High schoolers may want more homework

U.S. teenagers didn’t give their high schools a high user-satisfaction rating in a recent nationwide survey.
A large majority of high school students said their classwork was not very difficult, and almost two-thirds said they would work harder if courses were more demanding or interesting, according to this New York Times story about the online survey, which was conducted by the National Governors Association.
And experts say that the students’ opinions are backed up by studies that show gaps between what students learn in high school and what they need to learn to succeed.
Some are saying that a fundamental change in the way high schools operate is needed. What do you think? Are high schools preparing students for the future?
Posted by Melissa Cooley

6 Comments

  1. Anon
    Posted July 19, 2005 at 8:07 am | Permalink

    High schools will do much better with the added funding that is coming their way thanks to the Kansas Supreme Court. :-)

  2. Tricia T.
    Posted July 19, 2005 at 12:04 pm | Permalink

    High schools will do much better when parents start demanding more from their children.

    Unfortunately, far too many parents are too selfish and lazy to be responsible parents. They let the schools set the standards. I have always demanded more than the schools do, and my kids do very, very well. The same is true for ALL the kids who do well in school.

    There are lots of reasons for poor performance in schools, and all of them are nothing but excuses. Why not look at the productive side, instead? The most basic reason for good performance in schools is good parenting. The amount of money spent is the least important thing. :-)

  3. Giovanni
    Posted July 19, 2005 at 12:34 pm | Permalink

    High school definately doesn’t prepare you for the future. It is not apart of the school systems agenda to prepare you for the world. I also think that most high schools here in Wichita don’t prepare you for college or the college experience. Everything is handed to you in high school and college you have to work for everything. We can’t just blame the parents but we also need to blame the system. If these two things work together maybe we’ll see more students successful in college.

  4. Joe Williams
    Posted July 19, 2005 at 4:44 pm | Permalink

    I went through the Wichita Public School system and found it not to be too challenging. But boy when I went to College I had a rude awaking. I had to start back all over from the begining. I had to work really hard for it. English 101, Communications (Speech), and Algebra was a real struggle and these are the basic classes you take in your 1st semester.

    I have to say that they do not prepare you for college at all. That is if you take the average classes and are an average student like I was. The smart kids and ones taking AP classes do well in college, but I had to struggle.

    I read somewhere that 40% of high school grads go to college and of those who go, only 40% graduate with a 4-year degree. Sad stats!

  5. BobGB
    Posted July 20, 2005 at 1:10 pm | Permalink

    I hold a teaching position in college. I have found a majority of the incoming Freshman, the traditional student, is accustom to being “spoon fed” the subjects information. There appears to be little of no critical thinking activity on their part. If this be the fault of the high school system then there needs to be a change to challenge the student to a higher level of thinking.

  6. Giovanni
    Posted July 21, 2005 at 10:16 am | Permalink

    I totally agree. I will be attending my first year in college this fall and I feel kind of weary about the whole thing because I feel high school hasn’t prepared me at all for the college experience or life. High school was a cake walk for me and I hated that feeling. I’m really hoping that the school system changes their standards because the future will bring so many unprepared youth to the community and uneducated for that matter.