·" This year's freshman class at the UI is academically oriented and
concerned about getting a job and making money, according to an annual
survey conducted at institutions throughout the United States. Of the
first-time, full-time freshmen at UI questioned, 54.5 percent reported
their
average high school grade point average as A- or above, which compares
to
46.4 percent reporting that fact last year. The number of students
rating
themselves in the highest 10 percent in academic ability grew 9.7
percent
from 62.9 percent to 72.6 percent. In addition, the number of freshmen
who
said they chose UI based on its academic reputation grew by 13 percent
to
46.4 percent. The number of freshmen who said they chose UI because UI
graduates "get good jobs" grew 13.5 percent to 42.9 percent."
Are the students getting that much better or have grades inflated?
Regarding the self-assessments of student abilities, I remember reading
a poll of professors that said that about 60% considered today's HS
graduates ill-prepared for college work. A simultaneous poll of recent
HS graduates and HS teachers showed that over 70% considered today's
students well-prepared for college. Aside from the fact that probably
all university teachers since the Middle Ages think that the current
generation is worse than the students of their own, does this difference
of opinion explain anything? Have the public schools worked too hard on
self-esteem, and not enough on achievement? If we have that many
well-prepared students, why the increasing numbers in remedial math and
english?
-- *********************************************************************** Ron Force rforce@uidaho.edu Dean of Library Services (208) 885-6534 University of Idaho 83844 ************************************************************************