The following NPRed article, posted to the NPR website September 24, 2015, presented themes which emerged from the New York Times annual Schools for Tomorrow conference. Review the themes identified then address the following questions. Which of the themes do you feel is most important, why? What is a theme or idea that you believe should be on a list of priority issues in higher ed that is not on the list in the NPRed article.
Click on the link below to go to the NPRed piece.
How Higher Ed Can Up Its Game: 3 Big Ideas
I think the idea of helping "smart students with no money" is the most important. I knew plenty of smart kids who couldn't go to four-year universities because they couldn't pay for it. I know one who did despite her families financial situation, but she ended up with $100,000 in debt that she is now collapsing under. The education that she got in order to improve her life has ended up making her struggle just as much as her parents did before her with no education. When I hear stories like these, I understand when a lot of kids say about college, "What's the point?"
ReplyDeleteAn idea I believe should be on the list but isn't is helping students decide what their career path will be and which major to choose for that path. In college I worked at Starbucks to pay for daily expenses. I worked alongside MANY college graduates who were working there because their majors weren't useful for getting jobs or because they never really knew what they wanted to do. So many students enter universities because they're told it's the next step after high school, but they don't really know why they are there.
It happened to me. I dropped out of school for a year and worked at a bank because I had no goal. I was in school because it was the "next thing" after high school and because my parents pretty much forced me to go. I began to fail my classes and was generally unsuccessful. It took some life experience for me to realize that I wanted to enter the field of education, particularly ESL. If universities provided experiences for students to experiment and see what they might want to do, it might improve graduation rates, student retention, and even grades.
Eric,
DeleteIt is true. Student loan debt is a major problem. I would venture to call it a social problem. What a profound point you make, a student earns a degree but ends up in no better condition (financially) than there non degree earning parents due to student loan payback obligations.
It can take some students a while to find their way. Sometimes students are not ready for college and other times they have not been exposed to their calling, they have not been exposed to the menu of choices available to them. Helping students find their career path can be a useful service to help students get on a path early and make timely progress toward their career goals.
I like the idea mentioned in the article about making increasing graduation rates at public institutions. I think it is important not only to enroll students as freshmen but to make sure they have student services that will assist them in being successful at college like tutors, stress management professionals and peer mentors.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, sometimes transfer students are overlooked when it comes to graduation rates. I think helping them to complete their degree program successfully and in a timely fashion is equally important to graduation rates. Let's face successful graduates is the number one goal of higher education.
One idea that should be included in this list would be increasing professional advising on campus. Recently, USA has added an advising center to campus. I think this is in response to students not being able to be properly advised by the faculty who have way too much already on their plate. Therefore, I think accurate advising could actually help as well to increase graduation rates and student success in higher education.
Cathi,
DeleteI am impressed by initiatives at USA to increase student retention and graduation such as the Jag Success program offered through the office of Student Academic Success and Retention and the new advising center that you mentioned.
I thought that the theme of changing teacher training programs was important. I have taught with some teachers who had no business in a classroom. They set a poor example both with their work ethic and in their public speaking. Others simply have no classroom management skills. Standards should absolutely not be sacrificed just to gain a higher graduation rate. Within teacher training, in addition to methods classes, I'd like to see a collaborative-type class that focuses solely on classroom management. I don't recall having had one. I learned more from experience and from veteran teachers, but I would have loved to have had this in addition to my internship so that I could start out my first year without utter chaos!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what else should be on the list. I also think it's very important to reach out to students in poverty. They need to be recruited in high school, and have a goal to look forward to early on. I know many high schools and communities have outreach programs in larger cities. But the rural schools tend to miss out. I hate to see someone rack up enormous loans. Students need to be made aware of all types of scholarships out there. High school counselors (in general) just have to seek these out and pass on to their students. Too many times I've seen small town counselors only help students with community colleges and never put forth extra effort to find other scholarships and grants. They are out there, just have to be found.
Shera,
DeleteIt is disheartening to hear that some high school counselors only consider community college for their students. There has to be exposure to as complete a menu of choices (career, military, community college, four year college, apprenticeship) as possible so that students know what options they have.