By Bill Walsh
Other Voices
One of my cohort’s daughters is graduating high school this spring with a grade point average of 4.4 and SATs of 1440. She is being rushed by universities, as popular girls might by sororities. The academic world is her oyster.
Another friend’s daughter is graduating with a 3.8 GPA, and something under 1100 in SATs. She has received “Dear John” letters from UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly San Louis Obispo.
My goodness, what has this come to?
When I graduated from high school, a 3.0 GPA got you the UC campus of your choice. What do you think the average GPA of college bound youngsters is today compared to 40 years ago? And how much of that difference is real, versus “grade engineering?”
Los Altos elementary schools are turning the heat up, teaching above grade level materials and piling on the homework. Teachers must be confused because parents are both complaining about the workload and demanding it.
Sylvan Learning Centers are at full capacity after school, tutoring kids in weak subjects or making strong subjects stronger.
School textbooks are much more crafted now, with words yellow-highlighted by the publisher, and with succinct outlines following each chapter.
In many cases, the goal has become “test success,” not the benefits of learning something new for the sake of knowledge itself.
No question that children are under more pressure now than past generations. How would parents like someone picking out their Del Webb retirement community, early on in their careers?
It’s like college is in focus for parents of fourth-graders, and every grade on every test is measured relative to its ultimate impact on college choice. I’m convinced, that parents are convinced, that letting kids be kids is tantamount to sentencing them to lives as minimum-wage earners.
And, how much of this is driven by some parents’ status associated with the universities of their children?
Happy, well-adjusted kids ultimately becoming contributors to society should be our goal.
Bill Walsh is a Los Altos resident.
