By Jack Allen
As Mira Costa grows as a strong academically performing high school, it needs to develop a system in which average students, or middle children, can thrive and get the education they deserve.
Students that shine or excel in class are easily noticed by their teachers, as well as those who are clearly struggling and on the verge of failing, whereas the middle students at Costa are overlooked because they do not seem to need immediate attention. Costa needs to provide this type of student with engaging academics that focus on student participation and motivate teachers to focus on them.
For students that excel, Costa offers Advanced Placement, accelerated and honors courses, while students who struggle can receive extra help from the learning center and student academic support. There is no specialized option for all the students that fall in the middle.
The first step in addressing the problem is defining the middle child. These are students who receive B’s and C’s on their report cards and score basic in multiple areas on STAR tests.
According to Manhattan Beach Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Matthews, students who take an AP class are more likely to succeed in college. Taking just one AP class can supply a middle student with a “sense of rigor” without giving him or her more than he or she can handle. Last year, 53% of Costa’s seniors who graduated had earned a three on at least one AP exam, but 69% of Costa’s seniors went to four-year institutions. Costa’s objective for the future should be too encourage middle students to take a single AP course in an area of greatest strength, instead of pressuring them too either take too many and inevitably fail or avoid them altogether.
According to MBUSD Executive Director of Educational Services Carolyn Seaton, students need to have a “true level of understanding” in and out of the classroom. Students can thrive more easily when the objective is clear and students receive feedback as well as an interactive learning environment.
With students being left unnoticed in the current educational system at Costa, the district needs to explore the idea of an inverted learning environment. Online programs like Khan Academy would provide a student with a lecture to learn at home, and class time would then be used to explore the ideas taught in the lecture as well as time for students to ask questions based on individual needs.
Although it is difficult to reshape an entire education system, Costa could easily create more block periods that combine multiple related subjects like science and math and would utilize the flipped learning environment.
The faculty’s ability to adapt to the middle child will help prepare them to attend a four-year university and find success.
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