I like the "carreer tract" only as long as it's flexible enough for the student to change their minds up to the last minute.
The secret is there is no "last minute" anything. No deadline to finishing. No age groups. The key is determining which componants apply to which track(s). You are not limited to a track. Complete all the associated componants, voila! you are a professional! Add a few more for track B and viola! you are multidimensional!. The requirements toward a career track might be that you pass some final exam based on the standards as set forth within the track, which would enforce that outside institutions conform to the national standards even if they don't like the system itself.
Learning is lifelong and open to anyone with access. Not just a highway to learning but a SUPER-highway. NCLB is moot cause we all have access to everything!
Yes, I am saying national standards make sense. Sure, there's the battle over states controlling what 'educated' means but it's well worth defining. I know that at the moment states may have various requirements as to what is required to be a teacher. They have completetly different requirements form other states, and at other times they may require the same knowledge but set different proficiencies. It's a mish-mash.
I am asking for all of it - this is thinking BIG after all.
Yes, you could access this wherever. Your gifted child can sit in the lab and proceed at his or her whim. The normal child can proceed at the normal pace but is still required to use the CBT for assessment. The homeschooled child... ditto.
