• Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Contact

Nancy Bailey's Education Website

Revive, Rally and Recover Public Schools

  • Activism
    • Anti-Charter Schools
    • Anti-Common Core State Standards
    • Anti-Corporatization of Schools
    • Anti-High-Stakes Testing
    • State Action Groups
    • School Buildings
  • School Curriculum
    • General Education
    • Educators
    • Parents
    • Reading
    • Writing
    • Math
    • Science
    • Social Studies
    • The Arts
    • Technology
    • Behavior
    • Diversity
    • English Language Learners
    • Special Education
      • Autism
      • Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities
      • Learning Disabilities
      • Developmental Disabilities
      • Gifted
      • Other
    • Early Childhood Education
    • Elementary School
    • Middle School
    • High School
    • Student Careers
  • Other Countries
    • England
    • Finland
    • Australia
    • New Zealand
    • Canada

The Toll College and Career Readiness Has Taken on Students

April 10, 2019 By Nancy Bailey 18 Comments

Post Views: 3,388

First day of school! Wake up! Come on. First day of school.

~Finding Nemo

Children usually start school excitedly. They might even think they’re superheroes!

But it doesn’t take long before their belief in themselves is challenged. Much has been done to public education in the name of college and career readiness. It’s difficult to understand how students continue to like learning.

Corporate reformers bemoan that children don’t learn fast enough for jobs they will face when they finish school. What jobs? We’re told no one knows. But students must start young to prepare for X jobs so America’s economy won’t suffer.

They must be tested often and early so they prove they’re on the right track. If they aren’t tested with standardized tests, they will be tested by nonstop online testing. Data will track student progress for those “whatever” jobs.

Meanwhile, we continue to hear that young people are more stressed than ever. From JAMA Pediatrics:

In the United States, suicide is a major public health concern and the second leading cause of death among youths age 10 to 18 years, persisting into early adulthood.

Many want to blame social media, and that’s certainly a concern. But what about how students are pushed to be college and career ready? From kindergarten to grade twelve students face never-ending hype that they need to work hard to get those unknown jobs of the future.

In The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure, authors Lukianoff and Haidt look at the “iGen” or “internet Generation” children born around 1995. They describe overprotective parents who micromanage their children’s time.

But they also tell about schools that ignore the importance of play in critical early years, and which focus obsessively on test-taking.

One of the takeaways from the book (there are many) is that children have no time to be children. They grow into young adults (Democrats and Republicans) often raised without socializing (think about the loss of recess). They’re stressed and intolerant of other views. The authors see this as a threat to democracy.

The following myths have become policy changes perpetuated by school reformers. They have likely led to an angry, stressed-out generation forced to learn too fast.

  • Preschoolers aren’t ready for kindergarten and they must be closely monitored and tracked.
  • Kindergartners (the new first graders) don’t read early enough and must forfeit play to work nonstop with few, if any, breaks.
  • Elementary students must skip recess, practice and pass standardized tests, and pass or be retained in third grade.
  • Middle schoolers must work hard and start planning their careers.
  • High school students must take as many college AP classes as possible, get classes on how to be entrepreneurs, focus on multiple pathways (because no one knows the future), be set up with outside work apprenticeships, and be college and career ready.
  • College students must focus on finishing as fast as possible while incurring massive debt.

For thirty years the reforms put in place have been about making public schools more difficult, beyond what is developmentally appropriate. The claim is that students must be college and career ready.

It’s time to give our public schools back to the parents and teachers who are closest to the students. It’s time to reinvest our faith and funding in those schools, and reject the harmful policies that replace the superhero hopes and dreams of children with corporate goals and manipulation.

Resource

Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up A Generation For Failure. (New York: Penguin Press, 2018), 186-189.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: College and Career readiness, School Privatization, student stress

Comments

  1. Jeffrey L Salisbury says

    April 10, 2019 at 3:17 pm

    Excellent as always.

    Reply
    • Nancy Bailey says

      April 14, 2019 at 12:00 pm

      Thank you.

      Reply
  2. Rick B. says

    April 10, 2019 at 6:51 pm

    Over he last 5+ years teachers have seen a tectonic shift in student affect. Bored, uninterested, uninspired, unimaginative, incurious, and disinterested. I blame it on the confluence of over-testing, data driven policies, constrained K to 8 curricula, USDOE/state pressure including use of VAM/SLOs, and addiction to cell phones/social media. What we are observing in the majority of students should be setting off alarm bells. The testing culture and the social distractions of the silicon age have combined to produce students who are nowhere near college and career ready. A reform fail that is ruining a generation of children with no undo button.

    Reply
    • Nancy Bailey says

      April 14, 2019 at 12:01 pm

      I’m afraid it is only going to get worse. Thanks, Rick.

