N043  1252  15 Jan 75
(NOTE TO EDITORS:  THE FOLLOWING SPECIAL FEATURES MATERIAL IS
AVAILABLE ONLY TO SUBSCRIBERS TO "YOUR WORLD TOMORROW" 
OR BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.)
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
SPEEDING STUDENTS THROUGH COLLEGE
(EDITOR'S NOTE:  AS THE COST OF EDUCATION ESCALATES, A
CHANCE TO ELIMINATE UNNECESSARY DUPLICATION IN HIGH SCHOOL
AND COLLEGE CURRICULA LOOKS MORE ATTRACTIVE TO THE CONSUMER.
JANE S. SHAW REPORTS FROM THE CHICAGO BUREAU OF MCGRAW-HILL
WORLD NEWS.)
 
BY JANE S. SHAW
   CHICAGO -- CHERYL SUE REE IS ONLY 14 YEARS OLD, BUT SHE'S
A FRESHMAN IN THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AT THE UNIVERSITY
OF ILLINOIS.  CHERYL SUE IS UNUSUALLY TALENTED, HAVING
COMPLETED A FOUR-YEAR HIGH SCHOOL MATHEMATICS PROGRAM IN A
MATTER OF MONTHS.  BUT IN THE YEARS AHEAD, HER FAST PACE
THROUGH SCHOOL WON'T BE SO RARE.  SOON, HUNDREDS OF TYPICAL
STUDENTS --  NOT  JUST GENIUSES -- WILL HAVE A CHANCE TO
MOVE ALMOST AS FAST, THANKS TO SOME NEW SCHOOLS IN THE
PROCESS OF FORMATION.
   THESE "EARLY" OR "MIDDLE" SCHOOLS TAKE DIFFERENT FORMS,
BUT THEIR PURPOSE IS THE SAME:  TO SHORTEN THE TRADITIONAL
EIGHT-YEAR PERIOD FROM NINTH GRADE THROUGH COLLEGE GRADUATION
TO SOMETHING SHORTER, USUALLY SIX YEARS.
   THE PIONEER IN THIS APPROACH IS SIMON'S ROCK, AN
ATTRACTIVE, FOUR-YEAR RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL LOCATED IN THE
BERKSHIRE MOUNTAINS IN GREAT BARRINGTON, MASS.  SIMON'S
ROCK LOOKS A LOT LIKE OTHER COLLEGES NESTLED IN
COUNTRY-LIKE SETTINGS, BUT IT HAS A KEY DIFFERENCE:  THE
STUDENTS ARE TWO YEARS YOUNGER.  THEY ENTER AFTER COMPLETING
THE TENTH GRADE, AND START RIGHT IN WITH COLLEGE COURSES --
WESTERN PHILOSOPHY, PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, ENGLAND IN THE
MIDDLE AGES, SEVENTEENTH CENTURY POETRY AND PROSE, TO NAME
A FEW OF THE CHOICES.  THE AIM IS TO QUALIFY FOR A BACHELOR'S
DEGREE AFTER FOUR YEARS EVEN THOUGH STUDENTS THEIR AGE AT
CONVENTIONAL COLLEGES WILL JUST BE COMPLETING SOPHOMORE YEAR.
   THE SCHOOL OPENED IN 1966, BUT UNTIL NOW IT'S BEEN HANDICAPPED
BY THE FACT THAT THE MASSACHUSETTS BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION
DID  NOT  PERMIT IT TO GRANT THE BACHELOR'S DEGREE, JUST THE
ASSOCIATE OF ARTS DEGREE.  THE BOARD HAD TO BE CONVINCED THAT
THIS WAS FULL COLLEGE WORK,  NOT  JUST TWO YEARS OF ENRICHED
HIGH SCHOOL AND TWO YEARS OF COLLEGE.  THE BOARD RULED
FAVORABLY LAST SUMMER, AND THE FIRST BACHELOR'S DEGREES WILL
BE AWARDED IN THE SPRING OF 1976.
