Archived: The Educational System in the United States: Case Study Findings

The Schools’ Role in the Transition
School administrators and counselors appeared to see their roles in this process
as providing information about postsecondary training, from technical schools to
universities, and to do what they could to assist students in availing themselves
of these opportunities. The large comprehensive high schools that funnel a high
percentage of students to college offer printed material on college preparation,
evening information sessions for parents, and individual assistance, by appoint-
ment, to their students. Students at the other high schools—and their parents—
seemed far less knowledgeable about what they needed to do to achieve this goal.

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Those parents who had attended college themselves were in a position to provide
some guidance to their children, but those who hadn’t seemed to receive little
support and information and were unable to answer our questions about the proc-
ess. This was particularly true for those with less fluency in English. Nor are the
financial aspects of college typically a part of the planning in any of the schools.
An administrator at Hamilton High School commented:
Our premise here is that people will (go to college) . . . . The good kids
here are sort of on automatic pilot. You have got to go to college. And you
know, kids who are least served by this policy are the kids who do not have
the money and have never confronted the issue of how they are going to pay
for college after the first or second payment uses up family savings.
He also noted that many of the students who had worked hard at achieving during
high school would benefit from taking a year off before college, but that ‘‘Parents
would be apoplectic if their kid came home and said to them that ‘my counselor
suggested to me not to go to college.’ They want to hear that their kid is on track,
on task, and is going to be a success.’’
Schools tend to measure their success by the number of students they route to-
ward postsecondary training, and little is done to prepare students directly for
work. We did hear of internship programs and vocational courses and we ob-
served one program at Uptown High School that aimed to prepare students di-
rectly for employment by linking vocational training to the needs of several indus-
trial employers in the immediate area; however, even graduates of this program
aspired to attend the local technical school first. Asked about the 20 percent of
Hamilton students who do not continue their education, the ‘‘college and career
counselor’’ said that ‘‘our postsecondary planning includes the vocational, tech-
nical, and business and proprietary type schools as well as 2- and 4-year colleges.’’
She noted that:
We recognize that college is not for everyone and is not necessarily the choice
at the end, but, if you prepare towards college prep, the chances for you to
have all your options open in 4 years are better than if you don’t plan for that.
Accordingly, she commented that the aspirations of students in the school showed
little variation. However, she went on to say:
But I do think we have some differences in how we become what we want
to be. I think a lot of times students who haven’t been exposed to different
courses won’t know how to get to a certain career goal. Whereas a kid from
a higher socioeconomic background might be more familiar with that, because
they have more people with different careers and academic experiences in
their family.

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An administrator at the same school reported that except for a few internship pro-
grams:
There is nothing special for the kids that prepares them for the work
world . . . . These are the kids that get hit in the face in the end . . . . I
think that the American lack of integration between secondary education and
the work world is tied to the American ethos of equal opportunity. You say
that we will treat everybody the same and it is up to them to make what they
will make of it. This is our philosophy, which politically underlies the system.
In reality, everybody knows it does not work that way, that the most impor-
tant predictors of kids’ success is parental income.
The schools we observed were all heavily tracked, but it is clear that students are
expected to see college as the ideal, regardless of their program of courses.
Summary
Adolescents in the United States are expected to succeed in the simultaneous
development of competency in several domains. The typical student at schools in
middle to upper-class neighborhoods is expected to do well in school, hold a part-
time job to make spending money or to save for college, participate in sports,
take an active role in-school organizations, and demonstrate interest in other
activities (e.g., play a musical instrument). Academic achievement is valued within
this context of becoming the ‘‘well-rounded’’ student, one who can succeed at
multiple tasks and who can develop a highly individualized profile that will inspire
parental pride and attract the attention of college admissions committees. Some
adolescents do remarkably well at this, and the full resources of their environment
may be marshaled in support of these goals. Others may feel the cards are stacked
against them, as the resources needed for such accomplishments are lacking in
their school or community, at home, or within themselves.
Given the multiple tasks expected of them, many students we interviewed led
weekday lives that were highly scheduled, with activities and sports both before
and after the formal school day, often followed by a part-time job. The hours that
remained were often spent doing homework not completed during school hours,
watching television or listening to music, and spending time with friends and fam-
ily. For many students, however, there were few structured opportunities for
engagement outside of academic classes, either within their schools or their neigh-
borhoods. Considerable variation existed in the degree to which communities and
schools provided the facilities and resources to help adolescents make productive
use of their time.

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The experience of schooling for adolescents differed widely by community, school
type, academic track, and the socioeconomic conditions of both the students’ fam-
ilies and their neighborhoods. Per capita spending for students varied even within
the same urban area and created a range of resources and opportunities for stu-
dents; how students viewed the purpose of school and its role in their own lives
often differed accordingly.
Most students seemed to view school in pragmatic terms, as a necessary step to-
ward either a job or college admission, but they were uncertain about the specific
connections between their coursework and their vocational plans. Without excep-
tion, the schools we studied seemed to be oriented toward preparing individuals
for further education, in spite of the fact that large numbers of students enter the
workforce immediately after graduation.
Students expressed appreciation for enthusiastic teachers who made material inter-
esting, demonstrated concern for students, and were not overly reliant on lectur-
ing as their primary mode of teaching. Math classes were frequently mentioned
as favorite classes, and students in honors and accelerated classes were most
enthusiastic. Tracking was a controversial topic, and both students and teachers
expressed particular concern about the correlation between academic tracks and
race. Placement into academic tracks varied widely among schools and within
schools, and clear-cut guidelines for such placements were rare, often leaving con-
siderable power in the hands of well informed, assertive parents.
Safety was a central concern in urban high schools and students worried about
gangs and the potential of violence both in their neighborhoods and within the
schools. Poverty, violence, and drug use are major inhibitors of adolescent aca-
demic engagement and achievement in urban communities. Teachers’ roles have
evolved accordingly, and teachers and administrators expressed concern about
their ability to meet the complex needs of students who do not arrive at school
ready to learn. Parental involvement in education was viewed as an important
component of school success, but there was little agreement on what form it
might best take for students of different ages, and how the schools can nurture
and support it.
Being a student is one of many roles in an adolescent’s life in the United States,
and academic work is often not the highest priority, nor is academic achievement
viewed as the only path to success. Students receive a complex and sometimes
conflicting set of messages from the media, their peers, teachers, and family about
the value of education in this society. This portrait of diverse opportunities, goals,
and purposes may provide some measure of understanding in the interpretation
of comparative studies of academic achievement.

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Chapter 5