Our history of dissing high school grads
Sent to the New York Post, Jan 23, 2012
The Post reports that nearly 80% of city high school grads are not prepared for college work (“Make-believe grads,” Jan. 22). Colleges have been complaining about the low quality of incoming students for over 100 years in the United States.
In the 1880’s Harvard introduced remedial writing classes because so many entering students failed the new entrance exams. In 1894, Harvard criticized high school writing teachers for the poor performance of students entering college. Note that these were the best students in the country attending the best university of its time.
In 1930, Thomas Biggs of Teachers College found that only half of the high school students he studied could find
The Post reports that nearly 80% of city high school grads are not prepared for college work (“Make-believe grads,” Jan. 22). Colleges have been complaining about the low quality of incoming students for over 100 years in the United States.
In the 1880’s Harvard introduced remedial writing classes because so many entering students failed the new entrance exams. In 1894, Harvard criticized high school writing teachers for the poor performance of students entering college. Note that these were the best students in the country attending the best university of its time.
In 1930, Thomas Biggs of Teachers College found that only half of the high school students he studied could find