Posted on 12/04/2019 3:50:12 AM PST by Kaslin
This year's education scandal saw parents shelling out megabucks to gain college admittance for their children. Federal prosecutors have charged more than 50 people with participating in a scheme to get their children into colleges by cheating on entrance exams or bribing athletic coaches. They paid William Singer, a college-prep professional, more than $25 million to bribe coaches and university administrators and to change test scores on college admittance exams such as the SAT and ACT. As disgusting as this grossly dishonest behavior is, it is only the tiny tip of fraud in higher education.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2016, only 37% of white high school graduates tested as college-ready, but colleges admitted 70% of them. Roughly 17% of black high school graduates tested as college-ready, but colleges admitted 58% of them. A 2018 Hechinger Report found, "More than four in 10 college students end up in developmental math and English classes at an annual cost of approximately $7 billion, and many of them have a worse chance of eventually graduating than if they went straight into college-level classes."
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, "when considering all first-time undergraduates, studies have found anywhere from 28 percent to 40 percent of students enroll in at least one remedial course. When looking at only community college students, several studies have found remediation rates surpassing 50 percent." Only 25% of students who took the ACT in 2012 met the test's readiness benchmarks in all four subjects (English, reading, math and science).
It's clear that high schools confer diplomas that attest that a student can read, write and do math at a 12th-grade level when, in fact, most cannot. That means most high school diplomas represent fraudulent documents. But when high school graduates enter college, what happens? To get a hint, we can turn to an article by Craig E. Klafter, "Good Grieve! America's Grade Inflation Culture," published in the Fall 2019 edition of Academic Questions. In 1940, only 15% of all grades awarded were A's. By 2018, the average grade point average at some of the nation's leading colleges was A-minus. For example, look at the average GPA at Brown University (3.75), Stanford (3.68), Harvard College (3.63), Yale University (3.63), Columbia University (3.6), and the University of California, Berkeley (3.59).
The falling standards witnessed at our primary and secondary levels are becoming increasingly the case at tertiary levels. "Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses" is a study conducted by Professors Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa. They found that 45% of 2,300 students at 24 colleges showed no significant improvement in "critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing by the end of their sophomore years."
An article in News Forum for Lawyers titled "Study Finds College Students Remarkably Incompetent" cites a study done by the American Institutes for Research that revealed that over 75% of two-year college students and 50% of four-year college students were incapable of completing everyday tasks. About 20% of four-year college students demonstrated only basic mathematical ability, while a steeper 30% of two-year college students could not progress past elementary arithmetic. NBC News reported that Fortune 500 companies spend about $3 billion annually to train employees in "basic English."
Here is a list of some other actual college courses that have been taught at U.S. colleges in recent years: "What If Harry Potter Is Real?" "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame," "Philosophy and Star Trek," "Learning from YouTube," "How To Watch Television," and "Oh, Look, a Chicken!" The questions that immediately come to mind are these: What kind of professor would teach such courses, and what kind of student would spend his time taking such courses? Most importantly, what kind of college president and board of trustees would permit classes in such nonsense?
The fact that unscrupulous parents paid millions for special favors from college administrators to enroll their children pales in comparison to the poor educational outcomes, not to mention the gross indoctrination of young people by leftist professors.
” So until conservatives get off their butts and stop catcalling from the sidelines and talking about what a great job they’d do if it weren’t beneath them, nothing is going to change.”
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PTBAA is correct. The K-12 system is corrupt and it HURTS children spiritually, emotionally, and sometimes physically. Public K-12 schooling was the nation’s first socialist entitlement. They can NOT be reformed.
Could a gulag be reformed by having conservative guards?
If you want to make huge money and have opportunities given to you then the Ivy League is the place to go. Sucks but it is true. All colleges are not the same.
I don't usually bother answering you because I think you're a self-righteous, hysterical dingbat. But that argument of yours deserves at least one reply. It's an EXCUSE TO DO NOTHING.
I am sure they appreciate you helping spread their propaganda.
ROFL
when you can attract the smartest people in your generation to come to your college.. you could teach them nothing and they would STILL become some of the most powerfull and wealthy in America when they grow up.
As long as they can maintain the myth that they are better, the best will continue to go and perpetuate the myth.
The way the system works graduates of the Ivy League and a handful of a few other colleges runs the country. I hate that but it is true. Its an oligarchy. I wish it weren’t so.
There is a movement to unionize graduate students. If that succeeds Profs can’t be far behind.
Exactly!
I’ve be around Ivy League grads & cow college grads all my professional life. I see no difference in job performance. Sometimes I think cow college grads are slightly better, they accept mistakes and learn from them. (Though that conclusion may be due to my personal bias! - I’m a cow college grad!)
You do go to the Ivys for the education you go for the contacts. Therefore in that regard I agree with you.
That's the problem. They are not better but they get the BEST OPPORTUNITIES handed to them ( to screw up ). Go to a state university and see how many fortune 500 companies RECRUIT you. If you are not in the top 3% of grads then none.
A 2.0 GPA Ivy league grad will get recruited by wall street, F 500 etc just to put that on their corporate resume.. Life is not fair....
I am spreading truth. It sucks but that is the way it is.
I’m not sure they would have a case for unionization though. College profs already have protection against arbitrary firing through their tenure; they don’t need more protection and everyone, including the big donor alumni who actually pay most of the university’s bills, knows it.
I really wish you could edit posts!
TYPO
“...You do go to the Ivys for the education you go for the contacts. Therefore in that regard I agree with you. ....”
Should be
You DON’T go to the Ivys for the education you go for the contacts. Therefore in that regard I agree with you.
Depends on what you major in.
Well as someone pointed out earlier there is an effort to unionize profs. ( I hadn’t heard of it!) I did know about the effort to unionize grad students.
I am almost sympathetic since I was once a grad student! Below minimum wage pay. My big pet peeve - if you’re in the sciences and you do lab work low concern for lab safety. (I could tell personal stories!)
No!....It is....NOT....acceptable for conservatives to indoctrinate other people’s children unless they have contracted with those parents in a private and mutually agreed upon manner.
It is impossible for any school to be religiously, culturally, or politically neutral. By definition, conservatives would not want to impose,( by force of government police and court threat), their non-neutral worldview on any citizen’s child.
Private schools ( filled with students with satisfied parents) can be found with a Google search. Private armies cannot be found on Google, therefore, the military and K-12 schooling are not analogous.
Re: “dingbat, self-righteous, and hysterical”
This is personal insult. I am certain that as a “professional” you would never...never...never...use personal insult against your emotional immature and captive students.
I am so sick of you. You just spout your stupid dogma like a mindless dog barking, every single time. I swear, one day I will learn not to expect anything reasonable from you.
More personal attack.
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