Horace's+Compromise+The+Dilemma+Of++The+American+High+School


 * __Horace's Compromise: The Dilemma Of The American High School__**

__Horace’s Compromise: The Dilema of The American High School__, written by Theodore R. Sizer is part of a series of five books used to exemplify the problems found in the American high school system in the 1980’s. Sizer’s series revolves around Horace Smith, a fictional caffeine and nicotine addicted English teacher, whose teaching strategies are compromised by the situations he faces in the American public school. In the prologue we learn about Horace’s predicament and how his students have no desire to learn any new and crucial information. “Horace asks: Betty, which of the words in the first sentence is an adverb? Silence. Betty stares at her book. More silence. Betty, what is an adverb? Silence…Horace goes to the board, writes the sentence with chalk. He underlines //darkly//. Betty writes a note to her neighbor.” It is through Horace’s students that he realizes that there is a difference between “what is nice and what is possible,” which is the basis for his compromise.
 * Summary**

Sizer splits the book into the four elements of the American high school, each section having subtopics that further justify Horace’s reasoning that American public high schools are facing a crisis. The first section pertains to the students. We learn of five different students from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds whose differences limit their ability to receive information. The diversity section points out that students mostly associate with other students of the same ethnicity and social class. “Where low income and minority race overlap, as in our great cities, the effect is politically devastating.” Through this we learn that in the public high school, your parent’s income and you’re ethnic background play a large role in the education you will receive.

The second section is based on the program. Sizer feels that the setup of the American high school, does not allow for the best learning environment. He often discusses how misuse of time is a key element in the downfall of American high schools. Two examples that he uses are the fact that teachers have time for coffee breaks, and students do not, as well as only having three minutes to transfer classes only provides a distraction and is not a significant break. Another large problem with American high school was that too many subjects were taught. If it were up to Sizer there would be four main subjects: Inquiry and expression, mathematics and science, literature and the arts, and philosophy and history.

Section three deals with the teachers and how they often favor students. Teachers often favor people who excel in their subject, which leaves the children who are not as knowledgeable on the subject behind. He talks about one successful teacher named Curtis who has two exercises going on simultaneously. This is an effective practice that allows students who have not caught on as quickly to work on the same material but at a slower pace. The last section deals with how to better the structure of the American high school. The structure of the school needs to be changed and focused on “the use of the mind.” Sizer says that “better schools will come, when better schools are built.” Lastly he states that the best thing that teachers can do is give students a place where learning is conducive and hope that they take to it.


 * Key Passages**

“Most jobs in the real world have a gap between what would be nice and what is possible. One adjusts. The tragedy for many high school teachers is that the gap is a chasm, not crossed by reasonable and judicious adjustments.” Page 20.

“My view is that American high schools today too readily stress the vulnerability and inexperience of adolescents and underrate the potency and authority that young people can exhibit. Many adolescents are awkward; so much of their lives is new.” Page 33.

"Adolescents have far more power than they display, or are asked to or expect to display, in most schools. We assume that they will be truant, late, irresponsible-and that prophecy is self-fulfilling." Page 79.

"The most important person is an adolescents life is himself or herself. While that is true of most people of all ages, it is especially true of those in their teens, a time of rapid change and of shaping and identity." Page 64.

"A lot of the honor students aren't questers. They dodge the hard problems, the hard courses to keep their averages up. They con the colleges with this, too." Page 53.


 * Key Terminology**


 * Diversity-** The differences among the student population in terms of: ethnicity, race, socio-economic backgrounds and family incomes. Though sometimes diversity is appreciated as a good thing, Sizer only speaks of it in reference to separating and segregating peers from one another. If diversity could be appreciated amongst high-schoolers, the learning process would be different.


 * Commonality-** is the opposite of diversity. These are the few and in between unifying characteristics of all high schoolers. Mostly, he talks about puberty and how it is one thing that all high-schoolers are certainly going through. If teachers were able to acknowledge that students did have these things in common, it would be beneficial for integrating the student body together as one.


 * Docility-** this is the student's ability to want to be taught. Sizer explains that the best students are like an empty sponge, willing to absorb all different types of information. Without the student's willingness to learn, it makes it impossible to transmit information. Ultimately, Sizer explains, it is the student who controls the fate of their education. Without docility, teachers cannot be expected to convey any materials.


 * Adolescence-** Refers to the stage of life that we find the high-schoolers in. It is the most crucial point in life when learning takes place. It is this time when students are most malleable and able to receive information if they choose to. This is why Sizer feels that high-school is such an intense and crucial time for learning.


 * Incentives-** Tools that are used to motivate students to learn. The two dominant incentives listed by Sizer are the accomplishment of a high-school diploma as well as feeling respected and admired by others. These are what drive American high-schoolers to not drop out and to further continue with their education and lives as students.