When I was a counselor at a junior college in California, all students over 18 were admitted with or without a high school diploma.
However, they had to pass tests in basic math and English as a pre-requisite for other courses. They took remedial courses until they passed the tests. Many students never got past the remedial courses mainly because they had not used their time wisely in high school where they had been truant, unruly and often suspended. The City University of New York in its open enrollment policy has been providing extensive and expensive remedial programs for students unprepared to do college work.
High schools sometimes have a difficult time teaching these remedial courses because the students are unruly and do not want to be there.
These students come from other countries or are US citizens who did not take advantage of their high school education when they had the opportunity. Most of these students never graduate from college.
The college can no longer provide this service. Something has to give. College is not the place to make up deficiencies in the basic tool subjects. The place is the high school. High schools sometimes have a difficult time teaching these remedial courses because the students are unruly and do not want to be there. Many are in school because the law says they have no choice. College, however, is a choice. There is more prestige to saying you are going to college than to admit you are still in high school when you are over eighteen. The concept of choice is important to motivate students to learn.
Students, especially high school students, need to have some say in their education. In our present system, they are given few choices. They must go to their neighborhood school and take a prescribed list of courses and finish each course in a prescribed length of time. They must do all of this in four years. If they do not conform, they are violating the law. New York City found that only one-third of the city's public high school students graduated with a conventional diploma in four years. However, after three additional years 57 percent had earned a diploma or an equivalency certificate. . Suppose we shortened mandatory high school to two years. The requirements for the diploma would change but after two years students have the option to leave with a certificate.
This certificate would indicate that the student has mastered the basic tool subjects of reading, math and English. The next two years he could choose a program more like a junior college or a college . After receiving their two year certificate, students might benefit from choosing schools which offer programs geared to their interests . New York City already has these programs in place.
One is the Clara Barton School for those interested in medical and nursing careers. Another is the Murray Bergtraum School for those interested in business careers. It is important that there be choice and an avoidance of the negative label of drop-out. The label tends to stick and young people carry around the burden of a poor self-image. Not only do they live up to these negative expectations but it affects their ability to take advantage, at a later date, of what the educational system has to offer. Taxpayers are entitled to an education. In addition, if a democracy is to work, it is necessary that its citizens be able to read and to write in order to make informed decisions when they vote. The country also needs to be able to count on skilled workers if it is to continue to prosper. As long as the students have the persistance to continue learning, programs, including remedial ones, should be available to them.
First published in 1995
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