Preparing them for college

Hello everyone,

Yesterday's email generated a response that I would like to consider publicly. The email is in normal case; my comments are in CAPS:

I was wondering what thoughts you had on preparing [students] for college.

THE BODY OF THE EMAIL DEALS WITH THIS, BUT I WANT TO COMMENT ON IT SEPARATELY.

WHEN I FIRST BEGAN TEACHING, A COLLEAGUE SAID TO ME, ONE DAY, SOTO VOCE, "OF COURSE YOU KNOW THAT MOST OF THESE KIDS WON'T GO TO COLLEGE. THEY JUST AREN'T COLLEGE MATERIAL!" WHEN I PROTESTED, THE TEACHER SAID SOMETHING LIKE, "GET REAL. WHEN YOU'VE BEEN TEACHING LONG ENOUGH, YOU'LL SEE."

ALL RIGHT. I'VE BEEN TEACHING FOR ALMOST 23 YEARS. I OBSERVE THAT THE LEVELS OF INTELLIGENCE AND ACADEMIC POTENTIAL AMONG THE STUDENTS OF EAST LA IS EXACTLY EQUIVALENT TO THE LEVELS OF INTELLIGENCE AND ACADEMIC POTENTIAL AMONG STUDENTS FROM IDAHO (WHERE I'M FROM), FROM UTAH (WHERE I DID MY UNDERGRADUATE WORK), FROM CANADA (WHERE I LIVED FOR TWO YEARS), FROM TEMPLE CITY (WHERE I LIVE NOW).

I KNOW THE STATISTICS OF DROP OUT RATES AND COLLEGE SUCCESS, AND I THINK THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH INTELLIGENCE AND POTENTIAL.

I THINK THERE ARE A VARIETY OF FORCES AT WORK IN OUR STUDENTS' LIVES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE HIGH DROP-OUT RATE IN HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE, THE LOWER RATES OF COLLEGE ATTENDANCE, AND THE HIGH RATES OF THE NEED FOR REMEDIATION IN COLLEGE. WE HAVE CONTROL OVER A SMALL AMOUNT OF THOSE FORCES, AND THE REST ARE OUT OF OUR ABILITY.

GIVEN ALL THAT, I START EVERY YEAR BY ANNOUNCING TO STUDENTS WHO DON'T KNOW ME THAT I'M WORKING FROM THE ASSUMPTION THAT THEY WILL ALL BE GOING TO COLLEGE. SOME OBJECT; WE HAVE A DISCUSSION; THEN WE ALL GO ON FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR WITH THE ASSUMPTION THAT THEY ARE GOING TO COLLEGE--OR AT LEAST THAT I WILL NOT TAKE THAT CHOICE AWAY FROM THEM BY GIVING THEM AN EDUCATION THAT WON'T PREPARE THEM FOR IT.

While you want to make their learning experience enlightening and informative, there is also some rigor involved.

THERE IS MORE RIGOR INVOLVED THAN WE LIKE TO ADMIT, I THINK. AND THERE ARE A NUMBER OF DIFFICULTIES THAT ARISE WHEN WE CONFRONT THAT RIGOR. WE MUST MOTIVATE THE STUDENTS TO RISE TO IT WITHOUT DISCOURAGING THEM (A DIFFICULT PROPOSITION THAT I HAVEN'T ALWAYS BEEN ABLE TO MASTER); THEY MUST HAVE A REALISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT COLLEGE REQUIRES WITHOUT BEING FRIGHTENED OF IT; THEY MUST HAVE A REALISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF WHERE THEY ARE WITHOUT BEING DISCOURAGED. IT'S TRUE WE HAVE TO HOLD THEIR HANDS, BUT I THINK WE SOMETIMES HOLD THEIR HANDS IN EASY TERRAIN, THEN FORSAKE THEM IN THE TOUGH PLACES, WHEN IT SHOULD BE THE OPPOSITE.

It concerns me when I see so many students who are not prepared for college and are unable to do simple tasks. While I want to attend to them, I also want to make sure students who will be attending college have the ability to write a five page essay and know how to cite properly.

I PERSONALLY BELIEVE THAT THE BEST WAY IS TO TEACH TO THE MOTIVATED ONES AND DEVISE WAYS TO ENCOURAGE THE OTHERS TO GET ON THE TRAIN. MANY OF THEM WILL WHEN THEY SEE THAT THE CLASS IS HEADED SOMEWHERE.

