Wednesday, January 02, 2013

Keep Those Standards Up

 

It should not be a surprise to anyone that graduation rates in the city's two year colleges is falling.  Colleges have standards. High schools do not.  To pass a class in college, a student has to show mastery of the subject.  There is no boot camp, or credit recovery classes.  Students can't just answer 100 questions online and make up all the work they didn't do during the semester.  There is no extra credit or second chances. High school students know the schools will do everything to get them to graduate.  No matter how poor their grades are, they understand that the school's standing and their teacher's job depend upon their passing and pass they will.  No principal wants his school closed.

I fear this new push to improve graduation rates will have the colleges lowering standards as well and soon the college diploma will be as meaningless as one from high school.   Schools like John Jay, York, and Hostos cater to a different type of student than schools like Baruch and NYU.  But, what all these schools have in common is that their degrees mean something.  I teach at a community college.  While it might be easy to get in, it is not easy to get out.  Anyone who graduates from this school as well as from York or John Jay or any other CUNY has gotten a first class education and a degree that means they have learned their stuff.


 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

As a high school teacher I have encountered many of my former students who tell me they just CAN'T MAKE IT AT QUEENSBORO! I knew that the day they left. We are not giving the students what they need when we allow them to graduate high school on "credit recovery". Education is a very sad word in a sad world that doesn't recognize it!

Anonymous said...

Just remember, that the "Credit Recovery" system wasn't created by rank-and-file veteran teachers. This was created by administration staff and "bean counters", with the express purpose of pushing students through.

I said it before, and I'll say it again. Education is not a "hot button issue". It's not like crime, the economy, or war. If you don't have a child in school, or work in a school, you have no clue about schools.

Anonymous said...

Oh Stop!!
Even people who have children in school Have no clue about schools.
That's the problem. Adults don't possess critical thinking skills or common sense. As a friend said, "Common sense is just not common!"
People are more interested in keeping up with the joneses(')? Than focusing on real issues. BTW That includes rank and file.
So sad.