CHRIS ARDIS: Give me your feedback on school standards

I wanted to shout “Hallelujah” when I recently received a copy of the Texas College and Career Readiness Standards from my department head. I admit I laughed when I turned to page two and read, “Recognizing the importance of a world class education, the 79th Texas Legislature, Third Called Special Session, passed House Bill 1, the ‘Advancement of College Readiness in Curriculum,’ Section 28.008 of the Texas Education Code, seeks to increase the number of students who are college and career ready when they graduate high school.”

First I laughed because I feel certain there should be a “from” between “graduate” and “high” and second because the 79th Legislative Session occurred in 2005 and it’s now 2009. I wondered why it took the state four years to put this 13-page packet together.

For at least the past three or four years, I have been writing about the lack of rigor in our curriculum and our need to step up our expectations for our students. The more lax we get with our standards, the less ready our students are for the “real world” outside of high school.

Today I would like to specifically address three groups of readers: anyone teaching at the college/university level, employers, and anyone who graduated from high school within the past five years. I have questions for each group and would like to ask that you e-mail your responses to me or respond online at www.themonitor.com.

COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY TEACHERS:

• In the past three to five years, what skills are incoming college freshmen lacking?
• Have you lowered your teaching and/or grading standards because of their lack of college readiness?
• At the college/university where you teach, is the focus of undergraduate classes lecture style, cooperative learning groups, a combination of both or another style?
• Do you allow re-testing for students who fail your exams?
• What would be your top suggestions for helping our local public schools prepare our students to be successful in college?
• What strengths do you see in recent incoming freshmen?

EMPLOYERS:

• What skills are lacking in recent high school graduates who you employ?
• Have you had to put new policies in place as a result?
• What would be your top suggestions for helping our local public schools prepare our students to be career ready?
• What strengths do you see in our recent graduates?

ANYONE WHO GRADUATED IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS:

• What skills did you find yourself lacking after you graduated from high school?
• Are you currently in college, working, unemployed or other?
• What should our public schools do to better prepare our students for life after high school?
• What did our schools do right that helped you after you graduated?

I look forward to sharing the responses I receive with readers. (I will not use any names without permission.) I sincerely hope this is just the beginning of true college and career readiness.

Chris Ardis is a teacher with the McAllen school district. To reach her, send e-mail to cardis1022@aol.com.