All of us rise to challenges. We just need to be challenged.

“Children develop only as the environment demands development.” This is a quote found in David Shenk’s work, The Genius In All of Us, from a 1932 study by Sherman and Key of children growing up in various parts of Appalachia. The more remote the child’s family lived in the mountains of Appalachia, the less they needed to learn to be successful in managing their lives. The closer the family lived to main roads and outside influences, the more the children had to learn to respond to the demands.

Student readiness for college-level work is a chronic concern for all school districts. Last year the Houston Independent School District under Dr. Grier’s leadership decided to encourage more students to take Advanced Placement classes and take the end of year AP exams. The district would pay the fees for the AP tests. Depending upon the college and the score, students can receive college credits by way of good performance on the AP tests. HISD found that the number of students taking the AP exams and with scores of 3 or above, which can count for credit, rose dramatically.

Advanced Placement classes tend to require more effort on the part of the student, and are also an indicator for the student of what level of work might be required for college-level classes. If a student does not know how to work hard at something important in high school, there is no magic that he will suddenly find it within himself to produce great effort in college. Students who graduate from college persist in their efforts and manage their time. We need to help students learn these skills in high school.

“Every human being (even a whole society) can grow smarter if the environment demands it.” Sherman and Key in 1932 discussed in The Genius in All of Us by David Shenk.