Higher Education is America's Secret Weapon...well, not exactly

While our K-12 school system has sunk well below the global standard, most US pundits have pointed to our 3,000 colleges as the source of America's excellence and as the reason the US will always lead the world in innovation and creativity.

Hold on!!

Now comes a new publication that calls that belief into question: Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. 

What the authors found:

1- 45% of college students "did not demonstrate any significant improvement in learning" during the first two years of college.

2- 36% of students "did not demonstrate any significant improvement in learning" over four years of college.

"How much are students actually learning in contemporary higher education? The answer for many undergraduates, we have concluded, is not much," write the authors, Richard Arum, professor of sociology and education at New York University, and Josipa Roksa, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Virginia.

Uh oh...

Comments

[Orgelknab]

Thanks for sharing the findings! I am drawn to the word "demonstrate" found in both statements. As a K-12 and Higher Education educator, I am amazed at how my K-12 students must demonstrate their understanding and mastery of the content and learning objectives as a sign of passage. However, I see so many Higher Education students who think "seat time" should result in a passing grade. In some ways, I suggest that America has bought into the idea of entitlement. In other words, people feel that they should "get" because they "deserve" for some reason.