State education officials are designing a test for 10th-graders that would allow students who pass to graduate early and get a head start on career training at their local community college.

New Hampshire will be the first state to offer this exam. Its success will be monitored by a national organization devoted to helping American students better compete in the global workforce. Teens in other countries often enter college at a younger age than their peers in the U.S., something the group says makes Americans less competitive.

When New Hampshire's involvement was first announced, some parents worried that the state would be asking children to leave school too soon. Commissioner of Education Lyonel Tracy said that is not the goal. Teens, he said, wouldn't be forced out of high school; they'd just be given educational options earlier.

"It's not meant to disrupt anybody's social setting," he said. "It's just meant to give students advanced opportunities."

The program stems from a report called "Tough Choices or Tough Times" that was published by the National Center on Education and the Economy. It calls for overhauling public education so Americans can better compete in the global workforce.

The report's authors outlined 10 steps and recruited states to try them. Utah and Massachusetts will try other programs that deal with preschool and teacher recruitment. New Hampshire agreed to test the theory that many 16-year-olds are ready for college.

The program, as outlined in the report, calls for students to take a board exam at the end of their sophomore year. If they pass, they have two choices: graduate and begin attending community college classes or continue with a rigorous schedule of high school courses designed to prepare them for prestigious universities.

Students who fail the exam could retake the test as often as they'd like. Some community college courses would require students to travel to campus. Others might be offered at their high school. Students could still participate in sports and other extracurricular activities, Tracy said.

The system is similar to those used in many European countries, and the report's authors say it will motivate teens.

"Many students just slide through high school," the report said. "They know that all they have to do is get passes in their courses or a satisfactory score on an eighth- or ninth-grade-level literacy test to go to college. With this system they will know that they have to work hard in school to get anywhere and . . . that is exactly what they will do."

Many steps remain before the first group of 10th-graders can sit for a board exam. The Department of Education must still design the test, and it's likely several schools will be chosen to experiment with the program. Tracy said a more detailed timeline will be available next year.

Local parents said they are intrigued by the idea as long as it's not forced on every student. Skipping the last two years of high school might be great for some kids, they said, but disastrous for others.

"I think it's probably double-edged," said Jeff Kipperman, a father of three from Bow. "It would be an excellent experience for the right child if they were able to take the classes and get the right training. On the other side, at that level, the kids think they know everything, but their maturity is holding them back."

Gary Clifford of Bow has plenty of questions about the plan. Who would pay for the college classes? How would educators make sure teens were really ready to leave high school? Would early graduation limit students' exposure to languages and other electives? What about the social aspects of a traditional school day?

Still, he sees merit in challenging students.

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