Degrees Go to Die- Academic Preparedness.
I spend a good bit of time excoriating the colleges and universities for their horrid graduation rates, etc. It would be unfair if we didn’t take a moment to see exactly what is going on academically with the students admitted to their hallowed halls.
Before you think I bring critique from an outside point of view, I have been inside both Middle and High School classrooms in the past 4 years. I have been a Junior Achievement volunteer, teaching a set course to various classrooms, all in one day. It has been eye-opening.
First- I am a friend to teachers. I wanted to be one for the longest time. I have a “teaching bent” and everything I do is slanted in that direction. But, it is my observation we have turned them into social workers, counselors, behavior managers, etc. There is no time to teach because it is taken up almost entirely in classroom management. As I was leaving my last class at a Middle School, I heard the teacher offer their students an automatic 100 on their night’s assignment for just turning it in. In High School, many study their phones or sleep on their desktops. Yes, there are some students who do the work, and there are courses that demand that. But, it’s not enough.
What are the academic issues facing most colleges & universities?
1) Academic Unpreparedness. First-year students are being referred to reading, writing & study labs in droves to bring up their college D’s & F’s. While colleges are re-thinking the SAT/ACT testing they recently dropped, it is clear that many high school students’ grades and admissions essays may not portray their actual academic capacity. If you are not ready, you can flunk out,but your loans live on forever.
2) Test-taking focus. Around here, we have End Of Grade testing for DAYS. EOG’s are dreaded by one and all. They even have a call out for adult proctors, like it was an admission exam for Medical School. This is supposed to show where your student is relative to state education standards, but it sends a chilling message; fill in the bubbles with the right answer. And this “bubble” mindset is taken to college by a large portion of students, to their surprise and chagrin.
Neither college nor life works that way.
3) Grade inflation in high school distorts student college capacity. I am talking about the large, regional universities who admit high volumes of applicants. If you are offering grade bribes, regardless of work, for homework done in Middle School, I shudder to think of what else. So I have a question- Is an A really excellent work, or excellently working the system? We are doing no one a favor through bribery or advancing them to a point where they believe this is real in higher education, too.
4) Are we crowding out the essentials for the latest education fads?
Recently, I had dinner with an assistant principal in our county school system. She will be leaving (resigning) to head up a charter elementary school in the fall of 2023 with plans to expand into the middle then high school. Now, please. I am not here to debate the merits or challenges of charter schools. But, here is what she told me.
She is excited that her elementary students’ curriculum will focus on memorizing facts and numbers, processes, and learning systems. This is to help them with the core skills needed to do the basic work. When they hit middle school, they will be trained in cross-subject logic, expressing it in writing and verbally. In high school, every student will be trained in debate with opportunities to learn how to argue for AND against. (watch out parents- this could be interesting.)
Gotta say I was impressed.
Of course they will learn the required state materials, and be tested like everyone else. But, they will ALSO learn how to approach and understand new information. They will be taught research, reasoning and civil discourse.
Lessons in logic, reasoning, & civil discourse are sorely needed right now by most of us.
Parents- a year at an average cost University around here is 25k. Are you SURE your kid can keep up academically? If not, what are you going to do? Studying is a skill. It can be taught. What can’t be taught is drive, grit, and determination to get it done.
I’d make sure they have a heaping, helping scoop of BOTH sides of this academic success equation. If not, your hard borrowed or earned money will be going down a rabbit hole.
Until Next Time,
All My Best,
Bonnie Burkett
