Megan Williams Emily Jarema English 111 Did High School Prepare You for College?

In America, college bound students struggle when making the difficult transition to college; transitioning from high school learning to college learning can be one of the toughest challenges one may encounter. The college life is much different than high school. Structure in college is created by the students; although, in high schools the structure is set by time periods. With students juggling teaching themselves, working and managing a social life, it can be rather stressful entering college. One key aspect that students may struggle with is the transition of college learning. Being a high school student taking college courses I have noticed the difference in the teaching styles between high school and college. High school doesnt prepare students to shift from one learning style to another. Another problem that arises from high school entering college is that students are not prepared for the switch in classroom layouts. High school learning is much different than college, teachers spoon-feed the information instead of having the students critically analyze and learn information on their own. High schools do not prepare students for the tough college environment of learning. College freshman have a lot they need to learn their first year of college; most of the information they learn should be based off their high school education; although, that isnt the case. Most students who are test into college course often dont know the crucial academic knowledge needed to succeed in these courses. Every high school has different requirements for graduating. Therefore, high schools do not prepare everyone the same way for college. Students often are

treated in special ways which in turn causes students to goof off or lack in their studies. Deborah Hirsch, an associate vice president for academic affairs at Mount Ida College and the author of The High School to College Transition: Minding the Gap explains that there are multiple reasons to contribute to the lack of college preparation. High school students have an understanding of what they need to do to get into college and the importance of attending college, but they have an undeveloped and even unrealistic understanding of what it takes to successfully transition, persist and graduate from college (Hirsch). Hirsch makes the statement that students who test into college level courses even seem to lack crucial academic knowledge and skills and appear ill-prepared for the demands of college-level work (Hirsch). Hirsch emphasizes: Students bring with them habits and attitudes that may have been good enough to get by in high school but will not support their success in college where passing is not enough to maintain sufficient academic progress towards a degree (Hirsch). This attitude that is brought into college is enough for them to fail which can result in academic probation then dismal of college. Theodore Sizer, a retired professor of Education at Brown University and the head of the Coalition of Essential Schools and the author of What High School Is can add to this topic. He states that students do not pay attention in high school. When students do not pay attention they are not learning, when they do not learn they wont learn how to be successful in the future. Hirsch believes the reason why students just want to get by is due to the fact they dont pay attention, therefore they dont know the information; since they dont know the information they settle with just getting by. Students often exert the minimal effort that they perceive will be good enough to pass the course. Students seem more focused on getting

through the course rather than learning the skills they need to move forward in life. Professors try to meet where the student is academically, but students often dont seek help needed. Hirsch believes that this is not because they dont want to succeed or they dont want to be in college. In other words, the high school-to-college achievement gap is caused by what Rebecca Cox, a Seton Hall professor, calls the college fear factor (Hirsch). Why dont students seek help? Cox believes that students are afraid professors will be disgusted at their lack of intelligence. Mike Rose, a professor at UCLA and the author of Politics of Remediation would agree with Hirsch on the reasoning behind college students failing are due to poor education of high school. Due to this fear students end up employing the very strategies that will help them in such as meeting with professors outside of class, asking for help or asking questions in class for being labeled as unintelligent (Hirsch). Students often see themselves as a passive student of the professors knowledge rather than viewing learning as an interaction. Students are failing or struggling with college courses due to the fact high schools do not have the right tools to prepare them for the different types of learning they will encounter. High schools only teach a certain curriculum. This curriculum often lacks the essentials needed to succeed in a students first year of college. High schools often brush the basics of what fundamental knowledge is needed for college. Something that happens quite often is that the professor will relate martial to a book, a book that isnt in the high schools curriculum; therefore, students have no clue what is being talked about. The students can in fact go get the book and read it, but the chances are slim. Mike Rose a professor at UCLA and the author of The Politics of Remediation mentions how students have struggled their first year and the reasoning behind it. Marita has only been at UCLA for about three weeks when she encountered

