Several years ago I began to make an assessment of the contributions that I had made to society. By far, I had fallen short in the area of education. My ancestors died in order that I may have a better way of life. They were involved in civic affairs, church, the community, and of course education. What contribution had I made to education? Above all, what contributions have I made to society? These questions began to eat away at the core of my soul. Instead of being depressed about my complacency, I took action.
For the part decades, my conversations with friends and colleagues have centered around the state of our students in post secondary education. Since the community college systems have an open door policy, thousands of students enter these halls of higher education; however, far too many thousands become stuck in developmental courses. What are we doing to remove them from the developmental block outs? We raise the bar and create more effective education systems.
It should not take our students twelve years to read, write and perform simple mathematical formulas. Do we dare to say enough is enough?. Do we dare to make a difference for these students? Yes. Hundreds have made a different and thousands are needed to change the system. We all know that algebra is the gatekeeper. If our students do not complete developmental math classes, they will never achieve the dream of completing a college education. The disaster in all of this is that they will not have a chance to start.
For the part decades, my conversations with friends and colleagues have centered around the state of our students in post secondary education. Since the community college systems have an open door policy, thousands of students enter these halls of higher education; however, far too many thousands become stuck in developmental courses. What are we doing to remove them from the developmental block outs? We raise the bar and create more effective education systems.
It should not take our students twelve years to read, write and perform simple mathematical formulas. Do we dare to say enough is enough?. Do we dare to make a difference for these students? Yes. Hundreds have made a different and thousands are needed to change the system. We all know that algebra is the gatekeeper. If our students do not complete developmental math classes, they will never achieve the dream of completing a college education. The disaster in all of this is that they will not have a chance to start.
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