Posted on 01/17/2015 6:24:17 AM PST by grundle
Four in 10 U.S. college students graduate without the complex reasoning skills to manage white-collar work, according to the results of a test of nearly 32,000 students.
The test, which was administered at 169 colleges and universities in 2013 and 2014 and released Thursday, reveals broad variation in the intellectual development of the nation’s students depending on the type and even location of the school they attend.
... many still graduate without the ability to read a scatterplot, construct a cohesive argument or identify a logical fallacy.
The exam, known as the Collegiate Learning Assessment Plus, measures the intellectual gains made between freshman and senior year. The test doesn’t cover subject-area knowledge; rather it assesses things like critical thinking, analytical reasoning, document literacy, writing and communication—essentially mimicking the baseline demands for professionals.
“These are the skills that are important no matter what you are doing; if you’re serving on a jury or looking for a good candidate to vote for, these are highly transferrable skills,” Ms. James said.
The test comes at a time of rising tuition and student debt and a broad rethinking of the value of a college degree in a changing job market. Last month, President Barack Obama spelled out plans for a college-rating system that aims to assess how well schools prepare students for the work world, among other criteria.
The 40% of students tested who didn’t meet a standard deemed “proficient” were unable to distinguish the quality of evidence in building an argument or express the appropriate level of conviction in their conclusion.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
The world needs ditch diggers too.
Agreed, especially due to affirmative action.
In the late 1970s, my dept head hired a young black lady as a technical writer. She had a college degree (Psychology major) from a state university.
The lady could not even write a complete sentence. She would sidle up to others in the department and ask them to help her compose her reports.
After a couple of months of this, I happened to be in a research room when another staffer came in. In the general conversation, the topic became the new tech writer. We both had the same problem — spending too much time trying to help the black lady write up her assignments. Then, the head tech writer came into the room and we included her in our discussion. WE were all on the same page. We didn’t have time to do OUR work and the black lady’s work. The head writer took our complaints to the Dept. Head. He was forced to release her. Luckily for him and the company, she was still on her intitial employment probationary period.
We wondered how she managed to get through high school and college and not be about to write a sentence. Additionally, we wondered what her thinking was that she would apply for a job as a technical writer. Surely, she knew how limited her writing skills were.
If they could identify a logical fallacy, they’d be far smarter than most of their professors who scarf down every liberal lunacy from global warming to multiculturalism that comes down the pike without seemingly the need to swallow.
Seeing as how the independence that goes with teaching these things—and the portents for people who make decisions on their OWN—impacts this study and the work world, we should not be surprised that these things are not taught.
I would imagine that the number is about the same
for college kids to hold a BLUE collar job.
You don’t really need those skills to do most white collar work. Especially not entry level like you’d be doing right out of college.
My question would be: How did the company hire her in the first place if her skills were so lacking?
The article points out potential the methodological deficiencies of the study. For those of you with liberal arts degrees, that means it’s bullshit.
Do you think our brilliant POTUS could explain that?
No kiddin'...here's the kind I grew up with.
That said, I very strongly believe that an important component of getting beyond the expenses incurred for higher education, and the unpreparedness of those going out into the work force, is to expand online courses and learning, start the use of these in elementary school, diminish the requirement for ‘bricks and mortar’ institutions in this context, and institute privately administrated standardized testing to determine whether or not a person has mastered a specific level of expertise in an given area. This could be done with most things, and I guarantee that many who never attend a university physically will out test those who do.
Well, I see the uses in three dimensions!
What is the reason for having “white collar workers” in an organization? Let’s break it down a little. What is the reason for having a white collar worker in a business? What is the reason for having a white collar worker in government?
It's hard enough to explain autonomy and working for a living in the same paragraph…they all think autonomy means you don't have to work.
There’s one of these at Clemson University who has been making the news, and was in Furgeson,,..Chenjerai Kumanyika
But fewer “college” “students” would mean a reduction in the faculty of schools, and that translates into fewer $$$ for the DNC and other progressives.
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