Opinion
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion

The Inadvertent Bigotry of Inappropriate Expectations

By Chris Myers Asch — June 15, 2010 4 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Several years ago, I took a group of low-income middle school students to a motivational talk at a local university. A dynamic young professor encouraged them not to settle for anything but the best. After the presentation, he asked the students what they wanted to be when they grew up. One of our girls (I will call her Shanika) answered excitedly, “Nurse!”

“Nurse?” the professor asked, disappointed. “How about doctor? Don’t you want to shoot high?”

Shanika’s face fell. Though I sympathized with the professor’s intended message, I was incensed. Not only was he wrong on a practical level—this country faces a serious nurse shortage—but he exemplified the haughty disdain with which many educators and policymakers view careers that do not require a bachelor’s or advanced degree. Shanika did not need to hear that her dreams were not up to snuff. Unfortunately, that is a message students hear all too often in our college-obsessed culture.

I thought of Shanika as I read about President Barack Obama’s new plan to overhaul the No Child Left Behind law—the current version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act—that has driven school reform for the past eight years. Dismissing as “utopian” the Bush administration’s goal of having all students be “proficient” by 2014, the Obama “blueprint for reform” advocates an ostensibly more realistic goal of having every high school graduate be “college- and career-ready.”

The blueprint represents an important revision of current law. As someone who founded and ran a college-prep enrichment program for at-risk secondary school students, I appreciate and applaud the administration’s effort to raise expectations and encourage students to go to college. But I also recognize the potentially distorting effects that our college obsession can create, and the blueprint only feeds this obsession. “College- and career-ready” may be the new catchphrase, but the emphasis is all on the “college” part—the proposal all but ignores alternatives to college.

This is shortsighted because, simply put, some students should not go to college, or at least not a four-year college.

'College- and career-ready' may be the new catchphrase, but the emphasis is all on the 'college' part.

I know, I know. Writing that sentence can incite the wrath of the “achievement police,” the legions of self-appointed guardians of high expectations (and, I confess, I have at times been an officer in this force myself). To even broach the idea that some students may not be suited for a four-year college degree can invite scornful accusations that one is perpetuating, in George W. Bush’s memorable phrase, “the soft bigotry of low expectations.”

We have so effectively pushed the notion that “success equals college” that other options, such as vocational education, seem horribly limiting and even discriminatory. But college prep has become a one-size-fits-all approach to secondary education, and some students simply do not fit. Though it may be difficult to conceive for the highly educated professionals who devise curricula and policies, college is not always the best choice for students whose interests and skills lend themselves to trades rather than a college degree.

Frustrated or bored within a college-prep curriculum, many of these kids may wind up dropping out of school, contributing to a dropout crisis that has claimed more than 6 million young people ages 16 to 24. Once they drop out, their chances of future economic stability decrease markedly. The Center for Labor Market Studies estimates that dropouts earn less than half as much annually as high school graduates do. Lacking real skills and the confidence that accompanies them, these young people often turn later to trade schools and for-profit colleges, racking up extraordinary debt in order to compensate for their lack of preparation for the real world.

Young people should have a variety of good options. Alongside a challenging college-prep curriculum, our schools should offer more rigorous and relevant vocational education programs and apprenticeships that build on students’ interests and help them develop real-world skills that will give them an economic foothold after graduation. We should bolster partnerships with nonprofit organizations and businesses that agree to provide training and development while students earn their high school diplomas. And we should not, as many educators do, discourage students from pursuing military careers.

As a nation, we need young people to become skilled carpenters, electricians, lab technicians, nurse practitioners, and drill sergeants—certainly more than we need the corporate lawyers, policy analysts, and consultants that our universities pump out each year.

By pushing college to the exclusion of other options, we indulge in what might be called “the inadvertent bigotry of inappropriate expectations.” If we are not careful, we can send a subtle message to students who fail to live up to those expectations: “You’re not good enough.” And that can be as dispiriting and discouraging as “You’re no good.”

A version of this article appeared in the June 16, 2010 edition of Education Week as The Inadvertent Bigotry of Inappropriate Expectations

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
(Re)Focus on Dyslexia: Moving Beyond Diagnosis & Toward Transformation
Move beyond dyslexia diagnoses & focus on effective literacy instruction for ALL students. Join us to learn research-based strategies that benefit learners in PreK-8.
Content provided by EPS Learning
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Teaching Webinar
Cohesive Instruction, Connected Schools: Scale Excellence District-Wide with the Right Technology
Ensure all students receive high-quality instruction with a cohesive educational framework. Learn how to empower teachers and leverage technology.
Content provided by Instructure
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
How to Use Data to Combat Bullying and Enhance School Safety
Join our webinar to learn how data can help identify bullying, implement effective interventions, & foster student well-being.
Content provided by Panorama Education

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

College & Workforce Readiness Grades and Standardized Test Scores Aren't Matching Up. Here's Why
Researchers have found discrepancies between student grades and their scores on standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT.
5 min read
student testing SAT 2140821664
izusek/E+
College & Workforce Readiness Infographic Students Want to Learn More About Careers. Will High Schools Step Up?
Students say they want more career education, and EdWeek Research Center survey data show schools are emphasizing it more.
5 min read
A George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School student participates in a butchery class at Essex Kitchen in New York, Tuesday, May 21, 2024.
A student at George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School tries her hand in a butchery class at Essex Kitchen in New York on May 21, 2024. Most high school students think they need more education after graduation, but they're less likely than previous generations to think it needs to be at a four-year college.
James Pollard/AP
College & Workforce Readiness How Should High School Change? These Districts May Have the Answer
By supporting learning that takes place outside the classroom, districts—and states—are starting to rethink an age-old institution.
12 min read
Image of a teacher drawing outside of the lines of a whiteboard.
<b>Katie Thomas for Education Week</b>
College & Workforce Readiness Interactive How Do Today’s High Schoolers Fare As They Enter Adulthood? View the Data
As graduation rates begin to stabilize, data show some hopeful signs for young people. But experts warn of a disconnect between high school, college, and careers.
9 min read
Student hanging on a tearing graduate cap tassel
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty