<p>Recently some work friends and I were talking about how everything we read points to the need for more graduates in STEM fields.</p>
<p>Yet so many students…especially minority students and students from lower socioeconomic groups…go to college with the idea of being STEM majors, and find that they just can’t do the work. A lot of these kids were stars at their respective high schools. They got top grades. They have a work ethic.</p>
<p>Yet arriving at college, they find they can’t cut it in calculus or chemistry, and they can’t write a coherent paper.</p>
<p>So they drop the STEM major for something “easier” . They can’t afford to turn college in to a 5 or 6 year experience…to go back and take the prerequisite math courses they need to give them the required grounding to do well in calculus and subsequent math and engineering courses, for example. Yet a good number of these kids might have made really good engineers, or programmers, or scientists, or cyber security wonks…but they never got the grounding required to be successful in these fields before they arrived on campus.</p>
<p>The obvious fix is to fix the school systems so the students arrive on campus with much stronger backgrounds. But that isn’t going to happen any time soon, at least not on a national scale.</p>
<p>So we were trying to think of alternatives. One we came up with was having all students intending to take certain classes take a placement test on line right at the time they submit their commitment deposits in the spring, and for those students who do not place strongly in to the regular first-level classes, those students be offered a chance to take free or extremely reduced cost remedial classes over the summer or online, before they come to campus. Or those students be advised to take certain classes at CC before coming to campus, with a guaranty that their spot would be held for them once they are able to receive a certain score on the placement test.</p>
<p>What other ideas do you have? I am not looking for a political thread, or a thread for or against AA; CC already has plenty of those. I am wondering how we can set these students up for success without having them take extra semesters on campus, with all the attendant expenses most cannot afford. And how we can get more of the STEM grads we need.</p>
<p>I’m glad this isn’t an AA thread, because plenty of Anglos also find that they can’t compete in college once they get there. ;)</p>
<p>I know a selective HS that does something similar to what you’ve written. There’s a three-week, all-day summer “camp” for kids who are admitted under a probationary status. In order to enroll in the fall, they have to complete the camp. Once there, every freshman takes certain leveling-type courses. I don’t see why colleges couldn’t offer this same kind of course (or two) as this group of kids’ “freshman seminar” or whatever colleges are calling them these days.</p>
<p>If they can’t do math/science OR write papers, it’s not just a STEM issue, it’s the quality of the overall education they have received. Sadly, being the “best” at a not-great school doesn’t always prepare a student for college.</p>
<p>Some CCs offer GREAT preparation in math and sciences, and allow students to save money before transferring to a state flagship or other four-year institution.</p>
<p>Many higher-ranked colleges offer subsidized summer programs before freshman year to get a kick start on what needs to happen. This gets rid of the affordability issue PLUS at some it’s tied to a scholarship (can’t remember the names of them) so they have to do the program in order to get the scholarship. Yes, it means low-income kids can’t work that summer but to be honest, there aren’t that many jobs for them anyway. </p>
<p>I was invited to one of these, but chose to decline (despite my SES status, I was in a very good public school system). I had a lot of friends from Detroit and its lower income suburbs accept though. They had to take additional (free) classes during the year too to supplement their math and science courses in order to ensure that they were keeping up pace. It was kind of like structured tutoring sessions. Some loved it, some hated it. </p>
<p>Outside of that, I don’t know what the solution is. If the skill set isn’t there, can we really create it in 4 years? I had an inner city teacher that I was working with who refused to teach science to her 1st graders because science wasn’t “her thing”. If the base isn’t there from an early age, I wonder if it can ever be truly recovered. I hope it can but I don’t know enough about developing minds to even attempt to take a guess.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, your initial sentence is certainly not accurate for all STEM fields. Biology and chemistry majors in particular are finding the current job market to be a tough slog. There have been a few different threads on this topic over the past several months. And computer jobs are being sent offshore like crazy (a client of mine offshored over 1,000 jobs from our location with the company in 2010 alone).</p>
<p>I do believe you are correct that many students arrive poorly prepared for college from high schools that have told them that they are doing great all the way through graduation.</p>
<p>Two options are: </p>
<p>(1) Improve the quality of the education in the schools they graduate from. That requires money and deployment of good teachers, actually all the way back to the pre-school level in the school districts. I doubt we are going to solve that issue on CC! </p>
<p>(2) Some students are not taking the most rigorous classes offered in their schools. There are various programs that work to get kids with potential tracked into higher level classes so they are better prepared. An example would be the Breakthrough Collaborative, which works with low income kids starting around 6th grade to teach, mentor, and prepare them for college. Breakthrough has locations in over 30 cities now, but that is not nearly enough to resolve this issue. My D1 interned as a teacher with them for three summers, and it was amazing to watch these kids develop the study skills and drive they will need to succeed in college. I happen to be friendly with the college counselor who works with the Breakthrough kids in our city when it is time for admissions, and they have a lot of success both getting into college and once they get there. Breakthrough is a non-profit, mostly funded by corporate donations. Again… they are doing great work, but don’t have the funding to cover more ground and help more students.</p>
