The K-12 Olympics: Ready or Not

As the winter Olympics approach, I started to wonder…what if the purpose of our K-12 system wasn’t to graduate with an academic degree but rather as an Olympian? What if all children started a program at age five and had to learn eight different sports each year for ten months, all with the goal of being an Olympian by age eighteen?

Under this Olympic program, all children would participate equally just like our K-12 academic system. Some of the children would be a genetic offspring of parents who had once played a Division I sport; a few might even be children of parents who were former competitive athletes. Some children would be physically conditioned – a healthy weight, good bone structure, muscle mass, and have excellent coordination. Some children would come from families where physical activity and sports are encouraged. Some children would have been enrolled in pre-school swimming or gymnastic programs, had access to exercise equipment, or may have played on a community recreational team. Some children might come from homes where they routinely have access to healthy foods, adequate sleep, and social-emotional support.

Then there are the others: children who are overweight or malnourished; who may not be physically healthy; who have never been exposed to a sport prior to starting their Olympic program; and who rarely play outdoors or get physical exercise. Children whose parents are not athletic; children whose parents never learned to play sports themselves and therefore don’t fully encourage their child to do so; and children with real physical disabilities. The program would also include children who just don't like sports; whose talents and interests lie in other areas like music, art, math, science, or reading.

Now, all of these unique children would begin the Olympic program at age five and have the same objectives to meet in each sport, each year, given the same amount of time – ten months. They must stay in their age-based cohort with rare exception. You can probably guess that some of the children I described are going to excel and be fully ready to move to the next level at the end of each year. In fact, some of them might learn the skills before the year is up; but they have to wait. And likewise, some children, given their lack of prior exposure and other disadvantages, may struggle to master many skills. This doesn’t mean that they can’t develop the ability, but these children would require more than ten months to become “proficient”. Unfortunately, they will not be afforded any extra time. They will have to move up to the next level despite lacking next year's prerequisites. Hopefully next year’s coach can catch them up.

And finally, there’s another group of children. These are ones who excel in one but not all sports. These children can’t automatically advance to the next level exclusively in that sport because they have to stay with their age group and follow the same progression. Imagine if a young Michael Phelps had been told he needed to stay in the back-float class until he mastered the basic level of ice skating, gymnastics, etc. – even though he was ready to swim the butterfly.

This scenario that I just presented might sound unrealistic or even unfair.?But there are many parallels to our public school system. Children begin their education with wide degrees of academic readiness. Our K-12 system perpetuates the inequities by assuming that all students can achieve the targeted standards for all subjects within the same amount of time – one academic year. Many who could move faster have to wait. Those who need more time are often “pushed” along, ready or not, creating academic gaps in knowledge and skills – one that continues to grow with each unearned grade level promotion.

According to the (pre-pandemic) 2019 NAEP scores, two-thirds of our twelfth graders were not proficient in reading and three-fourths were not proficient in math. Students don't suddenly reach the end of the public school system and forget these skills. It seems that many were "not ready" to be pushed to the next level long before they reached high school. How well did our K-12 system prepare these students for college, a career, and life?

Why do we expect all children to master all subject areas within the same amount of time? Why do we expect all children to have strengths and interests in the same subjects? We need to stop pretending that our K-12 system is working for all, when really it is only working for some. COVID has exacerbated the inequities in our students. We can't change the past, but surely we can work to improve the future. It is time to consider a more individualized approach so that every child can reach for the gold.

Suzanne Rupp DeMallie is the author of Can You Hear Me Now? and a former teacher in the Baltimore County Public School system.?