Posted on 03/14/2010 9:24:44 AM PDT by Saije
When Mahala Muzopappa began taking classes at Westmoreland County Community College last year, she realized she was not ready for college-level math.
Though she had earned As and Bs at Apollo-Ridge High School, Muzopappa, 19, struggled in her college algebra class, relying on a peer tutoring program to pass.
"I didn't feel prepared," the photography major said. "It took a whole semester for me to catch up."
Kristen Jeannette, a sophomore at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, ended up on academic probation during her freshman year.
"The adjustment -- it's so hard," said Jeannette, 19, who took a college-prep course at Riverside High School in Ellwood City. "They teach a whole different way here. No one's going to spoon-feed you anymore."
While more Pennsylvanians than ever before are beginning post-secondary education, many are struggling with college-level work.
Muzopappa and Jeannette now are thriving in college, but others never catch up.
Less than two-thirds of students who enroll in a four-year college in Pennsylvania will earn a bachelor's degree within six years, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Among students pursuing an associate degree, only one in three will graduate within three years.
"There's a lot of room for improvement," said Michael Race, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Education. "We have a lot of people who are not completing college."
This month, the department announced that the commonwealth joined Complete College America, an alliance with 16 other states, in an effort to raise college graduation rates by 2020.
The alliance will require Pennsylvania to set goals for increasing graduation rates and to take a hard look at why it is so difficult for many students to earn a degree, Race said.
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
True, I’m a tutor and this deficiency keeps food on my table. I see all kinds but I enjoy actually getting to teach these kids so that they can excel at a university level.
“Most all high schools, even small schools, now days have AP and dual credit classes. These cost even less than community college so high school students can get their first year and more knocked out so theres no need for a community college pit stop. Passing the SAT or ACT with a medium writing score gives them one semester of freshman English. Taking AP tests, SAT subject tests and CLEP tests will either give them credit for their basics or will allow them into higher levels. High school students can also take dirt cheap online classes. Taking 2 years of high school foreign language will exempt them from taking it in college. With all thats available there is no excuse not to graduate from high school without at least one year of college credit under their belt. If worked right, a kid from our little podunk high school could have upwards of 70 hours college credit by graduation.”
This. I did IB diploma and it was extremely helpful.
That’s not the point. The point is is that some people simply cannot afford to spend what it costs for an entire 4 years at a big name university.
This still is a free country, you know, and even if you don’t choose to do so yourself, anyone who wants to use a community college to offset part of their college expenses is free to do so and should be able without someone injecting their unsolicited opinion into the matter.
You don’t want to do it that way?
Fine.
Let others chart the course for their own lives. It’s no skin off your back.
You have 401K left to bet? :)
1)Stop the university level remedial courses. Demand that students enter four year colleges and universities fully prepared.
2) Insist that all students take the basic courses demanded of those who are majoring in the field. For instance, if an engineering student must take English literature 101 with the English majors and American History with the history majors, then the reverse should be true. The English, history, psychology, and pottery majors should be required to take the **same** Calculus and Chemistry courses sitting side by side with the science majors. That alone would weed out those who were not in the top 10%.
If a student flunks out in the first semester it is a lot less expensive for that student than taking a year or more of remedial courses. Simply failing to pass would eliminate those not capable of succeeding.
As for remedial courses: If a student needs them, he would likely need them for training in the trades as well, therefore, I do support their use on the community college level. They are far less expensive for the student in this setting for any student needing them for the trades or for admission to a four year university.
We won't see this though because higher education is **NOT** about educating students necessarily. It is a jobs program for professors.
Very interesting suggestions—thanks for your response.
Some grammarians are questioning that rule. It really is just an arbitrary rule. What are most people likely to say, "What did you step on?" or "On what did you step?"
I can remember being made fun of for making some rather awkward sentences as a teenager trying to follow that rule.
Banning opinions are you? All hail, metmom!
Show me where I said you couldn’t go to a community college.
Heya!
In your post, you reference the young lady wishing to attend college. I cannot count the obscene number of students who leave my area HS where I teach for the local community college and/or regional university, only to find out that college does not cater to your needs quite like the high school does.
To wit: a former student, whose father was sup’t of the school system did just that and pulled a buck shot, viz 0.0, after one semester. All of a sudden, who your father is, how much money you have etc. does not matter when it comes to schools with endowments and paying tuition.:)
Ah well, I only hope my two will fair as well as yours, although I will have to kill them if they take Greek. (I did. *shudder*)
:)
Hey Shag — guess what? My younger daughter is MINORING in Ancient Greek. She LOVES it!
I’ve asked her - will this help you on the MCAT?
Not really
Will this help you on your GRE?
Not really
Does this have any use in your real or future life?
Not really
But, she loves it, so who am I to question - I’m only the mother :)
If a kid is smart enough for the AP classes and tests, I strongly recommend them as it gives so much freedom to maneuver while in college/university
Someone needs to tell some of these professors that you dont end a sentence with a preposition.
Please try that one again. Ugh. And then please forgive me for nitpicking. :-)
LOL. I must have been tired.
I learned a lot homeschooling the kids but am a product of the public school system myself.
*They are appalled at how most college students write....*
FWIW, I’m not a English major.
LOL I picked up my pet peeve in college from a history prof and one of his teacher assistants. I suppose I knew better prior to college because I had great public school English teachers, and my mother was a grammar nut.
I suppose that my public school teachers did try to teach me grammar at one point or another.
I do remember sitting through an English class in 11th grade BORED out of my mind as the teacher tried to explain to the class what adverbs were and how to use them.
I could not have cared less. (My pet peeve is those who say “I could care less” when they really mean that they could not have cared less.)
I laugh when I read daughter’s posts on her FB page. She picks on the grammar of her friends. She has not had great high school English teachers, but she had some very good teachers in elementary and middle school. And then there are her parents who harp on writing skills more than the average parent. Daughter took the SAT over the weekend and came home making fun of the students from the best high school in the city. (top 20 in country) She said those students who were sitting near her had written maybe 1 paragraph on the writing portion of the test. There is the attitude among them that the writing portion does not matter, so why bother!
I’ve heard the same thing from my kids.
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