<p>My D’s school is successfully sending low-income and minority and/or first-generation kids to college in STEM fields. Though it was designed for kids of color, anyone is welcome as it is a public school with a private partnership. The students from grade 6 - 12 are given challenging coursework in math, science AND the humanities. Kids who need extra help get it. Kids who can work ahead get that. College planning, including exploration of majors, costs and scholarships, begins in 6th grade. A staff member who guides the kids to college works with kids and parents in school and at home to keep them on track. Internships at some of the most prestigious STEM businesses and organizations are available to the highschoolers. And I’m just scratching the surface. </p>
<p>The school is an outgrowth of the founder’s original idea to bring STEM to kids who traditionally didn’t do well in those fields. She began with an after-school program, which continues in at least two school districts. She will open a new 6-12 school in another district next year. All the while, she travels and speaks to anyone who will listen about what it takes. She IS solving the problem.</p>
<p>We are extremely lucky to have our D in this school, though she isn’t aiming at a STEM career. She plans on teaching the next generation and being a role model to them-something she has already started as an after-school tutor in a low-income, minority program. The school’s founder is one of her heroes.</p>
<p>Don’t colleges already use a “placement test” of sorts called the ACT/SAT? This is one reason a lot of colleges are moving toward the ACT as their “favored” test–it tests more subjects then the SAT. The SATII’s are also gaining popularity because of the situation you described.</p>
<p>Being a superstar at a substandard school doesn’t mean much. GPA’s are VERY misleading but unfortunately parents equate good grades with a good education and until parents get a grip and realize their child isn’t perfect, that won’t change. Parents seriously care more about the grade then what the child learns. They want an A in an easy class vs a B in a challenging class. When your 4.0 valedictorian only scores a 22 on the ACT and your school average is 18, something is missing there.</p>
<p>Yes, this is more of an issue at underperforming high schools and yes, those schools typically have more minority students, however, I don’t blame the schools as much as the families these kids hail from because I’ve seen real life examples on a wide scale that kids that come from families that don’t value education don’t do any better at a “better” school then they do a their underperforming school–and it has nothing to do with the color of their skin.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech has a program called Tech PreP: The Calculus Advantage that is sort of a summer math camp for admitted students to prepare for the rigors of GaTech Calculus. You live on campus in the dorms you are assigned as an entering fall freshman and go to math class taught by faculty for 2 weeks. You get 3 meals a day and they also have scheduled team building activities. This really is a camp for admitted students to prep for the rigors of Tech since a fair number of the students seem to ace the AP Calculus exams and then fail in Tech. I’m not a math person, just relaying what I’ve heard. It costs about $1k and you do not get college credit or get to apply scholarship money. You transition into school much easier, already having moved in to your housing, have made friends with admitted students who also are looking for a better start, and understanding how to approach GT math. This is a voluntary program separate from the Summer Admission program, or so I understand but sounds like a great idea.</p>
<p>I don’t think that you can fix 12 years of insufficient preparation
with a summer session. It’s not just the remedial academic issue but
also time management, work ethic, interest and enthusiasm, love for an
area and the commitment to do well, even in areas that aren’t
interesting.</p>
<p>The quality of community colleges is all over the place too - just
like high-schools. There can even be a wide variance between
professors within a community college.</p>
<p>I don’t have a uniform answer to the problem. There are many paths to
success in STEM and the odds get toughter with fewer resources along
the way. We really have to fix this at the K12 level just to be
efficient. Spending remedial dollars just wastes our seed corn.</p>
<p>I’m concerned the brightest in math-sci get almost automatically pointed at STEM, without much regard for where their interests and talents might truly lie. Not unlike other groups in our society’s history were/are told, you’re smart, you’ll be a doctor. I wonder if this is tunnel vision, especially since most hs focus on limited academic offerings, not the same buffet offered at colleges.</p>
<p>There are kids at subpar hs who are getting 4/5 on the math-sci AP tests. A young friend from our area, from a not-great hs where he was a top performer (at the same college as D2,) told us his STEM college classes were much tougher (despite the summer program.) Nonetheless, he stuck with that path, my kid did not.</p>
<p>Maybe the issue is to review the “weeding.” It’s been discussed before on CC- how many colleges make tests harder, not always reflective of the material covered in lectures, readings, labs. Is the bar set appropriately? Is it right to severely (and purposely?) whittle down the numbers of STEM majors in college? (I don’t know, can see both sides.)</p>
<p>So, my D2 discovered two other academic fields she is thrilled by- and as we watch her, we see what great fits they are for her curiosities, strengths, and the sorts of engagements she has in the community and with others. Her revised academic path will serve her very well in life. Her weedout was a benefit.</p>