When I interviewed for a school, the administration kept stressing “college readiness”. I nodded my head, agreeing, “Yes, definitely…we must prepare students for college”. I winged it, “team work”; “college visits”; “research”, and they excitedly approved. I was convinced that the two women didn’t necessarily have these ideas in mind, but were more enthused with how quickly I pulled the ideas out of thin air. I sat in front of them, observing their smiles and wondering if they even had college-readiness strategies for their students, or were they just throwing around the trending phrase. About mid-way through our lengthy dialogue, I was convinced that they were as clueless as I was, and were not currently practicing any college-readiness strategies with their students.
Yes, I went to college, and didn’t need to take remedial courses, but that was thanks in-part to me transferring from NYC to a high school in Pennsylvania. Only then did I observe a truly college and career readiness system. I expressed that I planned to go to college, and shared ideas of what fields I was interested in studying, and the counselor placed me in college-bound and specialized classes, which would best prepare me. For those who intended to go straight into the workforce after graduation, they were placed into a vocational prep program where they not only received core classes, but also went into various fields to get training and experience. The school also offered a wealth of clubs and electives that wet students’ taste buds.
Of course all of this came to mind during the interview, but if I shared them, I’m sure the lost-but enthused administrators would have shared the usual “no money in the budget” stories and insisted that I as an individual prepare my students for college (of course, without any suggestions of how to accomplish the task).
Everything costs money, and my Pennsylvania school had a much bigger budget than any I’ve been to here in NYC, but preparing students for college and careers must be a school (even a district) effort. We must meet students where they are and push them forward. My ideal school would model this one.
An Educator's Venture 