   SIMON'S ROCK -- WHICH HAS BEEN CALLED THE NATION'S "FIRST
AND MOST AMBITIOUS EXPERIMENT" WITH THE EARLY COLLEGE --
WAS FORMED FOR SEVERAL REASONS.  PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANT IS A
GROWING RECOGNITION THAT THERE IS OVERLAP -- OFTEN TWO FULL
YEARS -- BETWEEN THE MORE ADVANCED HIGH SCHOOLS AND MANY
COLLEGES.  STUDENTS ARE WASTING THEIR TIME.  OR AS THE
SIMON'S ROCK CATALOG PHRASES IT, "YOU HAVE BEEN PREPARING FOR
COLLEGE FOR MANY YEARS...THEN, WHEN YOU ARRIVE, YOU ARE
LIKELY TO HAVE TO REPEAT -- DURING THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF
COLLEGE -- AS MUCH AS TWO-THIRDS OF THE WORK YOU DID WHILE
PREPARING TO GET THERE."
   SIMON'S ROCK FACES CHALLENGES.  WITH AN ANNUAL BOARD AND
TUITION OF $4500 PER STUDENT, CAN IT ATTRACT ENOUGH STUDENTS
TO BE A SUCCESSFUL ENTERPRISE?  UNTIL IT RECEIVED PERMISSION
TO GRANT THE B.A. DEGREE, SIMON'S ROCK LIMPED ALONG WITH
ONLY 207 STUDENTS, BUT THE B.A. DEGREE WAS AN ENORMOUS BOOST
AND DR. BAIRD C. WHITLOCK, PRESIDENT OF SIMON'S ROCK, HOPES
TO INCREASE ENROLLMENT GRADUALLY TO 800.  SIMON'S ROCK IS
BEING WATCHED CLOSELY BY OTHER COLLEGES:  IT HAS BEEN
GENEROUSLY FUNDED BY THE CARNEGIE CORPORATION OF NEW YORK,
WHICH CONSIDERS IT A PROMISING MODEL.
   ALREADY, THE CONCEPT IS TAKING HOLD ELSEWHERE AROUND THE
COUNTRY.  SEATTLE (WASH.) PREPARATORY SCHOOL, A JESUIT BOYS'
SCHOOL WILL DISBAND NEXT FALL AND BE REPLACED BY A
SIX-YEAR COEDUCATIONAL COLLEGE WITHIN NEARBY SEATTLE
UNIVERSITY.  THE NEW COLLEGE WILL PROVIDE A SIX-YEAR
CURRICULUM STARTING IN THE NINTH GRADE.  SIMILARLY, TWO
DENVER SCHOOLS WHICH SHARE THE SAME CAMPUS -- REGIS COLLEGE
AND REGIS HIGH SCHOOL -- ARE DESIGNING THEIR CURRICULA SO
THAT STUDENTS CAN MOVE THROUGH BOTH SCHOOLS IN SIX,  NOT
EIGHT, YEARS.  ALREADY ABOUT 75 HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS HAVE
TAKEN COLLEGE COURSES AND IN THE SPRING THE FIRST FEW STUDENTS
IN TH ACCELERATED PROGRAM WILL RECEIVE THE BACHELOR'S
DEGREE AFTER SIX YEARS.
   FINANCIAL CONCERNS WERE FACTORS IN THE CHANGES MADE BY
THESE SCHOOLS.
   BUT MORE IMPORTANT, BOTH SCHOOLS, LIKE SIMON'S ROCK,
RECOGNIZE THAT THE NEEDS AND DEMANDS OF STUDENTS ARE CHANGING.
THESE INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS ARE THEIR RESPONSE, AND THEY MAY
HAVE A PROFOUND EFFECT ON OUR TRADITIONAL EDUCATION PATTERS.
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               (C) 1975 WORLD NEWS/MCGRAW-HILL, INC.
          SPECIAL FEATURES, THE NEW YORK TIMES SYNDICATE
         
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