Expensive college books

Ronald Green                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Green

Rebecca, Hubbard

English 101

April 6, 2013

Expensive College Books

College textbooks are very expensive. The more classes you take the more money you have to pay for textbooks. Even though most students receive financial aid, students still have to pay for books and loans after they graduate.  Why are textbooks so expensive?  Textbooks are mainly expensive due to the publisher benefits.  There are several proposals to solve the problems for expensive textbooks.  A proposal would be to lower the cost of books, by regulating the price and profit for textbooks.  The price of college books can be lowered by state and federal help, publishers lowering the cost of books, and schools use the same books for a longer period of time.

One way to lower  textbooks cost is for the state and the federal government help.  State and federal government already helps, but more help would lower textbooks cost.  The state and the federal government should pay a bigger percentage on college textbooks, so college books would not be as expensive.  The state and federal government should also get tax payers involved.  If taxpayer pay a bigger percent on college textbooks, then school books would be cheaper.  Help from the government would be a relief for the students, schools, and publishers.

Another way to lower textbooks cost is for the publishers to lowering the cost on their prices. In other words, publishers need to lower their revenue.  Revenue is the total income and profit produced by a given source .  There are many ways  that publishers can lower their cost on the textbooks that they publish.  For example, publisher should use paper back instead of hard back textbooks.  Less colored ink and less paper could also save the cost of books. Author Baker-Eveleth argued that Inflation-adjusted tuition and fees in education have risen for decades.  This article  is the Journal of Education for Business; July 2011, Vol. 86 Issue 4, p248-252.  College textbooks cost has risen as well. Publishers can lower the cost of books, by lowering the price by a few dollars.  Publisher can lower the cost of their books without hurting their revenue.

Also another way to lower textbooks cost, is schools using the same books for a longer period of time.  For instance, used textbooks do not cost as much as brand new textbooks.  Used books are in the range of fifty to a hundred dollars, while brand new books are in the range of two hundred to three hundred dollars or more.  Lowering the cost of textbooks by using books for a longer period of time seems the most effective.   Using books for a longer period not only save money, it also saves ink and paper. The result of reducing the usage of paper and ink slows down pollution.  In other words, using textbooks for a longer time reduces tree usage and save trees.   Using  textbooks for a longer period of time gives schools and teachers the option to choose the latest or best book of their choice.  Lowering the cost of books by using books for a longer period of time is a big benefit for the student’s pockets and the environment.

Authors Milton, III., John Wiley, David argued that many college students and their families are concerned about the high cost of textbooks.  The article International Review of Research in Open & Distance Learning; (2011), (Vol. 12 Issue 5, p18-26, 9p). The government and publishers should get together to lower the cost of textbooks for schools and students. At the end of the day, the book cost is not the only thing that’s high for college students.  When it comes to college students tuition is often high too.  To better America we need to find better ways to educate students with a cheaper cost.  Cheaper education can benefit everyone, even those who are less fortunate. Preparing for a better education today for a brighter future tomorrow.

works cited page

Authors is Baker-Eveleth, Lori Jo Miller, Jon Robert Tucker, Laura Source is Journal of Education for Business; July 2011, Vol. 86 Issue 4, p248-252, 5p.  Inflation-adjusted tuition and fees in education have risen for decades, and college textbooks cost have risen as well.

Authors:Hilton, III., John Wiley, DavidSource:International Review of Research in Open & Distance Learning; 2011, Vol. 12 Issue 5, p18-26, 9pArticle isDistance education; Internet in higher education; Open access publishing

Abstract: Many college students and their families are concerned about the high cost and textbooks.   A company called Flat World Knowledge both gives away and sells open-source in textbook a way it believes to be financially sustainable. This article reports on the financial sustainability of the Flat World Knowledge open-source textbook model after one year of operation. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

High Life or No Life Revised

Education is the greatest asset anybody can own. It is a tool that can never be broken and it can make someone anything they want to be in life. They just have to work hard and strive to do their best, and they will succeed no matter what. Schooling comes and goes, but what you learn from it will benefit you in ways you can’t even imagine. If someone just decides to up and leave school, and never come back, they have practically flushed their life down the toilet. The repercussions they will have to face from dropping out will put a weight on their shoulders that will be almost impossible to bear.

Students who dropout pretty much get the crappy end of the stick their whole lives. One dumb decision, a student makes isn’t worth screwing up their whole life, just because they got lazy. They will never climb the ladder of success without first starting with a high school diploma. Some kids’ dropout because of not doing well in their academics, or they get bullied and decide they don’t want to be a victim anymore. Some students don’t show up to class, and some just say it’s boring or it doesn’t interest them. Others may have gotten pregnant, or their parents just didn’t care enough.

