tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post6958250400539536597..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: It's definitely the high schools' fault in this case Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-88150934560571282292013-09-06T00:13:18.448-04:002013-09-06T00:13:18.448-04:00The UC system has a criterion called Eligible in t...The UC system has a criterion called Eligible in the Local Context. It is complicated, but it does mean that students in the top 9% of their class get special consideration, regardless of what it actually takes to be in the top 9%. Meansomethinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10063386254235591342noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-49964048304495451522013-09-03T22:12:16.446-04:002013-09-03T22:12:16.446-04:00Yes, the grade distributions are clearly different...Yes, the grade distributions are clearly different and I would suspect the difference is statistically significant. While the average in both is a B, a student who does well is likely to get an A in the African American Studies course while that same student could get an A or B in the Writing class with almost no chance of getting an A+. Averages are everything. If I only cared about making anAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-48394863931709669742013-09-03T21:24:38.427-04:002013-09-03T21:24:38.427-04:00I suppose I was misled by your emphasis of grammar...I suppose I was misled by your emphasis of grammar in the original comment. Nevertheless, the point remains that a student may be quite abysmal in one rhetorical mode but very comfortable in another. Composition professors do not teach the conventions of every single discipline (for example, in literature we speak of characters' actions in the present tense; in history, I understand, the Professor Chiltepinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10087270705989845484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-67673045721048163092013-09-03T20:44:08.637-04:002013-09-03T20:44:08.637-04:00I understand that composition courses treat writin...I understand that composition courses treat writing somewhat differently than many other courses. I understand that they are not just about grammar. <br /><br />But my history class writing priorities are not "just grammar" either. Plenty of us in other disciplines also ask that our students "have an idea and write about it clearly." This is, in fact, the central aim of Defunct Adjuncthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12954331373226016090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-40307413566328414282013-09-03T20:43:37.500-04:002013-09-03T20:43:37.500-04:00This statement in the article bothered me too. &q...This statement in the article bothered me too. "Because of a statewide program to attract top students from every public California high school, a spot at a UC system campus waited for him."<br /><br />Bullshit. Nobody in Berkeley's admissions office ever thought, "We need more top students. Let's check out the crappy high schools to see if any are hiding there." IAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-55919386174767670232013-09-03T20:30:15.253-04:002013-09-03T20:30:15.253-04:00Not all classes weight various parts of writing th...Not all classes weight various parts of writing the same. A lot of people, even academics, outside of composition courses think that basic composition is just grammar. But trust me, it's really a lot more about "how to have an idea and write about it clearly" than it is "this is Mr. Semicolon, and he is dangerous." Also, student problems may show up in one kind or mode Professor Chiltepinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10087270705989845484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-81381776441961320972013-09-03T19:39:31.075-04:002013-09-03T19:39:31.075-04:00Like Compound Cal, I have a soft spot for the guy ...Like Compound Cal, I have a soft spot for the guy in the story, and his dismay at his difficulties is truly heartbreaking. I would give anything to have a class full of students who work as hard as Kashawn. I also wonder, though, whether Berkeley is where he should be.<br /><br />Another issue struck me as well.<br /><br />While this article demonstrates the problems some students face in moving Defunct Adjuncthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12954331373226016090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-87516532604533144192013-09-03T17:55:06.492-04:002013-09-03T17:55:06.492-04:00The expectation that some students have about coll...The expectation that some students have about college needs to be addressed. They think that if they get "in," that that's the end of the journey. Now it's all just waiting for the grades and the praise.<br /><br />It's the beginning. <br /><br />I like the kid in the LA Times story. I like his background and his work ethic. And I like that he seems willing to work. But, to Compound Calicohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00059155949950433688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-50369261957409387242013-09-03T15:03:43.443-04:002013-09-03T15:03:43.443-04:00My, somewhat limited, experience is that some fiel...My, somewhat limited, experience is that some fields are much more forgiving of poor preparation than others. Ben and I are in a field that is quite, quite unforgiving; but I've seen poorly prepared (or low-aptitude) advisees flunk out of chemistry, then go on to succeed in other majors that don't, apparently, have so steep a learning curve.