I read a lot, and I pay special attentions to articles such as the following:

Otterman, Sharon (6/14/2011). College-readiness low among [NY] state graduates, data shows. New York Times. Retrieved 6/16/2011 from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/nyregion/37-of-new-york-graduates-meet-college-readiness-standard.html?_r=1

In very brief summary, the article provides data on students in New York who entered high school (9^th grade) in 2006, and the percentages that graduated four years later, ready for college and/or a good job.

From my point of view, the data are dismal. Here are a few quotes from the article:

For the whole state of New York] only 37 percent of students who entered high school in 2006 left four years later adequately prepared for college, with even smaller percentages of minority graduates and those in the largest cities meeting that standard.

In New York City, 21 percent of the students who started high school in 2006 graduated last year with high enough scores on state math and English tests to be deemed ready for higher education or well-paying careers. In Rochester, it was 6 percent; in Yonkers, 14.5 percent.

The new calculations, part of a statewide push to realign standards with college readiness, also underscored a racial achievement gap: 13 percent of black students and 15 percent of Hispanic students statewide were deemed college-ready after four years of high school, compared with 51 percent of white graduates and 56 percent of Asian-Americans.

The data are dismal both because of the graduation rates and because many who graduate are inadequately prepared for responsible adulthood.

The question that always occurs to me is, do the students realize that they are making inadequate progress in their education? The articles I read never seem to address this issue. Education is treated as something that is “done to” students. If education does not produce the desired results, the fault lies with the school system, the teachers, the school administrators, the parents, the funding process, the standards, and so on.

Our informal and formal educational systems provide opportunities. We know that the opportunities are better for some students than for others. However, we also know that students vary considerably in how well they take advantage of the opportunities.

We can improve educational outcomes by improving the opportunities. However, we can also improve educational outcomes by improving the rate of active student participating in getting a good education through use of the opportunities that are available.

I wonder why our school system is not providing all students with high quality self-assessment instruments and education in their use. I believe all students should know whether they are getting an education that meets their current and future needs and interests, and that prepares they for responsible adulthood.

Our educational system tries to identify students who are not progressing as fast as the system would like. In many cases this identification and intervention process is successful. However, as the data suggest, in many cases it is not.

I wonder why it is the system that must take such a responsibility all by itself. Could we not educate students so they would play a significant role is figuring out if they are progressing as fast and as well as they would like? Students who are not satisfied with their rate of progress should be given special help in understanding and making effective use of the resources that are available to them. If they are able to make effective use of these resources to achieve as well as they would like, then they should be able to request special help.

Additional Sources of Information

IAE (n.d.). Self-assessment instruments. Retrieved 6/16/2011 from http://iae-pedia.org/Self-assessment_Instruments.

IAE (n.d.). Self-assessment. Retrieved 6/16/2011 from http://iae-pedia.org/Self_Assessment.