High school grads not ready for college

[baldeagle]

http://patriotupdate.com/articles/unqua ... nts-cheat/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

“The vast majority of the nation’s 2012 high school graduates aren’t ready for college, and SAT reading scores have plummeted to their lowest level in four decades…”

[grim-bob]

I think this is due to our societies love with lack of responsibility. Parents want to blame their kid's lack of participation or preparation on the teacher. Granted some teachers may have issues with work product/quality but that is hardly the main source of the issue. We just don't hold our kids to any level of responsibility anymore and we make excuses for them instead of lighting the fire under them to get it done. I know what would have happened when I was in school if I slacked or just didn't do any work like most of the kids today...

Then have a school administration threatening to fire a teacher if they have too high of a percentage rate of failing students... maybe what we need is some truth dealt out and start giving the grades the kids truly earned. It might open up some eyes if 50%+ of the kids all of a sudden began failing math and science. And we wonder why we aren't competitive in the market or why it is hard to find good applicants to fill jobs.

[Andrew]

"vast majority" is quite a stretch.
Here's a link to my local high school's outcomes, as well as the ISDs, http://www.texastribune.org/public-ed/e ... gh-school/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; over 90% of juniors took the SAT and/or ACT and of those taking college entrance exams 97% gained admission to 4 year schools. The "vast majority" of those students were also successful in their college careers.
The problems in academia, I believe, harken back to the early 70s when "Equality" was the issue. Instead of achieving equality of access, instruction, resources, etc. We achieved equality of outcome. Course work was deliberately dumbed down in secondary schools, as well as our universities, to foster equality of outcome(everyone gets a diploma/degree).
We then began to see grade inflation to insure that superior students were still recognized. http://thedartmouth.com/1999/11/18/news/ivy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; my alma mater went so far as to institute a program to review grades due to the belief that rampant grade inflation in the humanities was causing loss of interest in science programs, where results are objective rather than subjective. Add quota systems for enrollment and marginal students who would not have been accepted for admission were and generally weren't allowed to fail. If Dubya and Kerry had attended Yale in the late 90s both would hve been B+ or A- students instead of C students.
These policies to achieve equality had a cascade effect through out the academy, if Ivy schools could and did adjust for outcome, so could other private or state schools. Thus we have HS grads who can't read and University grads who can't think. The result is that in many cases, as the article writer states, community colleges have become 13th and 14th grade.
Students who missed out on the opportunity to learn in the K-12 system and have the desire to improve themselves have utilized the CC system to improve their skills and gain admission to 4 year schools. Good for them. It's a pity they never had a Mr. Hand to eat their pizza while they were in high school.

[Z0Tex]

I've seen evidence of this. At the school where I work, I have seen many students that struggle, STRUGGLE to write anything more than their name or to write a few paragraphs for an assignment. I'm not sure how these students actually made it out being this unprepared. it must drive the english/humanities teachers insane.

[packa45]

I see it all the time "college grads that can't think"

Couple of examples--

I have a guy I work with as an armed security guard that has a bachelors degree from UT in business finance/business administration or something similar... And cannot balance his personal checkbook or balance payroll for the site (16 people)he supervises...I am the one doing it for him along with the payroll for the sites (18 people at one 7 at another) that I supervise.. And I don't have a 4 year degree.

Another guy I used to work with was a former LEO with a 4 year degree in criminal justice... Was a security officer while going to school... And now cannot hold either license because he was caught smoking dope...while at work... ok maybe that's not a lack of thinking skills. That's just stupidity, lack of common sense, or whatever other terminology you choose.

I don't think the teachers are the problem I think the students lack of whatever(drive, determination,etc) that causes them to not care...a student that is not willing to learn cannot be taught.

[Ericstac]

I think they meant "vast majority of democrats..."

[recaffeination]

http://patriotupdate.com/articles/unqua ... nts-cheat/

“The vast majority of the nation’s 2012 high school graduates aren’t ready for college, and SAT reading scores have plummeted to their lowest level in four decades…”

"No Child Left Behind" is a cute slogan but some should be left back until they can pass legitimately.

