missed a step going down the stairs? It’s a scary feeling because you weren’t prepared for it. Elementary level education is the most basic (and necessary) form of education. Alexis Steig

4. Middle School/Junior High • This step isn’t quite so easy. Now that you’ve learned the basics, the ‘harder’ problems arise. Students are expected to rise to the challenge and go further up the ladder; that is, after all, the natural progression of things. The standards here are quite as high, but they aren’t basic either, so the title of ‘middle school’ fits this level of education perfectly. Alexis Steig

5. High school • And just when you thought the hard stuff couldn’t get any harder! Here in the time in your life where every move counts. Tests galore, even tougher math problems, even deeper rhetorical thinking and so much vocabulary in English class! And, along with these lovely things, you’re also expected to know what you want to do after high school. College visits, financial aid- all of this in preparation for the real world crammed into your Junior and Senior year and the pressure to succeed is more intense than ever before. Seems like a bit much, right? Alexis Steig

6. So? • While it seems like all of the ‘important’ stuff is crammed into your last 4 years- high school- the important stuff has been there every step of the way. You can’t simply expect a 9 year old to be an expert in thermo-nuclear physics because they haven’t learned nearly enough about the world to understand it. The progression slowly upward is meant to be a sort of analogy in itself; after all, if you’re going ‘up’, isn’t there supposed to be a destination? It’s just a matter of whether or not you’re motivated enough to get there. Alexis Steig