http://www.gse.harvard.edu/blog/news_features_releases/2011/02/report-calls-for-national-effort-to-get-millions-of-young-americans-onto-a-realistic-path-to-employa.html
Thank you, Harvard Graduate School of Education, for finally bringing this discussion forward. It’s long overdue. Our national policy of promoting college for everyone is NOT appropriate and NOT working.
Ironically, as we try to get all students ‘ready for college,’ many are not. Thus, colleges are looking more and more like college-prep schools, with the plethora of remediation offers. How very sad that is. And, all the while, this focus on remediation of academics pushes students in what they CANNOT do and ignores that they CAN and LIKE to do. We focus on student weaknesses, not strengths and interest. Very sad.
As an antidote, check out Massachusetts’ own lawn care guy turned reformer, Joe Lamacchia. Visit his website, www.bluecollarandproudofit.com
Blue Collar and Proud of it! It focuses on student strengths and interests. Check it out! I’d love to hear your thoughts… and will respond.
About Miriam
Miriam Kurtzig Freedman, JD, MA—an expert in public education, focused on special education law— is a lawyer, author, speaker, consultant, and reformer.
For more than 35 years, Miriam worked with educators, parents, policy makers, and citizens to translate complex legalese into plain English and focus on good practices for children.
Now, she focuses her passion on reforming special education, with her new book, Special Education 2.0—Breaking Taboos to Build a NEW Education Law. Presentations include those at the AASA Conference, Orange County (CA), Boston College (MA), CADRE (OR), and the Fordham Institute (DC). Her writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Education Week, Education Next, Hoover Digest, The University of Chicago Law Review on line, DianeRavitch.net, and The Atlantic Monthly on line.
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