Do you believe that EVERY child that plays on a baseball team is going to be an All-STAR player? What if there was a requirement of each coach that stated, “Each child that plays on your team must be an All-STAR player? What do you think the response will be? Similar to this scenario, there is currently the expectation of the State Board of Education that all children should be college bound; therefore, they have changed the graduation requirements for high school students.
The current dropout rate for the state of Texas is currently 40% according to an article, “Most-ever districts, academically unacceptable attributes to the high dropout rate.” Why do you suppose that is? I’ll tell you why. The educational system headed by Texas Education Agency (TEA) has increased graudation requirements on all students that attend high school. They require that all students graduate under the recommended or distinguished plan. The minimum plan has been modified and students need special permission to graduate under this plan. What does that all that me? It means that all students are required to have four years of History, English, Math and Science. The math courses include Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II. The Science courses include a Chemistry class which you must have taken Algebra II to prior to. The vocational classes such as auto mechanics and cosmetology have been filled with academic pre-college classes.
After you have taken those required classes, it is mandated that each student pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test which includes History, Math, Science and English. Upon completion of all these requirements, if a child is interested in going to college and they are not in the 10% of their graduating class, they are required to take a college placement test. Now, I ask you, are all students of the state of Texas- College Bound? Think of some of your friends or people you knew in high school, were they all college bound?
There are kids that are dealing with everyday issues in life; drugs, gangs, teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, the stress of the economy, and mental disabilities. Do you think all those children are all college bound? It is a good idea to say, “Yes, they are if they work hard.” But, the fact is that some, just want to graduate so they can get a job to help out their family, themselves or the children they have produced.
Ok, you may say, well they can just go and get their GED. True, but the GED tests have gotten harder. Before you can even take the GED, there are certain courses you have to have taken in high school in order to qualify to take the GED.
There has been much take in the political arena about lowering the high school dropout rate. My question is how? What is the plan? The people making these asinine rules are those whose children are in private schools, or have private tutors to help them succeed. Then, if they still just, “can’t fit the bill,” they already have positions for them in their own corporations, networking within their jobs, or they work for the family business. If all else fails, they can live off the family inheritance.
What do I think: talk to the people who are on the front line; teachers, counselors, principals and the students themselves and see what they have to say. The “people” in charge would be out for a rude awakening. Being from a family of educators; a principal, counselor, high school teacher, and special education teacher, I understand the struggles first hand; I hear the issues all the time; “There is too much responsibility placed on the teacher to ensure that children learn what they simply are unable to. Some of these children can’t do all this. Well, we’ve lost another one. He’s not coming back next year.”
I believe the requirements that have placed on these children need to be changed. The minimum plan that was in place for students that are not college bound needs to be brought back so that all children, regardless of their academic abilities will have the chance to graduate with pride. They should not have to have special permission and all these stipulations to graduate. I feel they should allow the students to take the minimum required classes and reincorporate vocational classes (which have been cut due to budget issues) for a specific skill to succeed at their ability level. Unfortunately, every child simply is not college material.
An article in the Houston Chronicle, “Chavez students work to catch up during Break,” mentions the additional steps schools are taking to assist children to reach these requirements. These steps are to be commended. I still say, this would not be in place had these strict requirements not been in place in the first place. The people on these boards making these laws need to get off their high horse, get a reality check and understand and address the needs of everyday people. I do feel that all children of Texas should be educated, but not under the current system we have in place. I agree with the words of Red McCombs, a business man from San Antonio. He cites “the state's high dropout rate, in particular, is an indication that the system is broken,……”
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Response to "Are all Texan children college bound?"
ReplyDeleteChantell at Citizens Actions Toward The Government brings up some interesting points regarding education in her post "Are all Texan children college bound?" The falling graduation rates in the United States, and specifically Texas, are alarming. So is the fact that the U.S. is slipping in worldwide education rankings. Do we want to create a separate curriculum for students not pursuing post-secondary education? Is it better to graduate students by a lower standard rather than have them drop out?
It is common in other countries (such as Japan, Switzerland, or Korea for example) to have different secondary programs for students based on interest or ability. The examples I've chosen are considered to have some of the best educational systems in the world. So I think Chantell's question as to whether or not each student needs to follow the college bound curriculum carries a lot of weight. However, the standards for all students in these other countries are still very high and students are expected to put in significant effort. In the U.S., expectations are far lower, yet the dropout rate is much higher. Perhaps this demonstrates that the issue isn't the difficulty of the curriculum, but the expectations we as a society have on students and the cultural value we place on education. If we lower the standards to get more kids through the system and provide them with a minimal level of education, it will lower the value of a diploma. It also won't change the fact that these children are being undereducated.
As our economy shifts from an industrial to a technological base, so shift our educational needs. We can't (nor should we want to) compete with countries like China or India in manufacturing. These are developing economies, with a much lower wage structure than the ours. As a developed nation, our jobs need to be in innovating and creating the products those countries manufacture. We can't afford to let the world pass us by in these areas. Additionally, a strong parallel exists between a nation's quality of life and it's education. Beyond the economic benefits, levels of education also affect societal problems (crime rates and teen pregnancy for example.)
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ReplyDeleteMany question whether TAKS and the No Child Left Behind Act are the most effective way to raise our schools' standards. The arguments against these programs is legitimate, but I think it's important to remember that the reason these programs exist in the first place is to reestablish a skill level that our schools have been failing to meet. When trying to reach universal proficiency, what level of proficiency is expected? Chantell argues that we need to bring back the minimum plan so that "so that all children, regardless of their academic abilities will have the chance to graduate with pride." Pride is something we feel when we earn something, not when something is given to us. The whole point of education isn't to make students lives more difficult in the short term, but to make their lives easier in the long term. I understand her reasons and respect her argument, but I think we need to be very careful when lowering our academic standards. While I agree that bringing back the minimum plan may address some immediate concerns, I'd hate to see us headed in the wrong direction.
Like so many problems, there is no simple solution to this issue. We as a nation need to reevaluate our education system. We need to understand that the only way to remain the most economically powerful country in the world is to make education a priority. That doesn't only mean pushing children to excel in their studies, but creating systems to support students dealing with issues like poverty and pregnancy, insuring that they don't slip through the cracks. It means increasing school budgets instead of trying to make our educators make do with less. It also means increasing the wages of teachers and finding ways to make the field more competitive.
Regardless of the standards we set or how we measure them, we can't expect the state of education to improve as we consistently try to find ways to spend as little as possible on it. Clearly, Texas has a long way to go.