      Reply
  3. Roger Titcombe says

    April 11, 2019 at 4:01 am

    As ever the marketisation paradigm is hurting our children and destroying the joy of learning. We have been suffering the same here in England.. See this article in The Guardian Newspaper.

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/aug/31/calls-for-action-over-uks-intolerable-child-mental-health-crisis

    Reply
    • Roy Turrentine says

      April 13, 2019 at 7:49 am

      Thanks, Roger. Interesting article. If I asked someone from the social conservative branch of American thought to reflect on this, they would suggest that it is evidence of the result of a society without a spiritual guide. Society deserted God, so it is bearing the effects of such desertion. If I asked a liberitarian individualist, they would say that we have become soft because we are coddling our children.

      Reply
    • Nancy Bailey says

      April 14, 2019 at 12:04 pm

      Thank you Roger and Roy. On one hand they say children are being coddled, especially at home. But at school they are pushed to learn difficult material earlier with a focus on how they do on standardized tests and eventually mostly tech. Something’s missing.

      Reply
  4. Sayford Ford says

    April 12, 2019 at 7:45 am

    ahh yes we just have bring in the reformers and everything will be fine, no we should end public schools, instead we will keep trying to make them better, so sad

    Reply
    • Nancy Bailey says

      April 14, 2019 at 12:05 pm

      I am a little confused by your statement. Maybe you could clarify. Thanks.

      Reply
  5. Leroy says

    April 12, 2019 at 10:17 am

    Most of these reforms have been initiated by democrats. On average a four year degree takes over five years.

    Reply
    • Nancy Bailey says

      April 14, 2019 at 12:06 pm

      Which reforms? I would argue that both parties are responsible for the problems we see in public schools. Both also push privatization. Thanks.

      Reply
  6. jasmine says

    April 16, 2019 at 1:11 pm

    If I asked a libertarian individualist, they would say that we have become soft because we are coddling our children.

    Reply
    • Nancy Bailey says

      April 16, 2019 at 1:24 pm

      The authors of The Coddling of the American Mind claim to be Democrats, although most of what they describe points to problematic ideas affecting our young people that are derived by both parties. The book if I could sum it up points to “fragility” in our young people due to many factors and their unwillingness to listen to others. I don’t think they are using the word “coddling” the way you describe.

      Reply
  7. Rick Rood says

    April 19, 2019 at 6:56 pm

    I was just talking to my wife about this the other night.

    I’ve been teaching in Out-of-school-time programs for about 30 years now. One shift that really bothers me… is kids’ attitude toward school. It really hit me when I say “It’s time to head to school” and I get boo-d and have to listen to whining and complaints… from KINDERGARTENERS.

    Really, I didn’t start disliking school until I hit adolescence. To hear the youngest respond this way just kills me. And it tells me we’re doing things very wrong.

    Reply
  8. Maya Watts says

    April 25, 2019 at 11:18 pm

    I would like to elaborate on your comment regarding the shrinking recess times in school. According to the School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS), in schools that offer recess, the percentage of classes having recess after meal times went from 42.3% in 2000 to 26.2% in 2014. More frighteningly, in 2006, 96.8% of elementary schools offered recess to at least one grade level. In 2014, that figure dropped to 82.8%. These drops in recess times coincide with the NCLB and the accountability movement related to standardized testing.
    Ramstetter, C., & Murray, R. (2017). Time to Play: Recognizing the Benefits of Recess. American Educator, 41(1), 17.

    Reply
    • Nancy Bailey says

      April 25, 2019 at 11:24 pm

      Thank you for this, Maya. Pretty frightening indeed. I agree that that NCLB was a major culprit in the loss of recess. Now, few school districts will return it to what it was.

      Reply
  9. Jenna says

    April 27, 2019 at 10:16 pm

    I’m glad that you mentioned the loss of recess as a means of contributing to the lives of stress and isolation that today’s younger generation arguably grows up to experience at some point during (if not for the entirety of) their lifetimes. A 2009 article from the Illinois State Board of Education that was written by Barbara Pytel brings up an important point; that work breaks – even in adulthood – are needed. It was these perceptions that likely resulted in the introduction of HB2670 in Illinois in 2013, a proposal meant to amend the school code to include mandatory recess for all school children kindergarten to fifth grade. Although this particular bill was marked sine die in 2014, it’s worth noting that because most employers offer short breaks during the workday, breaks should also be expected for children in school. Children are expected to meet increasingly rigorous academic requirements (e.g. college/career readiness, standardize testing) as early as kindergarten, and in teaching them that rigorous work and high-stress environments are the ‘norm’ from young ages, they are truly being set up for stressful, irritable, and overall unhappy lives.

