- Standard-level Science
- Standard-level History
- Inclusion English (which means there is a special ed teacher in the classroom in addition to the regular teacher)
- Career-track inclusion Math (which means that there is a special ed teacher in this class also and that this math is not a part of the college-prep curriculum accepted by the University of North Carolina)
A sad situation for sure. Now here is where the situation gets even sadder: This student's parent says, "I just want to make sure that he gets through high school so that he can get to college, where things will be easier." Then the Exceptional Children's Coordinator, the student's EC caseworker, his math teacher, and I all look at the mother and nod in agreement. No one says anything.
I hate to be fatalistic, but it seems unlikely that, given this student's performance so far in high school, that college will be an option. But there is this idea out there that all kids should go to college, or at least have the option of going to college. The President says it, Senators say it, educators say it, parents want to believe it, kids believe it. But the reality is that not all kids will have the option of going to college, and perhaps--although this may be educational heresy--not all kids should.
My school really offers no vocational options to students. As an arts magnet school, we basically offer the college prep curriculum and an abundance of art electives. How is the student mentioned above being served by my school? It doesn't appear that he will become an artist (given his performance and interest in his arts classes) and the academic work is killing him. Even if he is able to graduate in 5 years after repeating the ninth grade, what will he be prepared to do? How will the classes he will have taken--World History, Physical Science and Earth Science, Spanish 1, Career Math, Clay 1--prepare him to be a self-sufficient and contributing member of society?
The fact is that we (educators) don't want to tell people that they should begin thinking of options other than college prep--such as vocational programs--and parents and students wouldn't want to hear it even if we said it. But it seems that at some point as a society we need to pull our heads out of the sand, realize that perhaps college is not for everybody, and consider the possibility that there's nothing wrong with that.
4 comments:
True that everyone will not succeed equally in college - capabilities and life circumstances and individual desires and drive are not equally distributed. But isn't college is now what high school was a few decades ago - a required passage into adulthood for just about everyone. In the 19th C, long long ago, people had the idea that even basic k-6 schooling wasn't for everyone... Course, that doesn't mean that the bar should be raised indefinitely and that in the 22nd century, everyone should go through law school or grad school.
(Btw, I'd be careful about having your blog too easily identified with you - blogging about your job can be treacherous.)
You make a good point. In fact, the State of North Carolina agrees with you, as it has decreed that all students will graduate from the college prep track beginning with the next freshman class.
I think the saddest thing in the posting about the failing student is that no one raised the question to the parent, “Are those realistic expectations (or goals) for your student, given his current performance?” In spite of the current situation where the “whole world” thinks college is the new high school, there is starting to be some questioning of this premise. (At least, I’m seeing more about vocational schools and training programs at high schools in my area. Perhaps things will change in another few years, and colleges and community colleges will add some of those types of programs too?) But, back to the situation you described in your posting, no one knows better than a parent how important it is to raise difficult questions or communicate difficult messages when one cares about the future of a young person. Our job as parents, and I think the job of teachers and school administrators should be also, is to do what is best for the child. We are not called to be popular, but to care about and oversee the education of the young person. In that particular situation, it seemed no one really had the courage to try to get the parent to think realistically--although I’m not sure I would have behaved any differently in the pressure of the moment. It’s easy to know what one should do; harder to do it sometimes!
I had a most interesting conversation with a young man who came this morning to deliver and install a new refrigerator door. I was expressing appreciation for a Saturday delivery, and he said he didn’t mind working Saturdays because he didn’t work full days the rest of the time. So, I asked him what else he did, if he was going to school. His answer was, “I should be, but I never really liked school that much. I tried college 3 or 4 times but could never find anything that interested me enough to pursue it. But this job is really great; I like it a lot.” I asked him what made it great and he said, “I always liked to fix things and solve problems and that’s what this job is all about.” So, there you have it in a nutshell—why college is not for everyone and why it probably won’t be unless some paraprofessional or trades-related training programs are added, or schools for those things are developed. I think many junior/community colleges already do this, but not universities. Don’t know if they should; seems like they were founded for a different purpose; perhaps it’s the “college is for everyone” thinking that needs to change…………………
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