Posted on 03/19/2014 1:11:03 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
It’s an article of faith in the school reform community that we should be striving to prepare all students for success in college—if not a four-year degree, then some other recognized and reputable post-secondary credential.
The rationale is clear and generally compelling; as a recent Pew study reiterated, people who graduate from college earn significantly more than those who do not.
Other research indicates that low-income students in particular benefit from college, becoming nearly three times more likely to make it into the middle class than their peers who earn some (or no) college credits. And it’s not just about money: College graduates are also healthier, more involved in their communities, and happier in their jobs.
Thus, in the reformers’ bible, the greatest sin is to look a student in the eye and say, “Kid, I’m sorry, but you’re just not college material.”
But what if such a cautionary sermon is exactly what some teenagers need? What if encouraging students to take a shot at the college track—despite very long odds of crossing its finish line—does them more harm than good? What if our own hyper-credentialed life experiences and ideologies are blinding us to alternative pathways to the middle class? Including some that might be a lot more viable for a great many young people? What if we should be following the lead of countries like Germany, where “tracking” isn’t a dirty word but a common-sense way to prepare teenagers for respected, well-paid work?
Here’s a stark fact: According to research by Georgetown’s Anthony Carnevale and Jeff Strohl, less than 10 percent of poor children now graduate with a four-year college degree.
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
Now the libs want college to be “free.” Combine that with a different set of standards for people according to their membership in an appropriate victim group, and college will have absolutely no value at all.
The youngest said, "%&$# college" and went into the Air Force and is currently having the time of his life stationed in Germany.
My second nephew said "%&$# college", got a plumber's certificate and now runs his own business, supporting a wife and two daughters.
My oldest nephew has a Masters Degree........and no job.
That's solely due to "affirmative action" in both the college and the work force which still prevails today........And one could certainly argue that B. Hussein Obama is a product of that racist and failed philosophy........
“You come to this institution with a head full of mush, and after four years, you leave here with a piece of paper, a $100,000 school loan debt, and a head full of oatmeal.”
Whaddya mean "WE"? Before the days when EVERUONE went to college, people found their own opportunities and showed the world what prosperity looked like.
The only thing "WE" (i.e. the government) need to give everybody is the freedom to make their own way in life.
"Our own"?
HEY DUMBASS! GET SOME SAFETY GLASSES ON!
Hahahahahahaha...that jumped out at me too.
People who are “hyper-credentialed” think that putting a whole boatload of hyphenated acronyms after their name shows people how smart they are.
“Who you mean by ‘our own’ Kemosabe?”
Of course, Mike Rowe has a college degree in communications from Towson University.
I went to college right after high school and then dropped out but a few years ago I went back and 80% of the young students were so inept the could hardly write a coherent sentence. And every class had some element of politically correct nonsense from enviromenalism to misogyny. It was so bad.
Yes, he does. Your point? He’s FOS? Hypocrite?
I believe that high schools teach the same material to the money rich and the money poor. Colleges should loan good students the necessary money and teach them well or they won't get their money back.Not a bad idea. Needs to be some accountability on the college side.
The dirty little secret is the colleges don’t care if they “get their money back.” It wasn’t theirs in the fist place. To them, student loans are just another grant flowing into their pockets.
"We"? "should"? "everybody"?
Who is "we"? And why should "we" do this for "everybody"?
College entrance USED to depend upon taking certain courses throughout high school - with good grades, and then passing college entrance exams.
You either ‘made’ it or you didn’t!!
If you read the last paragraph of the story, even that is questionable:Most . . . low-income students who start community college in remedial courses . . . won’t ever get past their remedial courses.If college started out hard for me - and also for the only two guys who outranked me in high school, who later became college professors - what are the odds against people who start out not even being readers!
Yeah, we’re graduating far too many kids functioning at the 3rd grade level or less. But college classes run the spectrum from hard to incredibly easy, depending upon school and subject.
Because University Admins like to make Big Fat Paychecks from all the suckers who go in debt!
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