Students aren’t Prepared for Careers: Whose Fault is it? Recent surveys among recent graduates of high schools have reported an interesting trend: Recent grads are feeling more and more unprepared for their futures. In the article “New Survey: High school grads feel unprepared”? Are their schools at fault or are they?,” Maureen Downey, writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, discusses different aspects of preparation that schools provide, or rather, fail to, and explains students’ opinions on the matter. In the text, Downey makes it clear that high schools are not doing enough for their students. High schools are at fault for leaving students unprepared for life because they don’t encourage enough academic rigor, fail to assist students …show more content…
Communicate early in high school about the courses needed for college/careers (87%)” (Downey 4). As shown by the data, if schools were to communicate to students that pushing themselves beyond just the base level was key in preparing them for their futures, then many more students would be encouraged to take up Honors and AP classes to ultimately better prepare them for their careers. Also, as Downey points out, 83% of recent high school graduates agree schools should “provide more help for those who need extra tutoring” (Downey 4). If students were encouraged to take harder classes, and schools were to subsequently provide said students with extra assistance with tutoring, then an overall greater number of students could be expected to take on the challenge of readying themselves for their futures while also not having to worry about sacrificing good grades. Furthermore, by teaching key study habits, schools can make students better at completing their
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
Can you name four or five careers you can realistically aspire to?”(Schlack 11), Then follows with what one could do with their response. “For those who answer, ‘Yes, I know my strengths and I have a pretty good idea where I want to go in life and I do need college to get there,’ college is the right choice. If the answer is, ‘ I’m not really sure what my strengths are or where I want to go in life,’ then deferring college is the better choice.”(Schlack 12), In conclusion Schlacks main claim is that if a student doesn't know what they want to do in life then college is not the right choice. In addition Schlack does introduce more claims such as the way he ends the writing, “Too many students believe this. School leaders can get out in front and help them see there are many paths to a successful life and college is only one of them.” (Schlack 17), Schlack has valid and explained claims throughout the article, that can alter the reader's position on the
“Should Preparing Students For the Workforce Be The Primary Mission Of Colleges and Universities?” Debate.org Phillip & Crystal Ferreira, Web. 16 April 2014.
Let me take you back to being a sophomore in high school: fifteen-about-to-turn-sixteen-year-olds, beginning thoughts of college just blooming in their minds, and they are taking more challenging classes than ever before. Every year, classes are changed in schools in order to fulfill new requirements and the difficulty is increased in order to challenge the new students. These new classes and the amount of choices students now have between the different classes available now put new pressures on students that the older generations may not understand. Not only do students have the choice of electives, but now they have the choice of different mathematics, sciences, and English courses on a range of sometimes four different levels. With all these choices, students may have a hard time deciding which is the proper course and level to take. Unfortunately, there is one more pressure in the mix of this decision: the pressure to take advanced placement (AP) courses. More students are taking AP classes every year but the number of students who “bomb the AP exams is growing even more rapidly” (Simon). This leads into the idea that students are not getting more intelligent than the previous classes, but simply that there is too much pressure on them to take these AP courses. Students in high school are being pressured too much to take advanced placement courses whether or not they are academically qualified for them.
...ation for the career of their choice. As Gatto so eloquently points out in his article, “We have been taught (that is, schooled) in this country to think of ‘success’ as synonymous with, or at least dependent on ‘schooling’…” (Gatto 150). If he is correct, and success is reliant on our schooling, only the few elite students even have a chance at becoming successful. And that is truly unfair because every student in our country’s education system deserves the chance to be able to become something great.
High schools must begin to do their part in preparing graduates for the rigors of college. In the last couple of decades, high stakes testing along with state and federal mandates have put tremendous pressure on public schools to increase graduation rates (Steele 616). Sadly, high schools spend so much time on preparing students for the graduation tests that no time is left for the needed psychological preparation for college. High school policymakers need to reevaluate their desired results for graduates to include college r...
People continue to wonder if college is worth the time and money spent with numerous individuals still unemployed, a valid concern of young students. Despite the information the majority have heard about unemployment rates, this is not a valid argument. (Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney) notes, “In Apr. 2013 the unemployment rate for college graduates aged 25 and over with a bachelor’s degree was 3.6%, compared to 5.0% for associate’s degree holders, 7.5% for high school graduates, and 11.4% for high school drop-outs.” These statistics alone should put your mind at ease relieving concerns an individual may have in respects to finding a job in their field. Moreover, employers that can see someone’s passion toward the carrier they’re seeking will increases one’s chance of successfully finding
People around the world are asking the golden question: Is college worth all of the hassles and cost? High school students debate the ideas of college in classrooms around the country and world. If the end-all-be-all goal in life is to be successful, college is the first step to obtain success. Parents question the reasonings behind spending thousands of dollars on furthering their child’s education if “making it” in their career is not a guarantee for the price. Although costly, college is a phenomenal investment to make in oneself; leverage in careers make the financial benefits in the future and academic advantages more worthwhile.
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.
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?
Many students entering college may discover that they are not prepared for college curriculum courses. These students enter college courses facing a major issue. They find that high school has not adequately prepared them for the difficulty of college level courses. These students lacked the sufficient basis in being well equipped for advanced careers and college entry. These students have suffered a great inequality prevalent throughout high schools since several high schools do not receive equivalent aid. The unequal funding in high schools prevents students from attaining the same education that other students in different areas may receive. Unequal school funding in secondary schools causes inadequate preparation for students wanting to attend a post-secondary institution.
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.
A statement from the Huffington Post states, “From a very young age, we are told the importance of getting good grades. Especially in high school, we are told time and time again that our grades affect what college we will get into. While grades are extremely important, people often forget about the importance of learning, not just getting good grades. There is a difference between the grade received in a course and the amount of learning that took place in the course.” Parents and institutions should teach the importance of learning. The society around the upbringing of students emphasizes getting good grades as apposed to getting every detail and aspect mastered. School priorities should be reevaluated and changed for future students
It is often said that education should come before anything else. “Education is the most important factor in the development of the country” (“Education”). However, this is not always true in terms of the success of one’s collegiate career. Education is not every student’s top priority, and there are many ways to live successfully after college without focusing on the academic part as your top priority. Only about 30 percent of Americans complete a bachelor’s degree by their mid-20s, with another 10 percent completing an associate’s degree by then (Paulson). Not everyone’s top priority is academics, with many alternatives and goals to pursue, many people drop-out or simply stop trying and eventually flunk out. H...