Every 26 seconds another student drops out of public high school which translates to nearly one-third of all public high school students dropping out. It’s so bad that Colon Powell and his wife are heading a national movement in an attempt to reverse the trend. But even of those two-thirds who graduate, the picture doesn’t get any brighter. According to a 2007 survey, nearly 90% desired to attend and graduate college. Unfortunately, the majority never did. Even of the current 28% of the population with bachelor’s degrees, within five to ten years 70% will no longer be working in a job related to their major.
Why is all this happening? Well, let’s begin with the beginning.
To begin to understand what has happened, we have to go back to the sixties with open enrollment or allowing anyone into college. Community colleges have done it all along, but in recent years four-year universities and colleges have followed suit. This has resulted in many students slacking off believing that hard work isn’t necessary to get into college. Unfortunately, along with several other factors, it has resulted in the majority of students entering community college not being able to meet accepted standards in reading, writing, and arithmetic.
In addition, at the secondary level power has shifted from the teacher to the student in the classroom. From my two years of experiences and conversations with other teachers as a K-12 substitute teacher, along with dozens of stories told to me by friends, family, and graduate seminar students getting out of teaching, the lack of control in the classroom is killing the teaching profession. According to a recent survey, three out of five going into teaching use it only as a stepping stone to another position or profession, as my lawyer friend did several years ago. He told me that the majority of teachers at his school were either new or ready for retirement—few in-betweens, for the reason stated above. He was even told by one of the experienced teachers, “Either you’re going to do what the students want or you’ll quit.” At an assembly, he asked a student to behave. The student’s response? “You can call the cops if you want. You can’t do anything.”
But there’s more to the story than loss of control in the classroom and liberal ideals. There’s the reality of the economy, a considerable rise in the cost of living and decrease in the savings rate, along with a great number of divorced parents now being financially responsible for dual homes—main reason many students drop out is to help the single-parent pay the bill. According to a report titled The Silent Epidemic by John Bridgeland (CEO of Civic Enterprise, a publicity group that lead a 2007 national dropout summit), 80% of students surveyed said they dropped out because of a need for “classes that are more interesting and provide opportunities for real-world learning.” As a father of a sixteen-year-old in advance placement classes (her homework level is equivalent to that of a college student), I see the impractical, irrelevant materials being studied and ask the question myself, “What’s this got to do with anything?”
Most schools don’t take into consideration real-world economic situations. Since most grads going into the workforce will have three to five, and some experts say up to ten career changes, the real need is for learning how to learn, think critically and independently, and creatively. This is not the industrial age nor is it the information age, it is the recommendation age where people are in critical need of the aforementioned skills. Considering that half of all wages and salaries are currently being made in the creative sector one can see that sitting passively in a classroom in which undesirable material is forced on students without explanation as to its need and application is problematic. Where is the motivation for the student?
More than ever before schools need to be student centered in the sense that the student gets to know himself / herself thoroughly (intelligence and personality types, strengths / gifts, weaknesses, values, and so on) and advisers / teachers work to an outcome of specific match between knowledge, student, and career. Reliance on archaic methods that no longer apply in a dynamic work and economic environment isn’t going to work; the way our children are educated K-college needs to be revamped, scrapped, or parents must take a greater role in educating themselves as to new needs and take a greater personal role in the educating of their children.
But that’s only part of the picture. Most graduates, even college grads, according to employers are lacking real-world skills and attitudes that are critical in today’s turbulent world economy. Employers complain of new-hires lacking the ability to work to deadlines and work well with peers, entitlement issues, inability to see the bigger picture, and so on. But there’s more. Recent grads also lack an understanding of the lengthy commitment a career demands. If the employee does not have a passion for what he or she is doing, especially in these economically trying and hyper-competitive times, then the chance of lacking the energy, commitment, and focus to maintain said career will result in unemployment. There is a way to be irreplaceable, but most of the “educated” lack 80% of what is needed to succeed in today’s employment market.
There are no easy answers, but relying on government or school systems to figure it out is dangerous, for the pace at which change may occur–and there is no promise it will happen–is too slow for your child’s current needs.
If you’re interested in what is needed, please contact me for further information. Your child’s financial and emotional welfare depends on it.
Recent Comments