Students unprepared for college, careers
From this week’s ASTD Buzz: Low Bar for High School Students Threatens Tech Sector
(IT Management (07/04) ; Befi, Tony)
More U.S. high school students are not taking the rigorous coursework that is needed to succeed in college and later in the workplace, writes IBM vice president of systems development and Texas senior state executive Tony Befi. He says that trend runs counter to the trend in the workplace itself, where the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that job growth will be fastest in the service-providing industries such as IT. Jobs requiring computer skills, problem-solving, and a sophisticated comprehension of customer markets will grow far more rapidly than goods-producing employment. The U.S. Department of Education says seven out of 10 high school graduates have not finished critical courses needed in college and in a services-oriented work environment, while 49 percent of those graduates will have to take remedial classes if they attend college. Because of this trend, experts predict a shortage of 12 million workers for fast-growing sectors of the U.S. economy. The root cause of high-schoolers’ underperformance is the mistaken belief on the part of students and parents that high school courses do not matter, and the State Scholars Initiative is countering this misperception by joining business and educators in motivating high school students to excel and tackle difficult coursework. The simple and low-cost initiative has produced encouraging results in Texas, where the Houston Independent School District has increased the percentage of graduates who completed a defined set of courses from 18 percent of graduates in 1999 to 70 percent of graduates in 2003, despite the poverty of the area. A key element was the enrollment of local business leaders who made clear to students how their choices in high school would affect them in the workplace. The number of students who took tough classes increased, and the expectations of parents and teachers rose commensurately.
ASTD Buzz
