In this week’s College Readiness News Roundup, read about high schoolers’ view of college, why Illinois students are having trouble with science (maybe), and how California wants to change its school performance standards.
1. Recent High-School Graduates Optimistic About Value of College
According to a new survey from the College Board, most recent high school graduates think that earning a college degree is worth the time and money. However, the survey results beg the question — with more and more students forced to enroll in remediation during college, and more students having trouble finding work once they’ve graduated, how would the survey results be different if recent college grads were the ones polled? Read about the survey results in this L.A. Times blog post, and then let us know your thoughts in the comments.
2. Changing the Way We Grade Schools
California Senate President ProTem Darrell Steinberg is arguing that standardized test scores — the “current yardsticks by which California’s classrooms have been measured” — aren’t broad enough for today’s schools. He’s authored a bill to replace California’s current Academic Performance Index with “a set of standards that include items like career and college readiness and graduation rates, along with test scores.” Read more in this article from NBC LA.
3. Unscientific Methods: Why Aren’t Kids Learning Science
With fewer than 25% of Illinois students meeting the ACT’s benchmarks in math, reading, science, and English ( the Illinois Times posits that “we may be teaching the wrong kind of science to the wrong kids for the wrong reasons.”
