Our Dual Enrollment Program
Last year, a small group of friends around the age of 14 started talking about trying out a college class together. Our staff member Kerry helped them look into their options. They found a dual enrollment program for high-school aged kids at the local community college. They would have to take a placement test to determine which classes they were able to take. Some of them had never done any academics and were afraid they wouldn’t place into even the most basic math class. So they decided to start studying and see how far they could get in the short time remaining before the test. They met every morning at 10AM with Dan and Kerry who they had asked to help them. The group quickly grew as more kids saw what was going on and decided to try it out. There were often between 10 and 15 kids on any given morning.
For weeks they would meet in the middle of the common room, all bustling around the table, trying to help each other figure out problems, get their questions answered, or show their friends a trick or shortcut they had figured out. They were bringing the same level of energy and engagement to formal academic study they had always brought to outdoor games like capture the flag and ultimate frisbee, the video games they play, or any number of activities they have spent their time mastering. Studying academics was new for most of them, and they were eager to try to master it.
Finally, it was time to take the placement tests. The core group had grown to 11 kids, ages 12 to 16. When they returned to the Center, they were in high spirits. Many of them had never taken a test before and they couldn’t understand how they had scored so high when they had only spent a few months studying what other kids their age had spent years studying.
Not a single one of the 11 kids who ended up taking the placement test placed below the grade level for their age, despite the fact that most had never been required to do academics, and many of them had never done any academics at all. Most of them scored higher than their grade level, placing into college level math or writing. And all of this was the product of about three months of preparation which, by the way, they all seemed to enjoy. It wasn’t a chore. It was a fun challenge they took on for themselves.
Some people might be skeptical, thinking that it would take a rare teenager to be able to place into college math and writing with only a few months of formal academic preparation. But this phenomenon is not uncommon for kids who have grown up in a self-directed education environment. In my almost forty years of experience with this model of education, first as a student and then as a staff member, I have seen it happen hundreds of times. Although most of these kids had not had much if any experience with formal academics until last year, they have had years of experience identifying their own genuine interests, setting their own goals, and developing the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve those goals.
While not all of our members will choose to go to college, we have always known that a Macomber Center education is not going to close any doors. If kids here want to go to college when they leave, they will. The core group of three kids who started out wanting to take college classes last year just completed a psychology class and are now taking a writing class together. Several others have been taking math classes together at the same college. They all still have a few years left here at the Macomber Center, but they are getting a headstart on the college path.
Half the kids who took the placement test last year decided to hold off on taking any college classes. For them, it was more about the experience of studying for and taking an academic exam, and the end product was the satisfaction and confidence that came from achieving their goal. They have other things they would rather spend their time doing while they are still at the Center. But they know now that if they choose to pursue higher education, they will have no problem performing at the college level.
A Macomber Center education is not something that we as adults deliver to kids. It is something that the kids here design and build for themselves. As adults we provide the optimal conditions for them to carry out this work. Each child’s education is uniquely designed for them, by them. It is the sum of all the experience, knowledge, and skills they have accumulated through the course of following their own curiosity, pursuing their own interests, and developing their own talents and strengths.