Perspective
Breaking News: College is Harder than High School!Tuesday, September 06, 2011 By Mr Long
Last week, the Chicago Tribune published a story about how Illinois high school students performed in college, as opposed to in high school . Overall, the results give pause: "public school graduates at 10 of the state's 11 four-year universities averaged less than a 3.0 GPA their freshman year." The Tribune sees this as evidence of sub-par teaching in Illinois: The average freshman GPA was 2.52 across all state universities and community colleges, roughly C+ work, based on the state's tracking of more than 90,000 public high school students who graduated between 2006 and 2008. In high school, those same kids exceeded a B average — 3.08. The counter-argument, voiced by educators and students alike, is that high school tends to not be on the same level as college, and that other factors play a part in a student's first year (changed peer groups, vast freedom and a rollicking social life, etc.). So, big surprise: school reformers will point and ask, "Why are the schools not preparing their students more effectively?" while schools will point and ask, "What did you think college would be like?" Discuss. |