Should schools have a vocational track?
vocational | inherently | exceed | equivalent | focus
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Do the Math
Do the Math
Option 1:
Option 1:
Blue Hills Regional Technical School is a vocational high school. Vocational education is inherently practical. Students focus on job training in programs like auto repair or early childhood education. They also take more standard classes, such as math and science. The table below shows the credit requirements at Blue Hills according to their website. Students must meet or exceed the requirement in each subject to graduate.
How many credits in math, English, science, and social studies do students need to graduate?
A. 22
B. 28
C. 36
D. 68
Option 2:
Option 2:
Ms. Wilson agrees that vocational schools should focus on job-related training for skills that students will use in the workplace. However, she also thinks that academic classes like math and English are inherently valuable, even though they do not always focus on direct connections to a career. She thinks that the number of required academic credits should be equivalent to, or even exceed, the number of vocational credits.
If v = the number of vocational credits, and a = the number of academic credits, write an inequality that shows the proper relationship, according to Ms. Wilson, between academic and vocational credits. (Hint: You will use one of these four symbols: >, ≥, <, or ≤ )
Discussion Question:
Discussion Question:
Some people think that English and math are inherently more important than science and social studies. High-stakes tests across the country focus on English and math. Some people feel that vocational students need science and social studies even less than traditional students. After all, how will learning about the American Revolution or plant cells help students fix cars or computers? At Blue Hills, the required credits in English and math exceed the required credits for science and social studies by 60%. Do you agree with this focus on math and English? Why don’t science and social studies get equivalent attention?
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