Some Summer Celebrating Is Fine, but Then Back to Educating Our Youth

Chicago Defender › July 30, 2009

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Summary

Students should shun an idea promoted by a University of Maryland study claiming that non-cognitive, or non-academic, abilities are valuable in high school graduates' gaining admission to college. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education reports the study suggests such abilities are assets in the admissions process and predict college success, even though they're not measurable by standardized tests.

Students who score high in noncognitive areas - students with drama and sports skills, musical and club leadership abilities - achieve records showing no correlation with high college grade point averages, number of college credits earned or "college persistence", says a new U of I study. Worse, it reports, "When only Black students are considered, results on the Non-Cognitive (records) held no predictive value whatsoever."

even if you don't go to college, AFT reports, improving your high school grades from Cs to Bs improves chances "you will be able to support a family."

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Extract

Some Summer Celebrating Is Fine, but Then Back to Educating Our Youth

Summer arrived last week, and our young students are rightly celebrating their break from the rigors of academic work.

The celebrations should be fun, but brief.

Educ...

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