No, this isn't another Mark Edmonson post. On the History News Network site, there's a very interesting article by professor Thomas Reeves that questions why we assume everyone should go to college. Certainly, that is an assumption in our society - witness the furor over high school exit exams and AA in college admissions. Depriving someone of their "right" to attend college, even if it's through a selection process that measure academic readiness, is considered a sin by many activists, politicians, and general left-leaning pundits:
Going to college has become a national fad, a rite of passage, millions hope, into the world of hefty salaries and McMansions. The trek to academia has now spread to the working class, who see sending their kids to college as a sign of respectability... but is this crush for diplomas necessarily a good thing?
Let us consider our nineteen new college students [mentioned on a billboard]. In the first place, how many of them have the intellect and the intellectual preparation to be serious and successful students? ACT scores continue to decline nationally, and Richard T. Ferguson, ACT's chief executive, urges better high school preparation. About four in ten last year scored well enough on the test to suggest that they could earn at least a C in a college-level math course. On tenth grade math tests in Wisconsin recently, 76 percent of white students attained proficiency or better, compared with 40 percent of Hispanics, and 23 percent of blacks. In Michigan, Colorado, Texas, and New York academic tests have been altered or thrown out because of low scores. The great majority of high schools continue to require little in exchange for their diplomas. Hundreds of thousands enter the campus gates without a clue about the intellectual challenges that are, or at least should be, awaiting them.
What happens to the underprepared? They're more likely to drop out, of course - but they're also likely to contribute to the dumbing down of class content and discussions. When a professor is confronted with "a classroom full of people who do not read, study, or think,", it's not a stretch to conclude that the standards will be reduced to the point of being useless for any student who does think.
But why is this situation considered acceptable?
In America and all across the western world, intellectuals are enthralled with the abolition of moral and intellectual standards. In the courts and in the media, as well as the classroom, they are ramming this dogma down the throats of the vast majority.
Not surprisingly, the commenters to Dr. Reeves' post immediately assume that he is racist and "classist" - such is the kneejerk response to anyone who states outright that perhaps not every kid is college material, and that admitting students who are not college material is not the best thing for those students or the colleges they attend. Dr. Reeves' post says nothing about race or class, but, paradoxically, anyone who does not support the very racist practice of AA (and I assume Dr. Reeves would not) finds himself tagged with the "racist" label these days.
(Thanks to Devoted Reader Mike D. for the link.)
Posted by kswygert at September 5, 2003 10:56 AM