[stroo]

We didn't use to think that every child should go to college. And in those days, we provided a high school degree that was at least the equivalent of a Associate's degree and at some colleges a Bachelors degree today.

[fickman]

Somebody pass a law to make college easier for these poor kids! It ain't fair!

[EconDoc]

Where I teach, over half of the freshmen who entered last August needed remedial math, except we can't call it "remedial". Now, we have to call it developmental math. Either way, it means that they are not ready for the first college math course. Sick! It is stuff like that that makes me glad to be retiring at the end of this semester.

[Andrew]

In Minnesota? Minnesota?!!
http://www.campusreform.org/blog/?ID=4590" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[CC Italian]

In the suburbs the star/sat scores are always higher. I won't go into it. You can draw your own conclusions but the other factor that many forget is maturity! Many of our young adults these days are in what they call "delayed adulthood". Basically even if they have the academic ability to get through college they just don't have the maturity to commit. Many can't deal with working full time and going to school full time.

I am sorry but I have done harder things in my life then college. I had plenty of friends who didn't go and still make more money then me. I also had many friends who were way smarter then I and dropped out. Mainly because they couldn't manage their time well or partied to much. Just my 2 cents. College is a lot easier when your not 18-21. That is what they are forgetting. Most of them are still kids mentally.

[The_Busy_Mom]

Mmmm.... A subject close to my heart. Our oldest daughter graduated from high school in June of 2012, at 19 years old. We are definitely NOT parents who provide everything for our 4 kids and our daughter would tell you we take personal responsibility to the extreme - be personally responsible, cause no one else is gonna do it for you. When everyone around her was driving a brand new car and receiving money from their parents without having to work, our daughter worked, paid for gas, half of her insurance, and all of her spending money. Still, though, she came home from her first semester of college and told us how unfair it was that she received a 2.92 GPA for the semester. It is a generational mentality, prolonged by programs such as No Child Left Behind, among others. When your children spend 8-10 hours at schools where teachers are forced to 'teach the test', and children are constantly subjected to very liberal thought processes, and they only spend 4 hours with their family when they get home, children will eventually loose the will to fight for themselves when everyone else will do it for them. Don't get me wrong - I am a substitute teacher in a public school district and all 4 of our children have attended public school - it's not the teachers, but administrators who have been legislated to death. When, as a society (putting political viewpoint aside), we quit waiting for handouts and whining about how 'unfair' everything is, children will come to realize that not everyone is meant for college, and that's OK. My daughter nearly fell out of her chair when I told her I wouldn't be mad if she wanted to quit school and just go to work. College isn't a right, it is a joy that you work hard to accomplish and then get to reap the rewards, whatever course of study you choose. As for those grads who can't read, I have first hand experience in the matter. We had to remove our oldest son from school when he was in 8th grade, and the teacher told me "oh, he's a smart kid. Let me change this grade and at least give him a 70 so he can be passing when he starts his next school." This is in a very highly respected school district, in a highly regarded community, not your run-of-the-mill-inner-city school. Situations like this are occurring everywhere, because the actions are becoming more widely accepted as the norm, and personal responsibility has become the exception to the rule.

[CC Italian]

On a side note. A lot of them need to think about what degree they are going to go for. These days a college degree is not worth what it was even 10 years ago imo. There are exceptions to this. My wife and I struggled so hard to find good paying jobs for years. They have to be ready for the reality that $10-$14 dollars an hour is common in this economy for a bachelors degree and many of them will have to move back in with their parents unless they are lucky. The only people I know who made a liveable wage straight out of college with a Bachelors degree are a few with Business degrees, those lucky enough to find a teaching job and of course all the guys with engineering degrees. They all make a ton of money for young adults! All the engineers I know make between $75,000-$150,000 and not one of them is over 32 years old. Everybody else is a waiter or doing construction because it pays better then working a retail job. Sad but true.

Saying all this now imagine how bad it is for someone who doesn't have a degree or a trade or started their own business and was lucky enough to get it off the ground. This is why I walk in to wal mart and see 40 year old men working for 12 bucks an hour or waiting tables(which you can make decent money waiting tables). I have a friend who waits tables and makes more then me easily. You would be shocked to find out how many people have college degrees and wait tables or work a retail job!