Failing Schools? Record Number of Americans Have Bachelor's Degrees

[Modern School]

Ever since the Nation at Risk report came out, pundits, politicians and corporate education profiteers have been decrying the abysmal state of public education in this country, including the claim that we aren’t preparing people for college. Yet according to recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau, for the first time in history, more than 30% of Americans aged 25 or older—56 million people—have bachelor's degrees.

70 years ago, only 5% of this same age group held college degrees and the number has steadily climbed since then. According to Good Education, more than one-third of the degrees are in STEM. The data also indicated that gender and ethnic disparities are closing, with 30% of women now holding degrees, compared to 31% of men. The percentage of Hispanic degree holders increased 80% over the past decade, with over 14% now holding degrees.

Of course there are many reasons for the increase, including the fact that more people are going to college because of a greater awareness of how much it can influence their future earnings, improvements in recruiting youth of color and greater outreach by schools.

At the same time, however, the data should make one question the assumption that our K-12 public schools are in terrible shape. After all, one cannot get into most bachelor degree programs without first graduating from high school with the prerequisite skills necessary for admission into a university and success there. The fact that so many young people are getting into Bachelor Degree programs suggests that the K-12 system is functioning quite well, perhaps better than ever.

Modern School
http://modeducation.blogspot.com/2012/04/failing-schools-record-number-of.html

[enlightenment]

1. It would be nice to think this was true -

"At the same time, however, the data should make one question the assumption that our K-12 public schools are in terrible shape. After all, one cannot get into most bachelor degree programs without first graduating from high school with the prerequisite skills necessary for admission into a university and success there. The fact that so many young people are getting into Bachelor Degree programs suggests that the K-12 system is functioning quite well, perhaps better than ever."

But I think it's sugar coating the truth just a tiny bit.

Plenty of people make it into college and university without the skills they need, thus the every increasing numbers taking remedial courses in the first year of higher ed.

Here's one article that cites a few statistics:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/5189336-418/college-can-be-a-rude-remedial-awakening.html

[Nevernose]

8. And that's okay

The purpose of high school is not to prepare them for college -- it's to give them a high school education. I also don't see anything wrong with remedial classes, though a strong argument could be made that universities need to do a better job of assessing and selecting incoming students.

[mbperrin]

10. So graduating doesn't count?

And if you need tutoring in a subject or have to repeat a subject, that means your degree in not valid, either?

Strange. Makes me wonder why colleges do those things, if they invalidate their own degrees.

Or maybe it's just as simple as we've always had those things, but didn't do them very well, and so fewer people graduated. Now we're doing better, so a greater per cent of people across the board attend and graduate.

But hey, what do I know? I'm no expert.

Wait a damn minute. I have a master's in education. I AM an expert!

Here: what do they call the person who graduated last in his medical class? A: Doctor.

[enlightenment]

11. I have no idea what you are arguing with this post.

Are you talking about graduating from high school or graduating from college?

Assuming high school, yes, graduating apparently counts.

Assuming college, where do you get "invalidating their own degrees"? Remedial work does not invalidate a college degree - and as someone who has a Master's in Education, I would think you would know that. Increasing numbers of students who require remedial courses does, to some extent, invalidate their high school diploma, since they apparently are not prepared for college level work. Since education is designed to build on previous knowledge, it is reasonable to assume that successful completion of twelve years of primary and secondary education would prepare a student for post-secondary coursework.

Of course I am guessing as to the meaning of your comments, since they seem designed to denigrate rather than participate in a dialogue; however, not even that is clear enough to know for certain.

[duffyduff]

12. A lot of people who get "remedial" help are those who dropped out of school

and are given a second chance. This is especially true with community colleges.

I don't care for your attitude that seems to say people who mess up in high school should not be given a second chance at a higher education.

[mbperrin]

13. Thank you.

Life is a process, and only legacy admissions students get courtesy Cs.

My own parents were 8th grade dropouts, and it was very unlikely that I would ever work in education or earn two degrees, but thanks to real teachers who cared at the university level, I could.

The fact that a record per cent of the population has at least one degree is a reason to celebrate.

[enlightenment]

15. Neither one of you has any clear idea what I am saying.

You are both free to extrapolate any conclusion you wish - but you're not paying attention.

I am not blaming students - at all. Merely pointing out that the number of students who require remedial education at the college level is increasing - not decreasing, as the original article would have one believe. The fact - FACT - that there are more students entering college who are not prepared for college level course work strongly suggests that there are issues with the education they are receiving prior to enrolling in college level courses.

I teach at a community college. I am very well aware of the variety of issues students face - whether it is because they dropped out; are returning to school years after high school; are from another country; or simply graduating from high school without the fundamental skills they need to succeed in college.

I frankly don't give a tinker's damn what your think of my attitude, since you invented it to further your own agenda. At no point in any post I have made did I EVER suggest that students' who are not prepared should not have a chance - I work with them every single day, so your assertion is not only wrong, it is offensive.

[mbperrin]

14. I assumed you would read my post as carefully as I read yours.

No matter. Just ignore it. It's only a couple of minutes you'll never get back.

[saras]

2. I'm tempted to prove you wrong, but I'd get in trouble...

...the way I'd do it is by posting twenty or thirty of the papers I've had to read in the last year or so, by graduating college students. What's missing? Spelling, grammar, syntax, punctuation, vocabulary, logic, rhetorical skills, empathy, research, fact-checking, observational skill, integrity, adventurousness, insight - you know, that stuff.

And the school thinks it's progressive. It really does. I can't understand how the teachers do it - to treat these the same as the genuinely skilled writers who pass through the program, whose skills increase visibly as they work.

[knitter4democracy]

3. It's the dang tests.

They kill all the good stuff since the graders will grade down or not grade at all if someone's essay is outside the box. So, we train high school students to write essays that will get high marks, but those are crap.

I hate the fracking tests.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. At the elementary level we've noticed kids can't count money

And it's not because we don't teach it anymore. They don't get real life experience since Mom uses plastic now.

I completely agree about the tests. They've ruined education. But there are also changes in our culture that impact how much kids learn and don't learn in school. I'm just sick of schools and teachers being blamed for this.

[Modern School]

4. No Trouble At All

Are we giving out more Bachelor's Degrees to illiterate and irrational people than we used to? Perhaps, but consider all the morons out there with Bachelor's Degrees, many of whom are running the country and who graduated from our august institutions a generation or three ago.

I'm fully aware of the lacking skills in today's undergrads. However, is there any solid evidence that it is significantly worse than when I was an undergrad 27 years ago. Maybe so. It probably feels that way. It feels like my high school students are coming in each year with fewer skills, too.

Even so, those with the correct combination of factors going for them often develop skills in college because of increased maturity, the shift from seeing oneself as a prisoner of education to seeing education as a tool for personal growth and material well being, and the recognition that they paying for the service.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. How are ACT scores?

I think that would be a more scientific measure. Diane Ravitch says they're up.

[eppur_se_muova]

5. They're failing to produce profits for the Free Marketeers ...

but don't worry, that won't last long.

[reACTIONary]

9. Here is a US Census report concerning the topic...

Educational Attainment in the United State - 2009

In the comments for articles on this subject there is a lot of cynicism about the economic value of a higher education. Here is a summary from the above report:

Median earnings for a worker with a bachelor’s degree were 77 percent higher than median earnings for a worker with a regular high school diploma, and median earnings for an advanced degree were 31 percent higher than earnings for a bachelor’s degree.