In one of the articles I read, it showed a lack of support from the parents can increase the student’s chance of dropping out. The article stated, “Nearly one-quarter — 23 percent — of Americans attribute their failure to complete high school to a lack of parental support or encouragement.” That quote was one of the main reasons kids drop out of high school. The other main reason for kids dropping out is getting pregnant. Personally, I think that one of the stupidest things to do. I would think that the girl would at least want to get her diploma, that way she can find a decent job and make some money so she can support the baby, and not to mention support from the father. Now, if a student drops out there is one other option, getting a GED. It won’t get the student as far as a high school diploma, but it’ll help their chances of possibly getting a job or even joining the military.

In this day and age students are dropping out of school at an alarming rate. At one time, the world knew that the United States was a superpower. Everyone and their brother wanted to be like us. Now, the world looks at us as a crumbling country and the other countries laugh in our faces. The U.S. is getting weaker and weaker by the minute and it’s all due to our debt, poverty, and students not getting their education because of dropping out. They call the dropout issue, the “silent epidemic.” Obviously the students are struggling with school and they need to be heard. Where is the helping hand they need? Not only will it benefit the student, it will benefit the country also because more and more educated people will be pushed into good jobs. Which, will make the world a better place to live in.

No Child Left Behind:Private School

            Society today compared to several generations ago is totally different. Back in the day we didn’t have the technology we do now. We didn’t have calculators or computers; there weren’t even textbooks for the students. Nowadays students that are out of school sick can attend lessons from home by using a robot that projects a face time system to represent them in their classes. Not only has the generations changed along with the technology in them, but so has the fear of sending your child off to school every day to face a cruel world. Despite these deviations, parents have other outlets when it comes to teaching the youth. We have home schooling, public schooling, and private schooling, but which one is going to provide the youth with the best knowledge in hopes of a more prosperous future? Choosing a private school can be very tedious but as parents we must consider the importance of the academic aspect, financial aspect, and qualities the teacher possess.

Important to realize, private schools choose who gets enrolled into the institution. Private schools are smaller in size with most of them housing between 150-500 students. Another advantage in dealing with private schools, because they select who is enrolling, is in essence helping to keep school safety under control. The smaller size of the student body is good because it provides a better student-teacher ratio and enhances stronger interactions between the two. A private school on an academic level performs above average on standardized tests. Having the ability to set the pace for the course of events each day; private schools are also able to cater to a student’s need of attending specialized programs due to a flexible curriculum. Equally important private schools also require students to perform community services upon high school graduation. This is essential in the long run to ensure better chances for students to receive scholarships that may require community service hours.  

             Not only does the academic aspect of private schools have a tremendous impact in choosing an educational route, but also the cost of tuition.  Because private schools don’t receive government funding, they have to rely on grants, scholarships and donations resulting in a higher cost. On the other hand, for parents that aren’t financially able to pay for the tuition, private schools provide them with an option of monthly payments. The cost for private schools can be very discouraging but the staff plays a major part in finding outside sponsors as well to help parents.

            Academic as well as financial attributes accompany the ultimate decision in choosing a suitable private school. In addition to those attributes the quality teachers portray is also a major factor. Again, because private schools aren’t supported financially by the government, they don’t require teachers to have any specific certification. However, teachers that work within a private school are well educated and have earned advance degrees. Even though they aren’t required to be certified, a lot of the teachers have self-determination and set personal goals for themselves upon embarking on such a challenging role.

            When it comes to the well-being of our younger generations, good isn’t always good enough. There is a peace of mind that private schools provide within their institution. Parents will find comfort in the location of the school as well as the fact that all private schools are very meticulous about the student body providing an adequate amount of safety. Moreover with those two factors alone parents can rest assure that their child will not be easily overlooked in class. On the other hand, despite cost of tuition private schools try to work with the parents as much as possible in providing them with a payment plan that is suitable. Some people think private schools aren’t diverse enough and can’t help in molding a child due to the environment and limitations, but given these points from an educational stand point, are they really?

 

Distance Learning Bridges the Gap in Education

In today’s times it is hard to deny the impact of technology.  Every single day increasing amounts of gadgets are created and invented boasting different claims of how each new product will make various aspects of our lives easier.  New products are created so quickly that consumers can for example purchase a brand new computer system in January.  By March, their “new” system is now severely outdated.  Technology has spread into all areas of our lives, integrating itself within our day to day with the Internet leading the charge, and has even worked its way into the classroom with distance learning.  Distance learning is officially defined as a mode of delivering education and instruction, often on an individual basis to students who are not physically present in a traditional classroom setting.  It provides access to when the source of information and the learners are separated by time and distance, or both.  Distance learning is beneficial for adult students because it provides easier access for learning, it helps those with constant childcare and family obligations, and it offers flexibility in order for students to learn at different paces.

