The Inefficiency of U.S. High Schools
U.S. high schools are not properly preparing kids for the college
experience.
The primary purpose of a high school in the United States is to get
kids into college. The courses taught in U.S. high schools are way too
lenient in their
grading policies and offer students much leeway. High school courses are too
lenient because high school teachers make them that way. One good example
that
proves just how much leeway secondary education offers students is that on
average,
professors at the high school level accept late papers. Of course late
papers are
marked down, but this policy voids the purpose to having deadlines. Most
universities,
both public and private set strict guidelines on these matters and openly
encourage
their professors to do the same.
I turned in papers a week late in high school and still received
a grade of 70 % on them. This is coming back to hunt me in college because I
now
have a big problem meeting deadlines. Although I do not like to admit it, if
high school had been stricter in this respect I might not be going through
these many
difficulties right now
Most public high school teachers are astoundingly underpaid and
overworked with sometimes over fifty students in a single classroom. In the
last ten
years the average class size doubled according to a Time magazine study
published
in 1995 stating that throughout the whole nation classes have doubled in
size. The
article mentions that this problem has occurred and will worsen due to
illegal
immigration, a population expansion, and people migration to cities and urban
sites.
Some students that can afford a private tutor or the cost of private
education follow that
path. This is not fair to the majority that can't afford this. Again, the
lack of individual
and private interaction between professor ends up resulting in that the
student gets
half of the education. For some reason I don't know, the student ends up
always
paying the price of an inadequate and inefficient public high school system.
These statistics offer little incentive and motivation to get teachers to
take action and
lobby for change.
Governmental cutbacks have forced many schools to close vital
advanced placement and other college preparatory courses which are vital for
the
student aspiring for a college education. It is becoming now more than ever
common
that states give private entities and teachers public school charters along
with grants
and financial aid to encourage the nation's public high schools, as
California
Governor William Wells said in a 1994 Time magazine article titled, "A Class
of their
Own," "to raise their standards and improve the quality of education for all
students."
Public high schools around the nation should establish and "enforce"
stricter college preparatory curriculums because over 50% of high school
students that
participated in a Time magazine poll conducted in 1996 said they are
interested in
pursuing a 4-year college education. The article stated that fifty years ago
this would
not have been the case.
If over half the students attending U.S. high schools wish to pursue
university education then public schools should tailor their programs to meet
the needs and demands of the majority. It is important to know that there is
a small
percentage of the nation that don't even go to high school as the October
22, 1990
Time Magazine article, "Schooling Kids At Home," points out.
Parents send their kids to school confident that the school will prepare
them well for the future, but overlook that essential programs like SAT
preparation and
study skills courses are not offered. How must a school system expect that
one study
efficiently for exams if they don't show how. Clearly people have been
studying for
many years and there is no set way to study, but it helps to know what are
the most
time efficient ways to review for exams.
I feels that s "study skills" class should be offered in every public
high school around the nation. If this implies a great cost then study
skills should be
incorporated in the daily curriculum or at least taught once a week during
class. The
fact is that some time should be set aside for this essential class for which
there is
great need for. The same concept applies for S.A.T. preparation. Again I
propose the
conundrum, how must one be expected to pass the S.A.T if schools don't show
us how
to pass it. Many