Purposeful Ramblings Through My Mind

It's interesting what you say about streaming in high school. In NB when I was in high school there (1994-96) there was streaming, as you describe, but with an extra level. Level 1 was basically advanced/gifted/whatever you want to call it. Level 2 was the 'average' level - many kids in these courses could and did still go to university, but it was just geared a bit lower. Level 3 was the 'not going to university' level, and then there was a spec ed stream as well (I forget if they called it Level 4, or something else). People freely switched between Level 1 and 2 for certain subjects, or from year to year - you didn't need any kind of approval as far as I recall, just your own decision that you would like something a bit easier or harder. I did Level 1 math in Gr. 10, Level 2 in Gr. 11, and Level 1 again in Gr. 12. Level 1 Chemistry in Gr. 11, Level 2 in Gr. 12 (those courses covered a lot of the same subject material, which was the only case when I felt I didn't benefit from this system...) I wasn't penalized in university admissions or by teachers for this sort of switching streams, and lots of people did it too, afaik.

Now, switching to/from Level 3 would likely have been a different matter, but even then, I seem to recall some kids who were really gifted in a particular subject doing Level 1, say, English, and Level 3 Math, or whatever. But that *would* penalize you in terms of getting into university, because Level 3 classes weren't considered admissible, and if it was a mandatory subject (like Math) you would have a hard time getting in, if not impossible without further coursework.