Avoiding unprepared students should start with admissions?
Sometimes we are given a bad crop of students by our colleges admissions team. A good way to avoid is I have found is frequent communication with the admissions team so they understand the rigors and expectations of the curriculum and convey this to their prospects.
Daniel,
Admissions and academics are a sometimes like cats and dogs, where the motivataions and standards are not perfectly aligned, even though both may be meeting their goals. Admissions advises and steers students into the classes with the hope of keeping census goals met. Academics mission is to educate all those that enter the classes. It's a shame when good people get steered into classes that may not be readily prepared for.
Barry Westling
Recent changes in my institution have led to more lax prerequisites for enrollment in the program. This tends to cause a rift in the class room between the less experienced students and the more experienced ones.
I have to walk a fine line to keep the whole class engaged without getting ahead of the less experienced students.
Sean,
As alluded to earlier, being student centered can help. Another is identifying weaker students and working with them as your stronger students work independently on the same or similar assignment.
Barry Westling
The admissions team can do so much. We as teachers also have a responsibility to help slower students along sometimes, and not expect everyone to be at the same pace. Instructing in a trade school I often find that some students already have some experience and some have never done or seen things we are doing, it's a constant challenge.
Dan,
Yes, we get all kinds. Like our own children, each student is a bit different, and care to "treat them as we find them" is often a necessary (and trying) part of our job.
Barry Westling
I find this frustrating as well. I understand that admissions must meet their quotas for enrollment but putting students in our classes that struggle with basic matha nd writting concepts makes it very difficult as an instructor. I find myself spening 85% of my time helping only 15% of the students.
Jenny,
I think this 80/20% ratio is nearly like that found in many work settings too. That is, a supervisor or manager often spends 80% of their time dealing with about 20% of the employess they supervise. In the work setting, I used to ask, "were these people like this in school?", because I felt like unwelcomed behavior should have been addressed. Now as a seasoned educator, I realize there really is a basic bell curve pertaining to performance and attitude, with some folks near the bottom, the bulk in the middle, and some really outstanding individuals. Prepared students with solid beginning math and writing may be a helpful academic requirement, but some of these folks are often the worst offenders in other, non-academic categories.
Barry Westling
Admissions is a headache at the facility I work in as well. One man decides who is enrolled and he fills his quota. He overfills classes and we not only end up with a space problem but a problem with students who aren't cut out for the program. Many had IEP's in grade school and just can't keep up in an adult setting. These are the ones who need one on one attention and that's very difficult to do in a classroom of 25. Further more, when training students to go into the medical field they must possess certain basic skills such as communication and spelling while documenting in patient charts. It's a fine line, we want students to be enrolled and even to help those who need a little extra help but not to be babysitting those who really have no place in the program.
Molly,
Admissions and academics are sometimes like cats and dogs - there's a natural mismatching in goals. In for profit schools meeting and exceeding quotas is the name of the game. It's really sales. Good admission folks truly try to find the right match for an individual. On the academics side, especially in medical programs, students need to tow their weight if they're to make it. It may be that 80% of the instructors time may be spent on 20% of the students due to limitations in prior learning. I say "so be it". Like a boxing trainer, we take all kinds, and some need lots of attention just to do mediorcre performance. But it's the success stories of the students that make it that brings us back to woirk, day after day.
Barry Westling
I am under the thinking, that if a student walks in your doors, has a GED or high school diploma, they have the right to an education. Many schools have lowered testing scores etc.. but look at what has happened to education over the last few years because of cohort. So basically this is saying yes I agree that admissions in some areas can look at a potential student & know that what they are all excited about doing is maybe not the perfect fit for them academically, but I think some of the situations their hands are tied by knowing that everyone has the right to better themselves with an education, and even if given all the information on the course & how hard it will be, if the student wants to do it & try, admissions has to allow that for the student.
Lori,
This is a good sentiment up to a point. That point would be if there are programmatic licencing or accreditation standards that address appropriate preparation, then that would be an exception. Prerequisites to a class might be another exception. In my experience however, I have seen students excel when I would have predicted failure. So I agree with much of your point.
Barry Westling
I believe everyone can excel, but the proper path must be taken. When admissions reps are more concerned with numbers because of the higher ups, then we get students in career colleges that cannot even formulate a sentence with proper grammar. I wish admissions reps from my school would at least ask for a short essay on why they wish to learn this trade in this particular field.
Armando,
Admission advisors do seem to focus on enrollment goals from a quantity vs. quality perspective. However, I believe each student can benefit in some way from me, even if it doesn't result in successful completion of the class. I can care, and share, and that's what they'll remember.
Barry Westling
