IPR Briefs Mayor’s Office on High School Shortcomings

Fall 2002, Volume 24, Number 1

High schools are not giving students realistic information about what colleges require. Many unprepared students go on to college, get stuck in remedial courses, and drop out without having earned any college credits at all.

These students need “backup options,” said James Rosenbaum, who delivered this pointed message to a group of Chicago school and workforce officials at a late September policy briefing in the Mayor’s office.

The hour-long session was the first in a new series of policy briefings by IPR faculty organized by Mayor Richard Daley’s Deputy Chief of Policy Jill Wineman to cull ideas for new city programs from the expertise of scholars.

“College for all is a dangerous myth,” Rosenbaum cautioned the group. He said the open admissions policy of Chicago city colleges has caused many students — in the suburbs as well as the city — to “blow off” high school in the mistaken belief that their grades make no difference. Not only are high school students poorly informed about their likelihood of success in college, they are unaware of the value to prospective employers of non-cognitive skills — attendance, effort, deportment, and perseverance — and the many opportunities for good jobs that require only 10th grade reading and writing proficiency.

Rosenbaum, a professor of human development and social policy and IPR faculty fellow, said a staggering 95% of high school seniors in a recent national survey said they planned to attend college. Yet less than 50% will actually get a degree, a figure that drops to 14% of those with C or lower high school grades. What is worse, half of the low-achieving graduates, who are forced to take remedial courses before they can enter a college-level course, will drop out without earning a single college credit.

“It’s amazing that these students think it is not important to work in high school,” said Rosenbaum, “It should be made a lot clearer to them that the work they do in high school is crucial.”

The schools need to do a better job of offering practical career information. It is a misconception that all good jobs require a college degree, Rosenbaum said. There are clear needs in the labor market in areas such as metalworking, tool and dye, heating, air conditioning, and clerical and administrative work that offer good pay and opportunities for advancement for people who can read and write on a 10th grade level.

“These students know very little about anything between a job at McDonalds and a professional career as a doctor or lawyer,” he said.

What Schools Can Do. Many Chicago vocational high school teachers have helped their students get jobs through their contacts in the labor market, Rosenbaum said. This helps motivate students to put in the effort in school. He considers these teachers “a hidden asset within the schools,” and a model that other schools can emulate.

High schools can also make better use of evaluation data from tests, Rosenbaum said. Instead of just passing along numbers, counselors and teachers should interpret the results for students to give them a more realistic assessment of whether college is the right path for them.

One school official pointed out that many minority families think it boosts the self-worth of a student to even enter college, regardless of what happens later. “But dropping out of college is not a prize,” said Rosenbaum. “It is better to tell a student that dropping out or getting no credit because of remedial courses is likely to happen.”

The second in the series of fall policy briefings was held on October 3. It focused on the effects of welfare reform on families and children.