Problems With the Education System

Only 50% of students who start college ever reach graduation.  This startling fact arises from our poor secondary education system, where students are not getting adequate preparation for college.  Due to the pressures presented by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act, educators are more focused on test scores than student growth.

The No child left behind act emphasizes standardized
testing as a means to measure academic performance

  Although average test scores have increased since President Bush implemented the act in 2002, these tests scores do not provide an accurate measure of college and career readiness.  The testing culture that has arisen since the NCLB act was implemented has greatly shifted the focus of high school educators.  Since schools get funding based on test performance, teachers are forced to alter their curriculum to adequately prepare their students for the breadth of information they are responsible for on these standardized tests.  
These tests are meant to provide a basis of comparison between schools and between students, but they do not adequately portray student performance.  Experts agree that the current exams are insufficient to measure student analytic and reasoning skills which are the keys to success in college. 
 David Conley points out “What students need to know in high school is not every detail.  They need a structure of knowledge, big ideas, and large organizing concepts.”   Instead, however, students develop study habits to prepare for these tests that ultimately backfire at the college level.  While students who lean toward memorization over comprehension may succeed on standardized tests, they will later find themselves unprepared for the higher expectations of college classes.  
High school teachers have expressed various concerns regarding this act – most notably about "students becoming passive learners and task oriented “do-ers” instead of self-directed learners."  These students expect answers to be handed to them rather than learning the techniques to discover answers for themselves.  Higher education institutions expect their students to be able to think critically, work collaboratively, and solve problems outside the domain of the classroom.  However, with the new breed of students that came along with the NCLB act, fewer and fewer students are able to meet these expectations.