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Current trends in college readiness
Current trends in college readiness
Current trends in college readiness
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A variety of schools have the belief that the effectively prepare their students for college and because of that belief that they hold, they do not realize that their method is possibly not being as effective as planned. Proven by the Census Bureau, “Public high schools main emphasis is often preparing students for college, but according to the Census Bureau, only about 30 percent of the U.S. population graduates from college” (Quoted in SUU News 1). If only 30 percent of the U.S. population graduates from college, then by this time high schools should realize that their college and career readiness methods are not successful. 30 percent is extremely low, especially considering the number of high school graduates who attend college. If it is
a matter of changing the method they are using, then so be it. Schools may be afraid of change, they may be too afraid of failure again. One method that McClafferty suggests is, “McClafferty recommends that schools should create a “college culture”: a school culture that encourages all students to consider college by introducing information about higher education opportunities during early adolescence and in high school” (Radcliffe 137). If college and higher education knowledge and preparation are introduced to students at an early age, students will be more informed and better prepared and willing to continue to further their education. As simply stated, “Whether it’s learning to play the guitar or speak a new language like Spanish, people would not struggle later in life with this if they learned it earlier” (Morgan 2). It is understandable that some students don’t know what they would like to major in whiles they are in middle school or even high school. Students have a while to contemplate. But, on the other hand, the students who do have an approximation of what they would like to major in or pursue in college and further, should be able to take additional classes that will certainly lead them on the right path.
Secondary education rises faster in price than auto insurance. Yet, secondary education is almost required in the United States to succeed. Yes, there are hundreds of people in the United States that have been successful without a college degree, but they are outliers. Students should choose not to go to college based on outliers, but go to college based on the fact thousands have succeeded because of their college degrees. It is more important then ever to know what makes a college great if students are going to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars over four
As the economy evolves and the job market continues to get more competitive, it’s becoming harder to have a successful career without some kind of college degree. This creates a belief in many young students that college actually is a commodity, something they must have in order to have a good life. There’s many different factors that influence this mindset, high schools must push the importance of the student’s willingness and drive to further their education. College isn’t just a gateway to jobs, but it is an opportunity to increase knowledge and stretch and challenge the student which in return makes them a more rounded adult and provides them with skills they might lack prior to
Truck driving is a much needed career to help transport goods across the United States and other local areas. Commercial Truck Driving is the career I choose to uphold. Trucking is a way of transportation needed to keep business going. Trucking has been a part of my family for years so I fell in love with trucks now I won’t to drive my own. This career has a good background, career requirements, job positions, and a good reflection.
In this article “What It Takes To Make New College Students Employable” written by Alina Tugend, she argues that your time in college does not necessarily prepare an individual for jobs in society today. This is mainly due to employers who expect recent college graduates to have the skills prepared for a working environment. Unfortunately, that is not the case because the social and technical skills that you learn in college do not translate into the corporate world. To solve this problem, students can become more well equipped with the skills necessary to work by attending training programs, have employers work with them to fix certain issues, and teach them where certain social skills should be applied in the workplace.
The debate on whether or not students should attend college after achieving a high school degree is one that many would like to consider two-sided; Debra Humphreys says that “going to college is clearly better than not going,” but Claire Potter mentions the opposite side, quoting an unnamed professor who says that “the vast majority of people who end up in our community college system don’t belong in college at all.” I would argue that the issue is not two-sided, and that there are more complexities to the issue than are always printed in media; to say that all college students should go to college or that all should not attempt to place a variety of different cases into a single group. Perhaps a better option is to say that college (in the traditional sense, with boarding and special liberal arts programs) should be recognized as an option for students immediately after their high school graduation, but other options, including the choice to go to vocational school or entrance straight into the workforce, should be considered.
Over the past few years, people have begun to see going to college as a way to achieve the American Dream through career-readiness. People used to go to college, hoping to get a better well-rounded education. For most the well-rounded education, it usually came with the courses required for a liberal arts education. The courses would provide a level of analytical and in-depth understanding that would prepare the students for both life and whichever career path chosen. No matter the amount of money paid, parents would be willing to gi...
