Harvard study: Hey, maybe we’re placing too much emphasis on a college education

[MaggieMae]

Community colleges serve a purpose. However, here's the problem:

New Jersey's community colleges also saw the smallest increase in enrollment in the past five years last fall, with a few of the colleges losing enrollment. In 2009-10, almost 260,000 students enrolled in credit programs, with another 100,000 taking noncredit courses.

Grabill said only 25 percent of students who complete remedial courses go on to take credit courses, which means most students are spending time and money working toward a degree they never get. She said one issue is how to assist students who test far below the college readiness level.

New Jersey county colleges launch effort to increase graduation rate - pressofAtlanticCity.com: Atlantic County News

These are students were not academically inclined in high school, and now are expected to do college level work. For a huge number of kids, it is just an expensive (and painful) extension of high school. Imagine if those kids had been given an apprenticeship opportunity in high school instead.

When politicians and bureaucrats read the words "college readiness" they raise the standards for high school. Then the kids fall further behind...

I still think the reason for low enrollment in community colleges is because of the stigma that they're inferior. Peer pressure being such a strong factor in teen development these days, in some circles it would be demoralizing to have to admit you're only going to a community college when the popular crowd is all going to colleges and universities. That's probably not the only reason, but one of the biggest ones, I'll bet.

 

[chanel]

MaggiE - a few years ago, I'd agree. But now it is viewed as a smart way to pay for schpol. State schools have to accept CC credits. The problem is - too few are getting the credits.

 

[Samson]

If the business community wants to get the benefit of the program they have to invest in it. I might be willing to allow businesses willing to do so to claim a tax exemption even though it goes against my policy of not using taxes to shape policy.

No tax exemption needed. If it's a cost they bear to train potential employees, they deduct it. If they fund a non-profit, they deduct it.

In order to turn it around, it will involve a public and private partnership, without politicizing anything. I don't remember who coined the phrase "It takes a village..." but in the case of education, that is most assuredly true.

Hillary Clinton "Coined" the phrase, which has either African or Native American origins

 

[psikeyhackr]

People can think and work at the same time.

Not teaching kids the basics and teaching them only what they need to be a low level worker is cheap but stupid.

It's possible to teach physics by analyzing all facets of a modern car. Then the worker not only knows how to produce something but also has a good foundation of Science. Instead, the solution has been to teach them physics in a very boring way which results in someone who barely understands the material and can't fix a car.

That said, there isn't much value to a "thinker" who really doesn't know anything practical and in many cases they never learned how to think or learn, they just regurgitate.

I built one of these during my grade school years:



I did it at home and didn't need a teacher looking over my shoulder.

School places too much emphasis on memorizing words and then assume you understand the concept because you know the word. Physics is not about words. It is not really about mathematics. The mathematics is just very useful once you understand the concepts. But plenty of people memorize the equations and can pass tests but then use them wrong in the real world.

A few years ago I had a conversation with a man who told me he LOVED CARS. He didn't know what a cam shaft was but had an Automobile Magazine full of pictures of auto parts. I pointed at a part in a picture and asked him what it was. He said "cam shaft". I was pointing at a crank shaft.

We have people with degrees in computer science who don't understand electricity.

I think kids can learn a lot building things because they see how things work and fail to work without lots of words getting in the way and thinking words explain reality. I wonder how many English teachers took 4 years of math in high school.

psik