Article courtesy of
Forbes.com
Written by Nicholas Wyman
Throughout most of U.S. history, American high school students were
routinely taught vocational and job-ready skills along with the three
Rs: reading, writing and arithmetic. Indeed readers of a certain age are
likely to have fond memories of huddling over wooden workbenches
learning a craft such as woodwork or maybe metal work, or any one of the
hands-on projects that characterized the once-ubiquitous shop class.
Instructor helps a student participating in
a woodworking manufacturing training program in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Photographer: Tim Boyle/Bloomberg Charlie Negron
But in the 1950s, a different philosophy emerged: the theory that
students should follow separate educational tracks according to ability.
The idea was that the college-bound would take traditional academic
courses (Latin, creative writing, science, math) and received no
vocational training. Those students not headed for college would take
basic academic courses, along with vocational training, or “shop.”
Ability tracking did not sit well with educators or parents, who
believed students were assigned to tracks not by aptitude, but by
socio-economic status and race. The result being that by the end of the
1950s, what was once a perfectly respectable, even mainstream
educational path came to be viewed as a remedial track that restricted
minority and working-class students.
The backlash against tracking, however, did not bring vocational
education back to the academic core. Instead, the focus shifted to
preparing all students for college, and college prep is still the center
of the U.S. high school curriculum.
So what’s the harm in prepping kids for college? Won’t all students
benefit from a high-level, four-year academic degree program? As it
turns out, not really. For one thing, people have a huge and diverse
range of different skills and learning styles. Not everyone is good at
math, biology, history and other traditional subjects that characterize
college-level work. Not everyone is fascinated by Greek mythology, or
enamored with Victorian literature, or enraptured by classical music.
Some students are mechanical; others are artistic. Some focus best in a
lecture hall or classroom; still others learn best by doing, and would
thrive in the studio, workshop or shop floor.
And not everyone goes to college. The latest figures from the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show that about 68% of high school
students attend college. That means over 30% graduate with neither
academic nor job skills.
But even the 68% aren’t doing so well. Almost 40% of students who
begin four-year college programs don’t complete them, which translates
into a whole lot of wasted time, wasted money, and burdensome student
loan debt. Of those who do finish college, one-third or more will end up
in jobs they could have had without a four-year degree. The BLS found
that 37% of currently employed college grads are doing work for which
only a high school degree is required....
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