    I appreciate your breakdown of myths-to-policy changes to illustrate why today’s younger generations are growing up frustrated and anxious. As a full-time student and employee, I can’t imagine not having short breaks throughout the day to regather thoughts. It’s amazing to me that we can expect this from children, who are still developing mentally and emotionally.

    Pytel, B. (2009, December 20). Pros and cons of recess time in schools: Is recess a mere tradition or a vital piece in education? Illinois State Board of Education.
    Retrieved from https://www.isbe.net/Documents/recess_pros_cons.pdf.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. The Toll College and Career Readiness Has Taken on Students – Mister Journalism: "Reading, Sharing, Discussing, Learning" says:
    April 10, 2019 at 3:19 pm

    […] Read more of this post […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

front cover

An education glossary with an attitude.

Buy Now

front cover

Do we really want an America where we no longer own our public schools?

Buy Now

front cover

This book says “no” to the reforms that fail, and challenges Americans to address the real student needs that will fix public schools and make America strong.

Buy Now

Follow me!

Enter your email address to subscribe to my blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Connect With Me!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Nancy E. Bailey Follow

Author, Ph.D. Ed. Leadership and longtime teacher, Blogging for Kids, Teachers, Parents & Democratic Public Schools.

NancyEBailey1
Retweet on Twitter Nancy E. Bailey Retweeted
deguire_mike Mike DeGuire, Ph. D. @deguire_mike ·
3h

"The privatization movement has been strategically designed...by billionaires and their fellow investors for specific purposes: to lower their own tax burden, and ideologically to dismantle public education." @NPEaction @NancyEBailey1 @TheAndySpears
https://medium.com/@jfiske80/billionaires-and-their-investors-are-impacting-education-policies-in-colorado-and-especially-in-c523579674af

Reply on Twitter 1637957759751831558 Retweet on Twitter 1637957759751831558 9 Like on Twitter 1637957759751831558 9 Twitter 1637957759751831558
Retweet on Twitter Nancy E. Bailey Retweeted
nepctweet NEPC @nepctweet ·
8h

"Let’s honor our students by providing them free quality democratic public schools that reject no one." @NancyEBailey1 https://bit.ly/3FE0KFA

Reply on Twitter 1637870110840094721 Retweet on Twitter 1637870110840094721 2 Like on Twitter 1637870110840094721 2 Twitter 1637870110840094721
Retweet on Twitter Nancy E. Bailey Retweeted
dianeravitch Diane Ravitch 🇺🇸🇺🇦🌈 @dianeravitch ·
18 Mar

Voucher schools don’t have to comply with IDEA for kids with disabilities. They are allowed to discriminate for any reason or none at all. #schoolschoose https://twitter.com/KatieLikesBikes/status/1636446553429647376

Katie 🌻 @KatieLikesBikes

@Forrest4Trees @GregAbbott_TX No one is reporting that private schools don't have to adhere to the Federal IDEA act. Kids with #disabilities will be further harmed because #publicschools provide important services to #PWD and are essentially having their budgets cut in half by the voucher system.

Reply on Twitter 1637123379458088962 Retweet on Twitter 1637123379458088962 64 Like on Twitter 1637123379458088962 177 Twitter 1637123379458088962
Retweet on Twitter Nancy E. Bailey Retweeted
raepica1 Rae Pica @raepica1 ·
13h

THIS is what learning looks like in #earlychildhood. #play #parenting #AskingWhatif https://twitter.com/DanWuori/status/1637786756727619584

Dan Wuori @DanWuori

As babies explore cause and effect it’s not uncommon to see them test ideas over and over to see if the same thing happens each time. Watch this little guy studying the shadow he’s making on the rug. You’re seeing his brain make connections in real time.

Reply on Twitter 1637807757360242688 Retweet on Twitter 1637807757360242688 2 Like on Twitter 1637807757360242688 14 Twitter 1637807757360242688
Retweet on Twitter Nancy E. Bailey Retweeted
doctorsam7 Dr. Sam Bommarito @doctorsam7 ·
19 Mar

Reading Aloud to Kids of all ages pays off!

Reply on Twitter 1637488064929976329 Retweet on Twitter 1637488064929976329 193 Like on Twitter 1637488064929976329 505 Twitter 1637488064929976329
Load More

Archives

Tag Cloud

Arne Duncan Autism Betsy DeVos Bill Gates charter schools class size Common Core Common Core covid-19 disabilities dyslexia early childhood education Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Florida high-stakes testing kindergarten learning disabilities Online Learning parents Personalized Learning phonics preschool private schools privatization public schools reading recess retention School Choice school libraries School Privatization school reform schools Social Emotional Learning special education students Students with Disabilities Teacher Preparation teachers Teach for America teaching Technology testing the arts vouchers

Copyright © 2023 Nancy E. Bailey · Website powered by Standing Pine Media.