Are Our High School College Prep Graduates Prepared For College?
I heard it many times while I was a college student that most of us were unprepared for college level work. Some college professors would grade papers not only for the subject matter they were teaching but also for spelling, grammar, and whether or not it was properly typed.One reason why total college costs is so high is that students are forced to take remedial courses before they can register for classes in their chosen program. I am no educator but Union County College in Cranford, New Jersey calls the courses remedial, developmental, and ESL. Upon examination some college programs may require more math or other subjects than the student completed in high school - but the student graduated from high school. Some may not have good English reading, comprehension, or writing skills - but may have graduated from an American high school.
Some students require from one semester to 2 years of preparatory work before they can start the college curriculum because their high school failed them. What a waste of money and time at both the high school and college. The work should have been performed in high school and avoided at college.
My concern is at the college prep program of study at the high school level. In the first place the standards probably should be higher to pass each course. An adequate curriculum is mandatory. Students must write for every course.
The higher standards are necessary so that there is a breadth of knowledge that the student gains. The first issue is to cover the material adequately. This means in most cases studying the entire text and supplementing it with additional material and exercises. The second issue is to evaluate the curriculum offered and upgrade it to leading national and international standards. I would be ashamed if graduates of a high school that I administered or taught at had to take remedial, developmental, or ESL courses when they started their college careers. The third issue is for the student to write for all of his or her high school courses. I think I would outlaw multiple choice tests and classroom movies and TV to some extent.
This is a big challenge. It certainly is not business as usual. Maybe student classroom attendance should be increased to 40 hours each week and maybe 11 months out of the year. Probably some classes such as mathematics should be double periods each day instead of one. Maybe each student will be able to take statistics and also calculus before they graduate. Each student should have a science course with a lab. Each student should be proficient with a laptop computer before graduating. Each student should have 4 years of a foreign language and the 4th year should be double periods each day where the student is immersed in the language.
Student having a more difficult time accomplishing the demands of any course should be able to attend a supplemental class several times each week while the primary class is in session. High school ESL students should be immersed in English spelling, writing, comprehension, grammar, and reading supplemental classes too.
Failed students should have to take the same or an alternative course again.
I would not graduate an ESL student unless they were at least 10th grade proficient in English. In the public school system they are young people with many years ahead for them and they need English to participate adequately in America those future years. All ESL students should have intense programs to learn English.
Grades should improve and standardized test scores should also improve. Better prepared students are most likely to graduate from college in the appropriate time frame. This type of effort may also diminish the number of students dropping out of high school because they should get more attention from the teachers and support staff.
Any undergraduate program that the high school graduate pursues, he or she can jump into the college's standard curriculum immediately without remedial, developmental, or ESL course prerequisites because the high school curriculum was broad and demanding. If your child has to take a semester or more time and money to prepare for college I would be mad as hell at the high school administrators and the board of education. I would hit the ceiling if the undergraduate bill was as much as 50% higher that it should be if the student graduated on time.
I think that all undergraduate degrees should be balanced and comprehensive enough so that any graduate can enter a second undergraduate program without mandatory preparation courses or repeating common required courses before starting a second curriculum.
George Bush and Congress believe education is a local issue. But we do move from state to state with our children transferring to different schools. Many graduates attend college away from the state they graduated from high school. Employers and colleges expect some sort of standard. Even the US military from what I understand rejects most enlistees because they cannot pass the qualification tests. On many educational measures when compared internationally, America is being passed by in many categories. The primary solution has been to throw more money at it and that does not really work.
What do you think?
posted by God Bless America - Bob @ 1:23 AM
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