How do you define ‘college and career ready’?

From an article on marketwatch.com

By TED DINTERSMITH and TONY WAGNER

As homeschoolers, how do you define ‘college and career ready’?

Reading this article solidifies and validates my opinion that we, as a society, must redefine ‘college and career ready’ and education in general. This does tear us up because on one hand we want to take full advantage of what homeschooling has to offer, chiefly being able to explore and drill into some areas while skipping over others. and on the other, having to do what is required for college entry. I can only hope it changes significantly by the time we get to high school!

"Our education goals have lost touch with what matters most — helping students develop essential skills, competencies, and character traits. It’s time to reimagine the goals for U.S. education, and hold all schools — from kindergarten through college — accountable for teaching the skills and nurturing the dispositions most needed for learning, work, and citizenship.

Let’s set our overarching goal as producing students who are “life-ready,” and treat colleges as one potential means to this end."

"High school math revolves around drilling on the low-level procedures (think factoring polynomials, trig identities, integrals by hand) that permeate the SAT and ACT tests. If we relegated these tasks to a smartphone app, students could learn math with real career value, like statistics, data analytics, estimation, math modeling, algorithm development, financial literacy, social media optimization, and computer programming. Our priorities have consequential career opportunity costs for all kids. And it’s tragic when algebra (something few adults ever use) keeps someone from getting their high-school diploma and they end up homeless or in jail."

"In English classes, far too much time is spent memorizing the parts of speech, grammar rules, and the terms and techniques for the kinds of “literary analysis” done in college. None of these activities help students to learn to organize their thoughts, write well in a variety of genres, and deliver effective oral presentations. Yet these are the skills that employers tell us are most lacking among young adults."

"Meanwhile, millions of high-quality jobs in our country go unfilled, as our schools churn out “college ready” kids with no employable skills."

Read the full article here:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/america-desperately-needs-to-redefine-college-and-career-ready-2016-08-05