There has been a lot of noise around the fact that more students have to take remedial courses in college than ever before.

The Anti-Public School’ers use this fact as a proof point that public schools are failing.

Higher Ed types use this fact as a reason to shake a condescending finger at public schools for doing a piss-poor job of weeding out those who aren’t “college” material in the first place.  When really, they are just upset that they may actually have to teach, as opposed to cover, content.

Public educators self-flagellate themselves with this fact, bemoaning that this is proof of lower expectations and/or grade inflation in high schools.

Every one of them is missing the point.  The record number of students who have to take remedial courses isn’t an indictment of public education. It is cause for celebration.

Really.

First, this means that more students who previously would not have gone to college… Are now going to college.  Sounds like a big Public Education win to me.

Now the naysayers will point out that the student who has to take remedial courses in college has a greater chance of dropping out of college than students who do not have to take remedial courses.

By the way, included on this list of shocking facts, water is usually wet and the Sun generally sets in the West.

On the other hand, here is a more important fact. College students who take remedial courses have much higher chance of completing college than a person who does NOT enroll in college.

Again, this sounds like good news to me.

And something else to consider. The public school educator who would dare complain that we should not be accountable for the dropout rate of students who require tutoring in high school would be tarred and feathered. Not by the Anti-Public School’ers, but by other public school educators. We know that is a ridiculous argument. Perhaps it’s time for Higher Education to hold itself a little more accountable for the success of its students.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

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