Catherine Gewertz
Harvard Report Questions Value of 'College for All'
Education Week
Published Online: February 2, 2011
Complete URL:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/02/02/20career.h30.html?tkn=OWMFU1bwfubQOCZnehX6AobqxQVe5xc%2BUyQG&cmp=clp-edweek
“Every high school graduate should find viable ways of pursuing both a career and a meaningful postsecondary degree or credential,” the report says. “For too many of our youth, we have treated preparing for college versus preparing for a career as mutually exclusive options.” This quote summarizes in a few lines the heart of the article. There is an antagonistic view represented too which states that if we move to a tracking type system there will be a disproportionate number of poor kids and kids of color sent down the lesser track. I feel like they made thoughtworthy arguments. I personally still ride the fence. I fear we are looking at a broken system and would caution us to not jump too soon on a tracking system that could potentionally harm those it is attempting to help. The intended audience for this article is every member of our society. The article is relevant to the population at large, a shift like the one suggested in this article would literally affect all people residing in America.
This is such a controversial subject! I can see how people do not want to emulate a European style gymnasium that tracks students into college versus trade schools. However, that system seems to work for many countries. I think people have a real problem with the idea of tracking students up or down, especially given the inherent inequalities of opportunityin our educational system for minorities and low income students. I don't think it is such a bad idea to prepare students for trade schools, apprenticeships, non-academic jobs, but it should be in conjunction with college prep courses, so that they have the option to go either direction. I think it's true that disadvantaged kids might get funneled right out of college prep into lower paying career routes. However, with the way the economy has changed, the traditional trades (plumbers, construction, etc.) might be making more than more "academic" careers.
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