Friday, May 18, 2007

Candidates’ Focus on College Access Misses the Point

I’ve noticed in recent days a few presidential candidates talking a bit about education. For the most part, they are calling for programs to make it easier for students to get into college.

Now that’s good. Everyone who wants to go to college should have an equal shot at it. No question about that.

But getting into college does not mean you will graduate. (And some of the candidate talk is just responding to polling. It’s far short of a comprehensive solution to a real problem.)

We need to focus on our elementary and high schools, making sure that our students are challenged to do their best and that our teachers have the time and resources to help students learn.

Because if they are not challenged in high school, for instance, they have a much harder time when they get to college, where the work load and material are that much more difficult.

A few days ago, I wrote about that ACT study showing that only a quarter of students who take “college prep” courses actually end up ready for college. I’m still shaking my head over that one.

Now here are two more statistics that support my point. They come from a Department of Education study that came out last year. This thing showed that success in college – did you graduate? – had a direct relationship to how tough your high school classes were. So the tougher your high school curriculum, the more likely you were to graduate.

My point is this: 82 percent of students who had the toughest curriculum in high school graduated from college. Only nine percent of the students who had the easiest curriculum graduated.

Now that’s something we can focus on. We can toughen our curriculum. We can have national standards so a high schooler in Iowa will meet the same criteria as a student in California or South Carolina. We can make sure we have effective teachers in every classroom, and we provide the time and resources students need for learning.

That’s what ED in 08 is all about, and that’s what the presidential candidates should be addressing.

 


2 Comments

This approach would be great if the presidential candidates had any influence at all on graduation requirements. They don't.

Outside the minimum that the states do, the only group that does have influence is the college board and the mediocre tests that they provide for college entry.

If you truly wish to help our high schools, insist that colleges up the standards for college entry not waste time on presidential politics.

Posted by Erin Johnson (Email | Visit) at 5/18/2007 6:29:01 PM
What do you mean by "toughen our curriculum?"

And when did Americans vote that all children should be forced to learn the same things, the same way, and at the same time?

The present standards-based reform and high-stakes test model undermines individualism, autonomy, innovation, and the type of personal relationships that help children develop and grow. Ultimately this type of reform drives effective teachers out of classrooms.

Also, have you visited the www.bls.gov lately? I'd like to know where the jobs are for all of these people we are sending to college...

Posted by Philip Kovacs (Email) at 5/20/2007 11:24:26 AM

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