Where are American high school students least prepared for higher education and careers?
While no single answer to this question may be possible, a number of studies over the course of the past decade indicate an answer: core literacy skills.
According to a 2015 survey by Achieve, the former nonprofit organization which proved instrumental in advancing the Common Core curriculum, more than 750 university-level instructors at both two- and four-year institutions gave their freshman students high marks in certain areas such as “computers and technology” and “teamwork.” Nevertheless, overwhelming majorities of these same instructors reported that half of their students or more did not adequately possess the following skills:
- Critical thinking: 82%
- Comprehension of complicated materials: 80%
- Writing: 77%
- Written communication: 76%
- Conducting research: 74% [1]
Importantly, many of these same skills are also valued by employers. For Leah Moschella, former Senior Program Manager at Harvard’s Pathways to Prosperity Network, core literacy skills such as “communication” and “critical thinking” are actually increasing in importance, as “people-facing jobs” represent those careers most likely to survive our shift toward automation.[2]
Similarly, a 2018 survey for the American Association of Colleges and Universities found that 80% of current business executives consider oral communication to be “very important” when making hiring decisions; 78% say the same for critical thinking and analysis; and 76% say so for written communication.[3]
In order to address these challenges, Crack the Books Tutoring turns a laser-like focus on core literacy skills, and my basic small class, “Core English Literacy: What Every High School Student Needs,” is designed to “fill in the gaps.” While 21st-century high schoolers have become quite adept at navigating electronic media and multitasking, are they really getting the preparation they need for digesting their college textbooks, drafting clear and compelling professional prose, and evaluating different sources of information critically?
We will be exploring all of these issues in more detail in the weeks and months ahead.
[1] “Rising to the Challenge Survey, Part Two: Employers and College Faculty,” Achieve, 22 July 2015, https://www.achieve.org/rising-challenge-survey-2-powerpoint. Accessed 25 July 2021.
[2] Qtd. in Sarah Gonser, “Students Are Being Prepared for Jobs That No Longer Exist: Here’s How That Could Change,” NBCNews.com, 12 April 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/students-are-being-prepared-jobs-no-longer-exist-here-s-n865096. Accessed 25 July 2021.
[3] Hart Research Associates, Fulfilling the American Dream: Liberal Education and the Future of Work—Selected Findings from Online Surveys of Business Executives and Hiring Managers, Association of American Colleges and Universities, July 2018, https://www.aacu.org/sites/default/files/files/LEAP/2018EmployerResearchReport.pdf.
