My frequent reminders to school officials that students� reading and writing levels and willingness to work hard were more important indicators of AP success than their perceived academic potential were berated and ignored. Administrators and some teachers countered with the �data-driven�� argument that, not only does more exposure to AP courses and tests benefit students by preparing them for the rigors of college, but it signaled our high expectations of them.
Yes, this is all part and parcel of our national delusion that everyone should go to college. This philosophy is a failure and is particularly cruel to the students it's forced on. How many young people end up studying something they aren't interested in and spend four years learning little, after which many are deep in debt? To make matters worse, it's been increasingly difficult to find work since 2008, and many of them end up in low-wage jobs they could have done straight out of high school, minus the devt (e.g. Starbucks, security guards after short training courses). Just as bad, many that actually find jobs in "business" or "communications" or whatever they majored in end up being unhappy and unsatisfied. But no one told them any of this when they were 17. These poor kids all get spoonfed the idea that a B.A. is a golden ticket to a bright and shiny future.
Does anyone else see the madness here?
These days, the edumacational dogma is to push people into college as though suggesting anything else is some kind of major insult. Somehow this means we're being "equitable" or "fair." It's as though there's this perception that anything that doesn't involve a B.A. is somehow less than worthy. This entire train of thought is utter rubbish. And it homogenizes everyone even more.
I'd prefer a return to the olden days of about 20 years ago and before when schools helped kids find things they were good at and enjoyed doing, and encouraged them to go in those directions, regardless of whether or not a B.A. was involved.
Val
