The Best and the Brightest?

Shiloh
Mon, 07 Feb 2011 08:53:08 +0000

"“The unfairness is absolutely real,” said the officer, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity.

It’s unfair, the officer said, to admit marginal students ahead of their better-prepared counterparts, and Naval Academy officers and capable midshipmen are under constant pressure to tutor the underachievers."

Peer tutoring isn’t voluntary but isn’t mandatory. Mids aren’t only responsible for their own academics but but also for the grades of academically challenged shipmates.

Professionally trained tutors sometimes experience frustration in outcomes with academically challenged students. It’s wrong to require untrained college students to function in situations where there may be significant learning disability.