One point he makes is that maybe there are students who shouldn't even be in college. To some, that view might seem elitist, but wasn't that once an accepted belief?

This morning I see that the article is on the web already.

Thank you very much, Sapninman, for referencing this article. It describes eloquently what I have been experiencing for years, and I have reached the same conclusion as the author has: We in the community colleges are working with large numbers of students who "are not ready for high school . . . much less college." They should not be there and are doomed to failure, some of them going through it multiple times. We are the ones who, as the author puts it, have to "lower the hammer."

We can tell fairly accurately at the beginning of the semester, with the very first assignment, which students are "doomed." Their level of readiness is so low, in terms of both preparation and intellectual ability, that it is obvious. We may not and cannot tell them that. While it would prevent them from wasting time and money in an effort where their failure is virtually foreordained, we must wait until they give up or we award the inevitable F. As the article realistically and cynically points out, the college administration doesn't care if more than 50% of our students fail. "Continuing education" is a profit center for these institutions, especially when students must take and pay for the same class several times. As the article states: "No one is thinking about the larger implications, let alone the morality, of admitting students to classes that they cannot possibly pass."

As for whether the idea that not everyone should attend college is elitist, the author sums it up nicely: "Telling someone that college is not for him seems harsh and classist and British, as though we were sentencing him to a life in the coal mines. I sympathize with this stance; I subscribe to the American ideal. Unfortunately, it is with me and my red pen that the ideal crashes and burns." In other words, we who try to teach these unequipped students believe in the ideal, but our experience shows us that it cannot be achieved. A more selective approach to higher education is not elitist; it is an acknowledgement of reality.

This article contains many passages that had me nodding in perfect agreement ("Yes, that's exactly what I have experienced"). I share the author's enthusiasm about teaching, but I know his despair. He writes: "I explain, I give examples, I cheerlead, I cajole, but each evening, when the class is over and I come down from my teaching high, I inevitably lose faith in the task, as I'm sure my students do. I envision a lot of us driving home, solitary scholars in our cars, growing sadder by the mile."

There's much more I could say, and more that I would like to quote. I may have some comments in future Mudgelogs. In the meantime, I suggest that everyone read this article. It's very well-done and even amusing at times (in a funny/sad kind of way), especially the story of Ms. L and the research paper. I've had more than one experience just like that.
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Rich Turner (The Curmudgeon Himself)

Drop-out rates (England)

"Our dialogue had turned oblique, as though we now inhabited a Pinter play".

I gave Brandon an assignment for a two-page expository essay to be written in his own handwriting and on a specific topic, and had Brandon repeat back to me the assignment. I was satisfied Brandon understood what I expected from him. On the due date, Brandon e-mailed me a lengthy, flashy PowerPoint presentation with lots of graphics and little text, all of which had been copied/pasted from various Web sites. I e-mailed my disappointment and told him he would not receive any credit. He called me in shock and surprise. How could I not have been impressed by his skillful use of a computer program into which he had lovingly injected so many lovely photos captioned by words in specially-chosen fonts? I reminded him of what he had agreed to. He firmly believed the assignment was a moot point since he had "gone beyond the assignment." (For all I know, his sister did it for him for a dime bag of weed.)

I've given other young offenders similar assignments with almost the same experience, that they did their own thing which was better than (or at least "good enough to replace") the assignment they had agreed to. I no longer offer this opportunity to do work offsite. Washing library shelves, woodwork, and the wood on furniture along with cleaning interior glass and individual leaves on silk plants are the concrete projects they seem to understand best.

I'm guessing their families, romantic relationships, coworkers, and people they meet throughout each day experience similar bleeds.

In the community college where I teach, many of my English 101 students have passed remedial English classes that are required of students who score poorly on placement tests. In many cases, I can tell that most of these students are still not doing eighth-grade work, let alone college work. Many fail my English 101 class or drop out when they start getting F's from me. I once asked the dean why instructors in the remedial sections pass students who are clearly still not ready for English 101. He said, "Some professors pass them because they are so eager for them to succeed." I refuse to continue the charade by perpetuating the illusion, for the same reason that Professor X could not pass poor Ms. L.