A FIVE PAGE ESSAY WITH CITATIONS IS NOT A COLLEGE STANDARD, AND THEY OUGHT TO KNOW THAT. IT'S AN INTRODUCTORY STANDARD THAT WILL PREPARE THEM FOR THE TEN PAGE ESSAY THAT IS MORE STANDARD IN COLLEGE. IT NEED NOT BE FRIGHTENING, THOUGH, IF YOU TEACH THEM TO BREAK THEIR FIVE PAGE ESSAY INTO BITE-SIZED CHUNKS AND WORK ON IT A PIECE AT A TIME. AS WITH ALL THE GOALS AND STANDARDS THAT THEY NEED, YOU TELL THEM THE END, THEN WORK THEM THROUGH A SERIES OF MANAGEABLE SHORT-TERM GOALS UNTIL THE END IS IN SIGHT.

IF YOU ARE NOT AN ENGLISH TEACHER, YOU MIGHT WANT TO COLLABORATE WITH THE ENGLISH TEACHERS IN YOUR SLC ON TEACHING THE ESSAY. YOU MIGHT DECIDE THAT YOU TEACH CONTENT, AND THEY TEACH FORM, FOR EXAMPLE. (AS AN ENGLISH TEACHER, I WANTED MY STUDENTS TO LEARN HOW TO DO THE LONG ESSAY, SO I WAS VERY LIBERAL ABOUT WHAT THEY COULD WRITE ABOUT. I SELDOM NARROWED THEIR POSSIBILITIES UNTIL LATE IN THEIR SENIOR YEARS, AND ONLY IF THEY WERE AP STUDENTS.)

I have made an effort in my classes this semester to be more rigorous and disciplined. (They will be reading [a non-fiction text] and writing a five page essay, complete with citations and a bibliography.

IF THE NON-FICTION TEXT IS ONLY A JUMPING OFF POINT, IT WILL BE EASIER FOR FIRST-TIME WRITERS. IF YOU ARE REQUIRING THEM TO ANALYZE THE TEXT AND WRITE A FIVE-PAGE TEXT ANALYSIS, YOU MIGHT FRIGHTEN THEM.

IF THE TEXT ANALYSIS IS IMPORTANT TO YOU, YOU MIGHT OFFER EXTRA CREDIT TO ANYONE WITH THE GUTS TO DO IT, BUT KEEP IN MIND THAT YOUR GOAL IS TO INTRODUCE THEM TO THE STANDARD COLLEGE IDEA OF WRITING A CITED PAPER, NOT NECESSARILY ANALYZING THAT SPECIFIC TEXT.

YOU CAN KEEP THE SUBJECT NARROWER, IF YOU WANT, BY REQUIRING THEM TO WRITE ABOUT SOMETHING CONNECTED TO THE TEXT IN SOME WAY, BUT IT WON'T TAKE MUCH DISCUSSION FOR THEM TO REALIZE THAT THEY STILL HAVE WIDE LATITUDE. I TAUGHT "I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS," AND STUDENTS COULD HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT ANYTHING FROM TUPAC SHAKUR TO THE HISTORY OF RURAL ARKANSAS.

Because of this I have had a bit of an exodus to other classes.

IT'S HAPPENED TO ME, TOO. IT WILL CONTINUE TO HAPPEN UNTIL THE ENTIRE SCHOOL GETS A VISION OF WHAT THE KIDS NEED TO GET INTO COLLEGE, AND STICKS TO IT.

While I try not to take it personally I do a bit, but I do feel what I am doing now is academic and how it should be. It may not be entertaining for them all of the time and I am OK with that now. What are your thoughts on this?

RIGOR IS NOT THE AMOUNT OF WORK. NOR IS RIGOR NECESSARILY BORING. AT THE SAME TIME, WE MUSTN'T LET TEENAGERS DETERMINE THE AMOUNT OF WORK WE'LL GIVE THEM. AND WE MUSTN'T BE AFRAID OF THAT TEENAGE BOGIE MAN, "BOREDOM." IT TAKES TIME, BUT WE CAN TEACH THEM TO BE INTERESTED IN DIFFICULT, ABSTRACT CONCEPTS EXTRACTED FROM COMPLEX TEXTS. MAYBE BY SECOND SEMESTER OF THEIR SENIOR YEARS, BUT WE CAN DO IT.

JEFF COMBE