ANALYSIS: Students are entering college
unable to write
Campus Reform,
by
William Biagini '24 Student Reporter
Original Article
Posted By: mc squared,
9/8/2023 1:47:58 PM
K-12 public education has failed to prepare incoming college students how to write at the public level.
In a desperate attempt to catch high school graduates up to speed, many universities are providing remedial writing classes to college students.
About 68% of those starting at two-year public institutions and 40% of students enrolled in public four-year universities took at least one remedial writing class between 2003 to 2009, according to an original report from the Department of Education.
Average math and reading test scores dropped significantly from 2019 to 2021, according to a 2022 study by two Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA).
Reply 1 - Posted by:
kono 9/8/2023 1:53:29 PM (No. 1552077)
but xpektn litrisy b whyte privlij racists
14 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Safari Man 9/8/2023 1:58:05 PM (No. 1552083)
I taught a course at a 4-year private school in Incline Village, NV for a semester. Most of the students were average, but a few were down right uneducated, like maybe 4th or 5th grade level. Its just the educational system the government provides -- worthless for the most part.
20 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
offrope 9/8/2023 2:12:06 PM (No. 1552103)
They can't write, and can barely read, but they have great self esteem, and know all 57 sexes.
24 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
CaptainLibra 9/8/2023 2:20:12 PM (No. 1552109)
And many of them are graduating from college unable to write.
21 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
daisey 9/8/2023 2:43:21 PM (No. 1552122)
Uneducated but well indoctrinated.
18 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
zephyrgirl 9/8/2023 2:44:14 PM (No. 1552124)
The ability to write clearly is an underrated skill. Even though I have two very marketable degrees, I'm convinced my writing ability kept me employed.
19 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
hershey 9/8/2023 2:48:32 PM (No. 1552130)
This is so sad..and meanwhile, students in other countries are excelling...saw a pic of Japanese students on a bus, each and every one had a notebook...meanwhile our bus drivers have to sit in cages to keep from being attacked by students...because they have NO authority to do anything.
9 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Bur Oak 9/8/2023 2:48:36 PM (No. 1552131)
As long as they are diverse, have self-esteem, and have all their covid shots it's okay.
9 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
bpl40 9/8/2023 3:46:09 PM (No. 1552165)
One day one of them will be nominated to the Supreme Court!
6 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
DVC 9/8/2023 4:11:47 PM (No. 1552182)
Writing is clearly a white supremacist thing....true black folks don't write....or read, and can't speak English, just ghetto slang trash.
And they will wonder why they can't find jobs or succeed in life. And they'll blame it on "whitey" holding them down, when it is them, locking themselves into the chains of poverty by resisting education.
10 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
DougTN 9/8/2023 5:03:06 PM (No. 1552215)
Perfectly suited to be the next Harvard freshman class.
4 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Catherine 9/8/2023 5:30:57 PM (No. 1552244)
Back in the '60's at LSU, professors had to teach students remedial classes to read and write, never mind math, before they could start college classes. It was a big scandal when the black university in Scotlandville, Southern, was found to be selling diplomas. So poorly educated young people is nothing new.
5 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
chefrandy 9/8/2023 5:40:47 PM (No. 1552249)
Now of social security age, my 7th grade and sophomore year English teachers I thought to be complete witches at the time. Yet, their ability to exactingly demand, correct and teach proper usage of words, verb tense, sentence and paragraph construction coupled with GASP Roget's Thesaurus and dictionaries to expand our vocabulary led to a successful ability to communicate both in verbal and written forms. That was built on the backs of the elementary school nuns teaching the building blocks from phonics, reading and reading comprehension, parts of speech, of diagraming sentences and what seemed like mountains of homework at the time gave us the tools to be successful at our own attempts at exposition. Wish I could say my penmanship kept up the pace, thank goodness for typewriters and keyboards.
4 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
snowoutlaw 9/8/2023 5:59:24 PM (No. 1552255)
I always hear from white and Asia students how hard it is to get accepted into colleges, like needing a better than 4.0 GPA, perfect SAT etc. Makes me wonder how these were kids were even accepted in the first place. Actually I know and don't need to wonder.
5 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
anniebc 9/8/2023 7:54:06 PM (No. 1552287)
It's been that way for decades. I taught Freshman Comp just after the turn of the century. My first class was full of top of their class high school graduates, and only two of thirty or so could actually write a decent paragraph. One of the two flunked my class because she didn't finish her portfolio. The students had to write (meet with me then rewrite segments) about themselves, and they still couldn't muster enough skill to make it happen.
2 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
Strike3 9/8/2023 8:42:56 PM (No. 1552319)
At least they didn't say "unexpected." I would wager that the math proficiency is even more pathetic than the writing skills.
1 person likes this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Strike3 9/8/2023 8:47:49 PM (No. 1552322)
I completely agree, #6. Whether your job is in Accounting, IT, or Inventory Control, the ability to communicate is the aptitude that brings the next step on the ladder within reach.
2 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
mifla 9/9/2023 5:16:19 AM (No. 1552440)
During my graduate years, I was a TA at a Big Ten university. 60% of the incoming freshmen were enrolled in remedial Math and English courses. I suspect it has gotten much worse over the years. Our public schools just push the through the system and give them grades that have not earned, which is why many of our politicians send their kids to private schools.
2 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
weirdone 9/9/2023 4:48:30 PM (No. 1552823)
Hasn't gotten any better. My youngest daughter teaches at the college level and tells me the same thing.
0 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
Hazymac 9/9/2023 6:37:25 PM (No. 1552870)
Sitting on a Boy Scout bus to Idaho in 1969 (age 14) next to a stone illiterate 18-year-old high school graduate was an unforgettable experience. This unfortunate fellow who had obtained one of those X-rated 85c paperbacks at a truck stop couldn't even read one word of it. The book had no pictures, only print. He'd never seen anything like it. I read two nasty pages to him before I had to get up and change seats, feeling emesis coming on. Every day I am thankful for my late parents having made the many financial sacrifices to send their children to academically rigorous private schools. What we learned there--and the friends we made there--will be with us forever.
0 people like this.
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When graduates can't write English, they're on a par with new 'illegals'. And the illegals are less costly to hire.