Some Advice For All Juniors?

                Last week I came across an article titled “5 Things High School Juniors Should be Doing[i].”  The title suggested the content of the article is necessary for all juniors.  However in reading the article, it appeared the article made some assumptions that need to be addressed.

The first assumption is that all high school juniors want to enroll in college.  Although I am a firm believer that all high school graduates should attend college or a post-secondary program, I understand the majority of high school students will not attend college or a post-secondary program.  With the costs of tuition continuing to rise, there is growing sentiment that college may not be worth the costs.  As recent graduates struggled to obtain a career in a slow economy, they are forced to take lower paying jobs or they continued to remain unemployed.  A result of being under or unemployed, there is a looming student loan debt problem.

The second assumption is that all juniors receive an equal education that would allow them to utilize the suggested content.  We already know there is inequity among high schools across the country.  There is huge resource and achievement gap among urban, rural, and suburban districts and the gap is widening.  This inequity deprives some juniors the opportunity to consider college because their school may not have the advanced placement courses or prepare them to take the SAT.

The final assumption is the belief that college equates success.  As was stated earlier, the majority of high school students will not attend college or a post-secondary program.  Knowing this, you would think the article would have provided some advice for the majority.  Unfortunately, there tends to be an over-emphasis in secondary education and society towards higher education to the detriment of the majority who will enter the adult workforce. 

At a time when there is compelling evidence that our educational system is a weak link to American productivity and economic recovery, you would think there would be more attention, planning, and implementation to correct this problem.  Combine this with growing sentiment from prominent business leaders that college may not be worth it because it is stifling innovation, more needs to be done to prepare the majority of students who do not go to college for the adult workforce.  For those students, the junior year is important.

---

[i] www.cbsnews.com/2102-500395_162-57438276