<br /><br />On the other hand, I've also introvert.profhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09042783611716432247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-43282085971189274682013-09-03T15:02:18.999-04:002013-09-03T15:02:18.999-04:00We have several KaShawns who are coming back for Y...We have several KaShawns who are coming back for Year 2. I think they needed time to acculturate to a SLAC in a rural area more than anything, but mostly, they were writing at a 4-5th grade level.The Contemplative Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02088570661592922436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-26858771710822377342013-09-03T14:50:23.116-04:002013-09-03T14:50:23.116-04:00I'm torn on this one. I taught as an adjunct a...I'm torn on this one. I taught as an adjunct at a medium-selective historically-very-white state liberal arts college in the mid-'90s, and got quite tired of the fact that I could invariably pick out the least-prepared students in the class by (darker) skin color. That was not a pattern that served anybody well, at least in terms of crosscultural experience, since it tended to confirm Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-36737611682205657722013-09-03T14:21:34.891-04:002013-09-03T14:21:34.891-04:00Nice edit; I'm glad you left it up.Nice edit; I'm glad you left it up. Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-15536743503927931202013-09-03T12:04:04.950-04:002013-09-03T12:04:04.950-04:00The troll's comment is a distraction from an i...The troll's comment is a distraction from an important issue. We created a system in which students are let into schools that they are not qualified to attend. I am sympathetic to the argument that we all benefit from a racially, ethnically, socially diverse campus. However, the specific students we admit in order to make that happen should not suffer as a result of the campus's good Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-9630665151262222422013-09-03T11:54:33.844-04:002013-09-03T11:54:33.844-04:00It's a fantastic article about an interesting ...It's a fantastic article about an interesting kid. The comments are always a trial, regardless of the forum or publication.College Miseryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01371354682300032653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-78332016711300661622013-09-03T11:39:31.014-04:002013-09-03T11:39:31.014-04:00Mea culpa. Perhaps I should remove this post.Mea culpa. Perhaps I should remove this post.introvert.profhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09042783611716432247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-35153126851889349082013-09-03T10:35:41.788-04:002013-09-03T10:35:41.788-04:00I, too, found the article hopeful. Yes, high schoo...I, too, found the article hopeful. Yes, high school didn't prepare him well (nor, perhaps, did some combination of his own temperament and an overly-simplistic perspective on what qualifies as success learned at home, school, and/or church). On the other hand, he's been held to standards but also given opportunities to try again by his teachers, and has received support from friends and Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-62498992817409476272013-09-03T10:17:30.379-04:002013-09-03T10:17:30.379-04:00Leaving aside the idiotic troll comment, this stor...Leaving aside the idiotic troll comment, this story struck a chord for me. I have not a few Kashawns, and the description of his writing rings true. I have had several such students just in the past year, of a variety of races and backgrounds, and I've had to sit them down and read their paper aloud, stopping at each inappropriately used fancy word and giving its actual definition, before Professor Chiltepinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10087270705989845484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-45010537155775210322013-09-03T09:45:53.736-04:002013-09-03T09:45:53.736-04:00CompassionNow is a troll.CompassionNow is a troll.Compound Calicohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00059155949950433688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-6027212109505300952013-09-03T09:38:12.416-04:002013-09-03T09:38:12.416-04:00Looks like a parody of liberal views to me, too, a...Looks like a parody of liberal views to me, too, and not even a very good one; the author's actual views keep popping up in paragraph 3. Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-14179978732910197342013-09-03T09:15:37.659-04:002013-09-03T09:15:37.659-04:00CompassionNow appears to be a right-wing troll. Th...CompassionNow appears to be a right-wing troll. The tip-off is in the phrase "chain down black support".Dave Kielpinskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05137244695127182583noreply@blogger.com