Some students would argue that a college education is not a vital aspect of the future of children because it is too much schooling, costs too much, and it is not needed for their future. First of all, these students have struggled through 13 years of school whether elementary, middle, or high school. They have endured many long days and late nights to pass their classes. Although it is true that 4+ more years of school will be mentally tough and hard to endure, these important years will help shape
In Linda Lee’s case, her son was one who was smart but never really applied himself and then when it came time to go to college he was ill-prepared and had no clue about what to do with himself; however, with how “America is obsessed with college” (Lee 3) it isn’t really his fault that he wasn’t prepared but more of a lack on the educational systems part. During high school, you are pushed to take what classes best
Receiving a high school and college education is a great privilege to a lot of people in the United States. For many Americans, attending college can be a great hurdle to surpass in comparison to attending high school. This is because college is more academically rigorous and costly than high school. However, despite college being a great way to advance academically and professionally, it is understandable why many people choose not to continue their education after graduating from high school.
First of all, many high school graduates cannot handle college. Isabel V. Sawhill and Stephanie Owen describe college as a place, “one can obtain a traditional four-year bachelor’s degree”. The work load outside of the classroom could be compared to working a full time job. For example, if a student is enrolled in four college courses and is in class a minimum of four hours the student should spend at least four to six hours of studying. This may be extremely agitating and stressful to a student that is not good at studying. The new college student may realize that the schoolwork is too much for him to handle and instead drop out. In Pharinet’s blog post, Is College for Everyone? He states that “…it is estimated that in the U.S., approximately 50% of students who begin college never graduate. There exist students who are not yet ready for the academic and financial challenges of college. There exist students who do not have the desire for college or learning.” This statement is important because if 50% of students that begin college never gradua...
Within recent decades, college has become a more easily available path than it has been for the past generations. In a current news release, The Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that, “Of the 2.9 million youth age 16 to 24 who graduated from high school between January and October 2014, about 68.4 percent were enrolled in college in October” (BLS Economic News Release from April 2015). When a student graduates high school, most of them intend to continue on to college. They have the idea that, while there, they can break away from all the general classes and just focus on what they want to learn. However, for almost all students, they find that this is not the reality. Just like high school, they find that they have to take approximately two years in general studies in order to attend and graduate with the major of their choice. General education classes should not be required because a majority of the information learned has already been covered in past years. Most of the courses do not benefit a student 's major, and the total amount of required hours for these classes can become a big waste of time and money.
College preparation is not the only area in which schools are failing students. According to Achieve, Inc. (2005), 39% of high school graduates in the workforce say that they have deficiencies. When asked about being prepared for future jobs, forty-six percent say that they are deficient in the skills needed. These shortcomings in the education system will escalate when in the next 10 years, 80% of job openings will require education or training past the high school level (Achieve, 2010). One third of jobs will require a bachelor’s degree. Lower educational attainment is a national problem. Competing countries now boast more workers with associates degree...
to about 83 percent of high school graduates enroll in some form of postsecondary education, but only about 52 percent of students complete their degrees. Further, a very small proportion of students complete a degree in four years—“among students starting at ‘four-year’ institutions, only 34 percent finish a B.A. in four years, 64 percent within six years, and 69 percent within eight and a half years.” Colleges always want students to graduate and support their alma mater. However this begins with deciding what student are mentally readiness and determination for the task that lies ahead, college. In today’s society we struggle trying to find a proper definition for college readiness. This is the main reason statistics and graduation rates suffer in the way that they do. Just because a high school student reaches the age of 18, obtains a high school diploma, and has functional literacy, does that really make students college ready?
Charles Murray, the author of “What’s Wrong With Vocational School?” discusses how too many of today’s high school graduates wrongfully head off to a four-year college. For a large majority of the population, a college education is unnecessary. Murray says that a lot of students don’t even want an advanced education. Even if they do want an education, they aren’t qualified for it. Additionally, a large number of these students are striving for an education or experience that a four-year college isn’t meant to fulfill.
Imagine walking down the hall of a crowded high school. Most of the students there do not envision how well school prepares them for college. Teenagers have few cares in the world! A vast majority takes the bare minimum amount of courses needed to fulfill school requirements. These graduation prerequisites usually do not come close to adequate, and rarely exceed sufficiency. Should high schools change current curriculum to better prepare students for college? The answer is simply, "yes." Consideration of why and how holds the key to solving America's problem.