I read with great interest Tuesday's front-page lead article about SUNY graduation rates. The piece ("Graduation a matter of degrees") pointed out the varying rates among SUNY schools and also compared them to other schools nationwide. It stated, "Two-thirds of the students who enroll in the State University of New York finish within six years, one of the highest graduation rates for any public university system in the nation."
That seems to be a very positive statement about the quality of New York's public college system, and it is well deserved because we do have excellent public colleges in New York that provide students with a very affordable advanced education.
The article goes on to state that "a school's graduation rate tells the story of how it prepares students for the world, and whether it supports them outside of academic courses."
That patently misses the mark when it comes to school success — be it in elementary, high school or college. A school's graduation rate really tells less of the story about the school and more of the story about the students.
That is the missing link. There's no mention in the article about the individual students and their work ethic, determination, desire, etc.
We need to pay less attention to what the school does and start focusing on what the students do.
It is interesting that graduation rates are now compiled using six years to graduate with a bachelor's degree when most of us in education consider that to be a four-year degree. If that is the standard, so be it.
My question is, what are the students doing to be successful? Are they going to class, doing the required work and all that is necessary to be successful? If they are not, then expecting them to succeed would be daft at best.
We need to stop blaming the schools for the failure of individual students, just like we do not give the schools credit for the successes of individual students.
Students like to say that they earned an "A," but that the teacher gave them an "F." The truth is that students earn all grades they receive both good and bad. As a teacher, I considered myself a scorekeeper when it came to grades; I did not giveth or taketh away. I wrote down what the students earned.
How about looking at graduation rates from the angle of a student-by-student approach?
My guess is that students who meet the admission requirements of a university and go to class, work hard and persevere will do very well. Those who were admitted who did not meet the standards for admission or who do not do the requisite work will fail.
This is college, people. Get with it. It is not for everybody. It is for those who want to be there and who are willing to do the work that's necessary.
I have three of those degrees, including a master's from the University at Albany (I also got to teach there and at SUNY Plattsburgh, and I enjoyed that a great deal). I am very proud to be a graduate of UAlbany. I had some fabulous teachers there who helped me reach the goals I had set for myself. They pushed me to grow and to expand my knowledge in the area of education. After that, it was up to me.
If we focus on the individual students, we will get better graduation rates. If we want to keep blaming schools, we will never see the levels of success we would like to have for our kids.
Blaming schools is safe. Looking closely at our children is hard, because we love them and want them to succeed. While love and desire for success are good for a start, they will not get anyone to the finish line. That part takes good, old-fashioned work.