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Hannah Ervin

Mrs. Cramer

College Comp Pd.7

19 January. 2017

Starting as a small child students are taught the basics, ABCs, 123s, how to add and

subtract. As students move up in grades they are taught harder, more sophisticated lessons. Then,

students get to high school. In high school students have to take multiple standardized tests, get

exceptional grades, and be involved with extracurricular activities. The teachers say that they are

preparing them for the college level of learning. Although college professors disagree entirely.

High school students are not college ready due to the no child left behind act, standardized

testing, and the absence of higher level thinking.

For example, the No Child Left Behind act was put into play in the 2002-2003 school

year. This act makes it impossible for any child to fail a grade due to inadequate grades. The act

caused some students to completely give up and not try in their classes due to knowing that no

matter what their grades were they would still go on to the next grade with the rest of their

class." The students and schools are forced to perform under the pressures and constrictions

imposed by law." (Strauss)

Furthermore, public schools teach their students what they need to know about the

standardized testing. Although in theory it sounds like a plan to success, it is not proving itself as

that. "The College Board did recognize that not everything being labeled as AP met the standards
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of a college-level course" (Strauss). AP level courses are meant to be the same thing as an actual

college class, yet the people who come up with the class recognize that the class is not at the

same level as a college class. Students take these classes because they want to be prepared for

college they want to know what it is going to be like. So when the difficulty is not the same as an

actual college class then they walk into college expecting it to be something easy and it's not.

Schools have to teach everything that will be on the standardized testing, keeping us in a box that

we aren't allowed to go out of. If a student answers a question and it is not completely right then

they automatically get it wrong.

In reality, because of all of the standardized testing and No Child Left Behind Act

students are forced to think inside the box. They can answer simple multiple choice questions,

but when you hand them an open ended question and tell them to analyze it they will most likely

not do well. Due to this low level of thinking, freshman in college are"failing their entrance

exams and are being placed in remedial English and math classes. These students had done well

in high school and passes all of the required tests, but they are still failing the simple general

education classes." (Ostashevsky) College professors expect these college freshman to be able to

analyze and think outside of the box and come up with new theories. They have always been

taught to stay within the box and to only do what the prompt says but college professors are

looking for more than that. They are looking for intelligence in their writing, they are looking for

something to indicate that, that student actually gets it.

For instance, the test results from a standardized test taken in 2013 were drastically low

and disappointing. The test was taken again in 2015 and the "lowest performing students scores

are only getting worse." (Camera) Only "37 percent of students are prepared for college level

math and reading, down 2 percent points in math and 1 point in reading since 2013, the last time
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the tests were administered." (Camera) These tests are made to tell students whether students are

up to par with their studies or not. For example when you get your SAT scored it tells you if you

are college ready or not. Yet these tests are not up to the expectations of some college professors

and school administrators.

Without a doubt, college professors doesnt expect perfect work but they do expect better

work than they receive. The reason that students are not 100% ready for the rigorous courses is

because even in the college in the classroom classes chapters are spread out amongst a few

weeks. When you learn a chapter in college you usually get at least two or three sections during

an hour long class and then they give you a few assignments to do before the next class. Unlike

during high school you get two maybe three days for one chapter and only one assignment per

night. High school seniors that are going to be freshman in college are not prepared to deal with

the amount of information you get in an hour. They are used to having class after class day after

day to ask questions and to get extra help. Then when they walk into college they have to adapt

to the amount of information and learning how to do all of the work on their own. If they dont

understand something for class then it is up to them to get extra help so they can do well on the

quizzes and exams that they have. Another thing that they have to adapt to is the workload from

all of their classes all at once. They might have one essay due in high school at a time but then

they get to college and have two or three due around the same time.

In conclusion high school teachers do not prepare you for college, they prepare you for

the tests that you have to take. The No Child Left Behind Act made the teachers and schools

districts function under governments rules and regulations. College professors expect the

students that get accepted to learn at a higher level and achieve good grades in their classes. If

high school teachers taught their junior and senior classes like an actual college class then the
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success rate of incoming freshmen would increase.High school students are not prepared for

college because they are stuck under the regulations of the No Child Left Behind Act,

standardized testing, and the absence of higher level thinking.

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Works Cited

Camera, Lauren "High School Seniors Aren't College Ready" US News & World Report "N.p."
27 Apr. 2016 web 19 Jan. 2017
Ostashevsky, Luba "Many who pass state high school graduation tests show up to college
unprepared" Hechinger Report Hechinger Report 18 Feb. 2016 web 19 Jan. 2017
Strauss, Valerie "A warning to college profs from a high school teacher" The Washington Post
"N.p." 9 Feb. 2013 web 19 Jan. 2017