She seems confused as to how to prepare these minority students for college. The tragedy is our public school system. I teach many of these students, in a state college, and they just do NOT know how to read and write. I sent my kids to private school just so that they could read and write. Reading and writing does not take a lot of money, it takes dedication and hard work, correcting and rewriting bad essays. Why don’t our public schools have the same high standards as private schools? I’ve seen plenty of mediocre private school students, but they survive because they have learned to read and write. But the unions in control of the public schools do not support the work required to actually teach these students. And what kind of a future do these college kids have if they never learned to read and write well? It’s not a pretty picture.
Bingo. I teach at a community college and you have hit the nail on the head. The kids do not know how to read and write. Reading comprehension is a massive problem. I teach history and there is a English prerequisite to take my course but you would never know it to read the essays I see. I can understand the foreign students, English is not their first language but native English speakers are writing at about a 3rd grade level. Earlier this week I spent time going over an essay with a student from Mexico who had scholarships to the university. She told me that I was the first professor who would actually go over her essay with her. I asked about her English professors and she said they just gave her high grades and told her not to worry about it. I give my classes open note, open book and open electronic device tests. Even with all those advantages the average score last semester was a C-. Reading comprehension is non-existent right now, and you’re absolutely correct, the fix has to be made at the primary and secondary level. If it is not, then colleges will soon be nothing more than a delayed high school experience.