2008 Woodie Awards
Falling short in higher education
Students rarely ready for college at high school graduation
Ashley Fuquay
Issue date: 9/4/08 Section: Opinion
So you have graduated and you now have your high school diploma. You think you are all set to start your adult life and go to college and ultimately start a career. Well, you my friend are wrong. American public education is worse than ever before and in no way prepares upcoming college freshmen for the big bad world of academia.
With watered-down standardized testing, high school is more like day care that the state forces upon young adults than a place of learning. When students approach college level, it is either sink or swim and far too many students sink. Too many college freshman are dropping out of their first semester.
Remember how your high school teachers used to nag you to turn in your assignments? Well, most college professors will not even take late work. Remember how your parents use to wake you up to make sure you got to class on time? Well, your roommate does not care if you sleep in and miss your chemistry test.
It is not just these little changes to adapt to. Most students when coming out of high school do not know how to retain large amounts of information. Students actually have to learn how to learn instead of the memorization trick we all did five minutes before a test. Sorry to burst your bubble freshmen, but that doesn't cut in college. Most high school students have no idea how to study and are not even accustomed to doing homework regularly.
Something has to be done. College students should be intelligent and well-educated. They should not struggle with basic classes, but I can't fix this problem with a column. Tell us what you think the solution is. Write to us at http://www.thejtac.com/home/lettertotheeditor/.
With watered-down standardized testing, high school is more like day care that the state forces upon young adults than a place of learning. When students approach college level, it is either sink or swim and far too many students sink. Too many college freshman are dropping out of their first semester.
Remember how your high school teachers used to nag you to turn in your assignments? Well, most college professors will not even take late work. Remember how your parents use to wake you up to make sure you got to class on time? Well, your roommate does not care if you sleep in and miss your chemistry test.
It is not just these little changes to adapt to. Most students when coming out of high school do not know how to retain large amounts of information. Students actually have to learn how to learn instead of the memorization trick we all did five minutes before a test. Sorry to burst your bubble freshmen, but that doesn't cut in college. Most high school students have no idea how to study and are not even accustomed to doing homework regularly.
Something has to be done. College students should be intelligent and well-educated. They should not struggle with basic classes, but I can't fix this problem with a column. Tell us what you think the solution is. Write to us at http://www.thejtac.com/home/lettertotheeditor/.
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