They are the “no left behind” kids. These are kids who tend to repeat a grade, often more than once. Eventually, because of their age, they are given what is referred to as the “social push” forward. What is the social push might you ask? It is the school systems response to dealing with children who are technically too old to be in their current grade or school. Students who otherwise would not be academically eligible to advance, are pushed off and eventually out. In fact, many of the students in this population do not leave school on their own. They are “counseled” into leaving for alternative programs (Rosborough). Unfortunately, however, many of them never attend these alternatives thus never completing their education. Consequently, continuing to add to the number of young people pushed out of a system, undereducated, and unprepared for the world and challenges ahead of them. How can we expect students to strive for better, if all we do is help them sell themselves …show more content…
It has been very interesting as an adult learner, sitting next to this population in community college. These kids definitely serve as the poster children for a broken system. “Many state high school graduates cannot create a sentence from a fragment and can 't solve problems with fractions or long division. Some cannot add and subtract whole numbers (Mossburg)”. Yet, they were granted a high school diploma by the Baltimore City Public School System and sent off into the world with false hope. The challenges these children face and will face, are even bigger than we realize. A rather large subset of this population will most likely be required to remediate at least one or more courses before attending any sort of post-secondary education. Aside from lacking general education skills, these children also lack the necessary soft skills needed to be able to compete in the ever changing work force. They do not know how to write a resume, quantify skills, or even present themselves at an interview. Why are community colleges, having to serve as a bridge for students between high school and higher education? Furthermore, how do we get them prepared for the future when so many before us have already failed