At 2-Year Colleges Students Eager But Unprepared Summary

In reviewing the article “At 2-Year Colleges, Students Eager but Unprepared,” we see how Diana Jean Schemo sheds light on why students are not truly prepared for a higher education. In her article, she follows a student named Michael Walton on his journey to obtain his associate’s degree. Walton was smart enough to graduate from high school one and a half years early. However, he found that when he took his entrance exams for college, his scores showed that he would need remedial math classes. Unfortunately, research suggests that nearly one-half of all the students entering into higher education will need corrective courses. Schemo states, “the shortfalls persist despite high-profile efforts by public universities to crack down on ill-prepared
She explains that while high school students are indeed getting satisfactory grades, they are dismayed when they progress to college and are informed that they will be required to take developmental courses. Consequently, some students are not prepared simply because they are not willing to put in the effort that is truly required. She believes that although some students are able to make good grades in high school, this is only accomplished by taking notes and not by reading the books required for their classes.
Schemo points out that although Walton was able to make terrific grades while in high school, he was still required to take a remedial course for math. She adds to this, stating, although students may have issues with reading, writing and math; the course that is ultimately causing the most issues for them is math. She goes on to say, “more than one in four remedial students work on elementary and middle school arithmetic” and adds that when confronted with this truth, it causes them to “lose confidence and give