Thinking and Linking by Joanne Jacobs
College will start in 11th grade at two Washington, D.C. high schools, reports the Washington Post. Two years after completing 12th grade, students will earn a bachelor’s degree at the University of the District of Columbia. That’s the plan, at any rate, for groups of students from Wilson High School and the School Without Walls. UDC’s four-year graduation rate is 8 percent.
Few would-be teachers earn an education degree in six years at the University of the District of Columbia, whose president wants to eliminate the education major.
Usually, 7 or 8 percent of the students who enroll in the department have graduated from it within six years, according to UDC data. Professors said that is primarily because many cannot pass a national standardized test of basic high school-level reading, writing and math skills.
In the early childhood education major, typically four to six of the approximately 150 students graduate each year.
President Allen Sessoms, who’s trying to raise standards at UDC, proposes replacing the education bachelor’s with a master’s degree in urban education.
Administrators say they are trying to break the cycle of training teachers who lack basic skills because they are products of D.C.’s schools, then return to teach in those schools if they manage to graduate.
Via NCTQ Bulletin.
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