11:19 AM CST on Thursday, November 8, 2007
My son gets a lot of mail. Not e-mail, mind you, but quaint, old-fashioned mail that you have to retrieve from the mailbox.
Those of you who are parents of high school seniors have probably noticed this phenomenon. Every day another stack of letters and brochures and stylized catalogs comes from colleges across the country hoping to entice him. He doesn't read a single one. I, however, read them all, even the ones from Kettering and Lyons and Rensselaer.
The pitch that gets my undivided attention is the one that says: "We have reserved a full scholarship for you." Actually, not every student gets that letter. In fact, across the country, only about 16,000 students get letters that offer "big" scholarships for academic achievement. These students represent less than 1 percent of the highest scorers on the PSAT/NMSQT exam, an annual exam given in October to high school juniors. Not every college offers scholarships to this select group. Harvard doesn't give them a dime. But many schools from across the country offer full tuition scholarships to full rides for "big" PSAT scores.
The University of Alabama says this: "As a National Merit Finalist you will receive the value of tuition for four years, regular on-campus housing for four years, $2,000 for summer research or international study, $1,000 per year for four years, and a laptop computer." That letter came in the mail today.
See for yourself. Check out each university's Web site for the scholarships they offer. For most, scoring well on the PSAT provides the largest remuneration. The next level of scholarship money comes from good SAT or ACT scores in combination with a strong GPA; the higher the scores the more scholarship dollars. Using the old SAT scale that my generation grew up with, a 1200 might command a $1,500 scholarship, while each additional 100 points might add several thousand more. Since the average score for Texas students on the SAT is around 1,000, an academic scholarship isn't in the cards for most students, but the SAT/ACT is a significant factor in most colleges' admissions' decisions.
Guess how many four-year colleges and universities give scholarships or guarantee admissions for great TAKS scores? I know of none. Certainly, students can't graduate from Texas high schools without passing the TAKS tests, but they can't use those tests as a ticket into UT or any other school. TAKS is a ticket out of high school, but not a ticket into college. The end-of-course exams that will soon replace the TAKS tests will be no different, unless new Texas Education Agency Commissioner Robert Scott adopts a new mindset toward exit-level testing.
In a state where no child is supposed to be left behind, why use tests that leave students behind?
At the very least, we should prepare students for the testing format that will determine their college opportunities. The TAKS tests are untimed, taking the better part of four school days to administer. The SAT and ACT take up four hours on a Saturday morning. On TAKS, students can spend eight hours writing an essay. The SAT and ACT give them 25 minutes. No wonder that average SAT score in Texas dwells near the bottom nationally.
Based on TEA's testing track record, I'm not optimistic that a new set of tests will alleviate the disparity between high school graduation and college preparation.
It's not the schools' fault. They didn't create TAKS, and they can't ignore the severe ramifications of not improving TAKS scores, even when those scores do not equate to success beyond high school. As long as the schools are under the thumb of a flawed accountability system that determines their fate, most schools will continue to dance to the TAKS two-step and let those students who have college aspirations fend for themselves.
Within this system is a tacit premise: Not every Texas student is college material. While this certainly doesn't jibe with No Child Left Behind, it is the only way to explain why we fall prostrate before tests that don't promote college readiness. In an Oct. 23 editorial, The Dallas Morning News cited a study showing that 30 percent of Texas students who go to college need remedial help to catch up. What percent of Texas students actually matriculate to college and then eventually graduate? Those numbers are depressing.
I don't think every graduate needs to go to college. But it's wrong when those who want to go can't.
Until TEA can produce a test that can put a letter in my mailbox that provides my son a scholarship, schools should focus on the tests that can.
Carey Christenberry is an English teacher and tennis coach at Nimitz High School in Irving and a Teacher Voices volunteer columnist. His e-mail address is CChristenberry@ irvingisd.net.
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