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 ...
But they can block an interstate by cementing their arms in a barrel of concrete. GENIUS
Well, hire them anyway and give them their 6 weeks off proposed by Obama. /s
I've actually been directly involved marketing-wise with some of these graduates and many of their ideas lack any depth or common sense.
It's obvious we're going in the wrong direction and yet they want more money for education?
True dat.
I used to teach a course in which the students had to write case studies. This was a junior-year college course. I was appalled at how many couldn't write a coherent paragraph, or write a logical argument. I shouldn't have even seen these students until they had been taught those skills. I dread to think how they managed after they graduated.
My last assignment before I retired from the Air Force was as commander of an engineering unit. One of my civil service engineers had entered the Air Force as an enlisted man and gone through electronics school. He was assigned to the unit. When his enlistment was up, he stayed on in civil service. He took night and weekend courses to complete a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. When I came on the scene, he was doing the same in graduate school, working on a masters in EE. He was one of my best workers, and I was pleased to have the opportunity to promote him to a supervisory position. The thing that impressed me most about him, though, was that he was a black guy. I think of him every time some black whines that he deserves something simply because of his skin color. I want to tell him, go out and earn it, like that guy did.
Personally, I’d rather deal with tests than the must-haz-degree BS that’s only served to dilute actual learning.
Even if “they” fail at standards, they will still be upheld by the American people and given all the breaks.
For most Americans though, skin color means a lot if not everything.
A major in logic is quite rare these days. I had a girl friend who got a B.S. and Masters in writing from Northwestern U. She was taking writing courses all the time and never took a philosophy or logic course once. The school never cared whether she could argue. They only cared that she could describe and persuade. It’s no wonder we have such good advertising in America. We should be proud.
The reason that a 4 year or graduate degree is required is that the company can higher non-citizens. There is no real reason for a college degree requirement in most jobs. I have been the President of a Tech company for 15 years. And I was part of the hiring process.
Its just easier to hire people if you can say 4 year or 6 year college degree required. Firstly you can kick out 95% of all black and Hispanic applicants. Its not that you are trying to be racist. Its more that you have to have a reason to not higher black and Hispanic over white and a college degree requirement gives you a reason. The fact that someone changed jobs every 4 months for the past 5 years is not a good reason in court.
Secondly there is a better pool in the college graduates which include all the foreign students. Yes, there are several people who are completely capable out there, who do not have a college degree. And there are several people who look the same but will not do very well in the job. A test, intuition, an interview, past employment history and calling references can normally get you to a 70% good hire rate. You will hire the American over the foreign without a green card. Its just easier. And unlike most people say, the American is the same price as the foreign employee. The government requires their pay to be equal.
If your job is in Chicago with a 40% black population. And your company is 90% non-black (even if its 30% Asian and 54% women) then you have a law suit looking for you. The way to get around it, is to require a 4 year or 6 year college degree. Then you can prove that the resumes you have received are 5% black. And frankly you would love to hire any of those who pass your test, but those blacks who do are so highly sought after that they rarely take your job. IBM or another large company will scoop them up.
This is the long way of saying, companies know a B.A. Degree is not a requirement. But the bureaucracy forces it.
If I have 5 people doing a job and one of them does not have a college degree then I cannot easily say that a 4 year degree is required. So, I only hire people with 4 year degrees. But if you are black, Hispanic or American Indian and have a college degree its almost impossible not to have a job.
So get a 4 year degree from any college at all, even Phoenix. Then, you are in the other pool of applicants.
That $60K small liberal arts college that was so hard to get into and only taught you the power of political correctness is not worth the money, if getting a job is why you are going to school.
Still too high...by design, academia will drive it even lower.
I thought, "Huh? Seriously?"
You mean we can't all get rich being "Observers of social injustice and part-time bloggers"?
Logic is no longer taught in HS or college. Grammar and logic teach people to think rationally, coherently and systematically. So the decision to remove them the core curriculum makes perfect sense.
Ungh...not enough coffee.
Still too low...by design, academia will drive it even higher.
I’ve always thought that there are way to many kids in college. By the 8th or 9th grades it can be known which kids have little to no attributes for higher education.
Have the kids take assessments and those that have “trade” type skills/attributes get pipelined into shop classes.
Those that have the attributes for higher learning, get pipelined into higher education.
The trades kids “graduate” as interns or apprentices and get certifications in order to get started with their careers.
Not everyone “deserves” to go to college and this might help reduce the numbers of problems in schools where the learning curves have taken a dramatic plunge as a result of kids who don’t belong there.
A scatterplot is actually a good visual to show the relationship between two variables.
OK—I see it in three dimensions better. But what’s wrong with connecting the dots with a line?
I was browsing the help wanted area of craigslist the other day and couldn’t believe my eyes.
There was an ad for a data entry order taker job.
The employer REQUIRED a two year degree for this.
Unbelieveable.
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