Researching College Attendance Rates
Educational researcher Melissa Roderick from the University of Chicago is using her powers for good in order to study college attendance rates among graduates of Chicago public schools. Kids said they wanted to go to college, but didn’t actually end up attending. What was the glitch and when in the process was it occurring?
The assumption had been this was due to a lack of motivation on the part of the students and their parents. The research interviews brought to light that:
…student aspiration to attend four-year universities exists, but many young people don’t have access to the right guidance and tools to apply and enroll in schools.
In 2005, 72 percent of 12th-graders in Chicago’s public schools stated on a survey that they hoped to complete a bachelor’s degree or higher, while only 59 percent applied and only 41 percent actually enrolled in post-secondary education, Roderick said.
She said the lack of qualifications is the main obstacle for the Chicago students, who have low grade point averages and ACT entrance exam scores. The low scores are especially prevalent in black males, she said. Only 31 percent of black males in Chicago schools in 2005 graduated with qualifications to enter four-year colleges.
“Teachers make a huge difference in this,” she said, adding that teachers are often the ones providing recommendations and admission forms for their graduating students.
Fear of making the wrong college decisions and of the high costs of university tuition, as well as the sometimes-imposed pressure of picking out a career before enrolling in a school, scares students away from seeking enrollment at universities, Roderick said.
Meanwhile, one of her studies “dumbest findings,” Roderick said, was that some students who were accepted to four-year colleges didn’t enroll because they didn’t fill out their free application for federal student aid on time, leaving them without known financial aid.
“Schools must ensure that students are filling out financial aid applications,” Roderick said.
It’s an odd feeling for me to be having, but I can understand and sympathize with all parties and their points of view on this one. No empathy as I’ve been neither a teacher nor a student in a big city public school.
I don’t think it’s the responsibility of the teachers to corral or babysit their students to make sure all forms and applications are filled out correctly and turned in on time. The students have some responsibility as it is their own lives we’re talking about. Or writing about. Whatever.
I’m just hazarding a guess, but I would imagine that the teachers aren’t there for the money. Which tells me they must be devoted to the cause of lifting up young minds or they wouldn’t be killing themselves trying to cut through the red tape of the public school system. So it would be nice if, in their non-existent spare time, they helped out the kids who want to take the next step.
As far as the kids go, I get it that an unknown entity like college is probably terrifying. And an expensive terrifying thing can’t seem at all appealing. But at some point a person’s life is his/her own responsibility. Find out what has to be done and do it. Cross the t’s, dot the i’s. A lot of adults are cranky, burnt out and annoying, but there has to be one around who’s willing and able to help. Ask them and get it done.
Posted by Alexa Harrington
