Public Schools Preparing Students for the Real World.

Justin Pope argues, in a Remediation Nation article, that even with a high school diploma, students find themselves unprepared for college’s academic challenges. He states that it is a tough lesson to learn the hard way “through experience” for many students now arriving on campus. To support his suggestion he includes a study that one in three students entering college have to enroll in remedial courses in order to continue with their level of education. Another point Pope makes is that of recently enrolled student, Christina Jeronimo; she said that she wishes that there exists a gap between the demands from college work to high school work, that sometimes high school instructors baby their students. In my experience I cannot agree nor disagree because I have not yet made it to a college level school; however, I agree with this author because it seems to be a great issue for both educators and students to have to first prepare themselves after high school. I also agree because I would not appreciate finding myself having to spend money on remedial classes after high school. One of the points that made me reconsider my opinion on this topic was a comment on Jeronimo that she wishes she would have tried a little harder in high school. Another point of reconsideration was that on average remedial classes run to $2,000 at community colleges and $2,500 at universities. Last point for reconsideration is that students fall behind in their life plans and find themselves stuck financially. “The bill to colleges and taxpayers for trying to bring them up to speed on material they were supposed to learn in high school comes to between $2.3 billion and $2.9 billion annually.” And “These students come out of high school really misled. They think they're prepared. They got a 3.0 and got through the curriculum they needed to get admitted, but they find what they learned wasn't adequate.” Are good quotes that I would use in my essay. This author is a good credible and otherwise reliable because he backs up ever statement he makes. He includes dialogue from students themselves, opinions from professionals, and statistics from national studies. Kelsey Sheehy’s, author of “High School Students Not Prepared for College, Career” from US News, suggestion is similar to that of Pope’s; that many students find themselves unprepared for college entry after high school. Sheehy refers to the 2012 ACT college report that most students fail to test ready for college in all four subjects (Math, English, Science and Reading). She also states that students that do test ready for college only have a 75% chance to succeed in their freshman year of college. I agree with the author because I feel that the demands of college are far reaching from those of high school. The facts are given and students should not fail to succeed at the rate we are now. One point this author includes that makes me reconsider my opinion on the topic is that only 23 percent of African American, Hispanic, and American Indian students tested hit the math benchmark, and fewer than 15 percent were prepared for college-level science courses. More than half of those students failed to hit even one benchmark in 2012. Another point for reconsideration is that ensuring high school students, particularly minority students, are prepared to enter the workforce is critical not only to the students' success, but to economic success, as many companies struggle to find graduates with the requisite skill set. Last point of reconsideration is many states have already taken steps to improve college and career readiness, adopting the Common Core State Standards and implementing STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) initiatives; meaning this country, as individual states, is taking initiative to improve education. ”More than a quarter of 2012 graduates fell short of college readiness benchmarks that ACT sets for all four subjects, and 60 percent of students tested missed the mark in at least two of the four subjects, the report states” and “College readiness in English and math has remained largely unchanged for the past five years, but science and math scores increased slightly from 2008 to 2012.” are quotes I would use in my essay. This author is a credible source because she is published by a good newspaper and she uses valuable references and they are hyperlinked in her article. I personally reviewed the ACT report for 2012. This author’s, Kevin Carey, argument is that high schools are failing to prepare many college-bound students for science careers. To support his suggestion, Carey says that as students progress through high school, the number on track to succeed in college dramatically declines, particularly in math and science. Another point of support that Carey includes is that by under-preparing a large segment of the college-bound high school population, the education system severely limits the number of future collegians who have a realistic chance of pursuing a STEM career. As a student interested in a STEM career I agree with this article because I fell that if I were to go into a college class of my interested major I would be behind in every subject. I fear that I will not be able to keep up with these courses as most students are unable to. One point that the Carey makes that make me reconsider my position is that only 14.2 % of students go on to college already with math or science college credit. Another point of reconsideration is that because of poor middle school preparation, tracking, inadequate guidance counseling, low-quality instruction, or a simple absence of available courses, too many students are permanently knocked off the pathway to a STEM career early in high school or even before. Last point of reconsideration is that about 60 percent of students who take AP tests in Biology, Chemistry, and AB Calculus get a score of "3" or better, generally the minimum score needed for college credit. “Only 51 percent of sophomores are enrolled in programs defined by their high school as "college prep."” and “Only 31 percent of high school graduates complete a basic college preparatory curriculum, defined as four years of English, three years of math, science, and social studies, two years of foreign language, and one semester of computers.” are quotes I would use in my essay. This author is a credible source because he uses facts to support every point or suggestion he makes. He is also published by a reliable source.

Justin Pope. “Remediation Nation: Millions of College students First Have to Catch up on High School Work.” Newsday 15 September 2008: 2 pg. Print.
Kelsey Sheehy. “High School Students Not Prepared for College, Carrer.” US News 22 August 2012: 3 pg. Print.
Kevin Carey “High School Failing to Prepare many College-Bound Students for Science Careers.” Education Sector 06 February 2006: 4 pg. Print.