her first writing assignment. She was supposed to write a paper agreeing or disagreeing with Bronowskis discussion of creativity. After Rose read her paper he stated: It was clear by the third sentence that the writing was not all hers. She had incorporated stretches of old encyclopedia prose into her paper and had only quoted some of it. I imagined that is pleased her previous teachers that she cared enough about her work to go find sources, to rely on the experts (Rose). Rose is meaning that her teachers more than likely loved that she had used resources but they did not care whether it was cited or not. This implies that Marita wasnt taught that if someone uses outside sources they must be cited and listed in a bibliography or works cited page. As a college freshman Marita was still unsure how to weave quotations in with her own ideas, how to mark the difference, how to cite whom she had used, how to use the proper balance between her writing and someone elses, and how to position herself in an academic discussion (Rose). Sizer would agree with Roses point about high school not teaching Marita the proper citation rules. Although Sizer explains it in a different way, he states: The academic pressures are limited, and the accommodations to students are substantial. For example, if many members of an English class have jobs after school, the English teachers expectations for them are adjusted, downward. In a word, school is sensitively accommodating, as long as students are punctual (Sizer) This is showing that in high school students are rewarded for participating in extra-curricular activities. If students participate in other activities the teachers are more lenient on academics. With teachers being lenient on academics they will skip out on certain learning activities that can be essential for example, how to cite sources. Another point gathered from this quote is that this

is not the way to help prepare students for the future. College professors do not care if a student has a job, family, or any other activities going on; they expect the student to get the work done correctly and turn it in on time. James another student studying at UCLA is also struggling in his English course. The essay assigned was supposed to critically analyze a passage, James instead summarized. Rose states that sometimes it is very hard to get them to see that summary is not adequate, for it had been adequate so many times before (Rose). In high school students are taught to summarize, or compare and contrast when writing papers. Teachers do not teach the critical essay components that arise in college. Students are taught the basics of writing an essay but not the basics of how to write an essay that will succeed in college. In high school there is structure, school is from eight to three, five days a week; teachers hound students to turn work in and stress the importance of assignments. While in college, classes can vary from two days a week to three days and only for a couple hours each day; professors hand a syllabus out and rarely remind students when things are due. High school teachers do not expect much of students; often students receive special treatment. Some students who are athletes are able to get away with more things than non-athletes. Allen Grove a professor of English and the author of How are College Academics Different from High School? explains that college life typically includes no parents. Although this may sound exciting but there is no one there nagging to get stuff done, studying, homework, cleaning etc. The constant nagging is something that helps everyone stay on top of their work. Grove also mentions how college professors have greater expectations. They tend to look for a higher level of critical and analytical thinking. The professor won't teach a class twice just because a student missed it. In college professors do not pull a student aside to speak with them about if they think that person is struggling. The professor expects a student to come see them during their office

hours if they are in need of some extra help. In high school a students day is mostly spent in school; in college it will average between three hours in class a day. Sizer mentions not only are high school classes set by time periods but they are grouped by ages. High school has four different groups freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors. These groups are divided by age. Whereas in college the group names are the same although a forty year old may be categorized in a freshman class. In conclusion, High school learning is much different than college, teachers spoon-feed the information instead of having the students critically analyze and learn information on their own. High school doesnt prepare students to go on and succeed in college. This causes many problems with first time college freshmen. Students will just carry on their attitude of just getting by will be okay. High school allowed them to behave that way therefore; they will continue that way until they realize that the college professors expect students to do their absolute best. At that point in time it typically is too late to raise grades, and students end up failing the class. If high schools were tough and challenged the students from the beginning these problems wouldnt happen.

Works Cited
Grove, A. (n.d.). How are College Academics Different from High School? Retrieved 12 2, 2013, from About: http://collegeapps.about.com/od/collegelifeqa/tp/High-School-vs-College.htm Hirsch, D. (2010, June 4). The New England Journal of Higher Education. Retrieved November 10, 2013, from The High School to College Transition: Minding the Gap: http://www.nebhe.org/thejournal/the-high-school-to-college-transition-minding-the-gap/ Rose, M. (1989). Politics of Remediation. In M. Rose, Lives on Boundary (pp. 167-204). New York: Penguin Books. Sizer, T. (2013). What High School Is. In Exploring Relationships: Globalization in Learning in the 21st Century (pp. 259-268). Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions .