High School Doesn't Prepare Students for College

High school should prepare you for the rigorous courses and nearly impossible tests that await you at college. So why doesn't it? High school has either become or has always been extremely lax when it comes to the level and difficulty of the material taught to students. It took a new teacher with a fresh perspective to teach me that lesson.

High School Doesn't Prepare Students For College

It's actually appalling when you consider the fact that students ranging from freshmen to seniors still need instruction on the proper use of English grammar. The fact that these students haven't grasped the simplest of grammar tools, such as commas, in their twelve years of education details amply the poor condition of public education. College professor's aren't going to waste their time teach students how to properly write that midterm essay.

This trend continues into the math department where students often find themselves in an Algebra II class during their senior year. This is curriculum these students should have learned their freshman year. Simple concepts such as "2x=6" are completely unknown and foreign to these kids; when they get to college they realize they have four or five additional arithmetic courses to complete before qualifying for their majors. All that time and money could have been saved if only the public education system had pushed these students into challenging themselves academically.

New Teacher, New Perspective

I had never considered this until a new teacher was hired at my school, Ms. Susan Conrad. Near the beginning of her course she explained to the class how she had been ill equipped for college-level exams and had been left to fend for herself, until she managed to learn what's expected of you in college.

The example she gave: For her first test during her freshman year, the professor has instructed the students to obtain a blue book for Wednesday. When they arrived that day in class, the students were given a list of three topics and nothing else. Conrad looked around the room and witnessed all of the other students begin furiously scrawling in their blue books while she sat there dumbfounded.

It's the little things like this which high schools should prepare students for. Conrad took it upon herself to make certain her students were adequately instructed on the expectations of college. She gave similar blue book tests, kept the course content at a fairly high level without being overbearing, and overall treated her students as if they were college-level. If only other teachers would make the same realization that she had, and would actually take the time to prepare their students for college.

Remedying This Issue

There is a simple fix for this issue: Challenge the students. That's all it would take. Force them to work for their grades, for their rewards, and challenge them intellectually. All too often students will simply slip through the cracks, take the easy classes for an easy grade, and slink off into oblivion a year later when they realize that college isn't as laid back as high school. Good work ethic and a strong intellect are founded in peoples' youngest years, and it's time to nourish these young seeds.