First, it allows people that otherwise are unable to get back and forth to the school a chance to attend their courses over the Internet.  Not everyone is fortunate enough to have their own vehicle, or have access to one on a consistent basis.  In some areas, public transportation may be plentiful, but the cost to use it might prove to be too expensive.  In other areas, public transportation is be scarce altogether. In either case the option to attend courses online takes the lack of transportation out of the equation entirely.  There is an added bonus for the people that are elderly, and/or handicapped that are unable to get out to their classes or who may find that the schools they attend don’t have all of the handicap access points they need in order to attend them physically on campus.  Distance learning is also beneficial because we don’t all live right next to the school we would like to go to.  In the past, students would either have to find a way to get to that school to attend it, or be forced to choose a different school that is located closer to where they live.  Now prospective students can live in South Carolina and attend classes entirely online at a school in Arizona or even in another country.  At the same time students living abroad seeking an accredited United States degree can get one while staying their home country without having to deal with the many inconveniences of applying for student visas to study here.

Distance learning also helps students with constant childcare and family obligations.  As we grow into adulthood, we are often met with life situations that will often require our attention.  We move out on our own, we form relationships and fall in love, we get married, and we have children of our own.  We may also have certain family members that may have special needs, or it could be an elderly parent whose care will require a lot of our time.  When the fact that each family member has their own set of circumstances that need to be attended to is added, the perfect recipe of a person that will be unable to attend classes on a regular basis without making several major changes and adjustments is created.  That is not to say that everyone has all of these issues, but we all have our own stories.  Children lead active lives.  They are involved in sports, play in the school bands, sing in the choirs, participate in boy/girl scouts, or a plethora of other events that would need our support.  The problem with that is classes taken on a college campus have strict attendance policies.  When life happens, it will be difficult to attend these courses and keep up with the coursework that does not slow down as the semester progresses.  When students take their courses online, the only schedule they have to keep to is their own.  It becomes much easier to juggle the kids and family obligations, and students are also saved the task of having to find, deal with, and pay babysitters.  They can feel free to get their children to whatever event they need to go to, and they can keep the same order in their home lives that they and their families are accustomed to.  They can accomplish all of that, and still fit in their schoolwork in between as needed.

Finally, a very important benefit distance learning offers students is flexibility.  Previously we looked at how flexibility plays an important role with family obligations.  It also has a second role to be looked at more closely.  If we take a look around a traditional classroom in a high school setting for instance, it will be noticed that some of the students seem alike in character while other students will seem to be very different from each other.  The point here is that in this setting, even though the students have some differences amongst themselves they are largely similar due to them being the same age and at the same stage of their lives.  Everyone is not the same in that they will still tend to have different learning styles, but educators can still get by teaching these kinds of students in a general style.  When it comes to adults however, it’s a different field of play.  Here the students are all in different stages of their lives. There are young adults in their late teens to early 20’s, up to students in their 50’s to even those in their 60’s that are all in the same class.  A lot of the more mature students may feel uncomfortable enough with the idea of going back to school in the first place, but to chance being in classes with younger students can cause some feelings of anxiety.  Distance learning addresses that problem also.  In online courses, if you even see the list of names of the other students in the class, that’s about as far as it will get.  I’ve taken a few online courses, and I haven’t even seen what some of my instructors look like.  They assign work through our emails.  Once we retrieve and complete it, we turn it in online, and receive our grades by email.  At the end of the course, I got my grades and then moved on.  It was simple and easy, which are two of the things that a lot of people look for when deciding to return to school.

Everyone no matter the age has a certain learning style that best fits them.  The flexibility of online courses allows each student to go at their own pace.  No one has to worry about if they are holding the class up, nor do they have to worry about anyone laughing at them over any questions they may have on the class material.  All work is assigned through email or on a class website.  All completed work is turned in the same way.  Any questions students have can be asked through email, or the student can choose any other method the educator has provided for the needed one-on-one assistance.

Regardless of the many reasons why so many students did not complete college right out of high school which for the most part was expected, the idea to return to school is a wonderful one.  There have always been adult college courses offered for those who wished to attend, but unless students had steady transportation, a steady life with little to no distractions, and no need for flexibility within the classroom, college life as a middle aged adult would not have been a good fit.  Distance learning changes a lot of that, in taking these concerns completely out of the equation.  It makes those that try to come up with reasons and/or excuses as to why they can’t go back to school now have to come up with better ones.  The few reasons discussed here, thanks to distance learning are no longer valid.  We can now see who is truly interested in doing what it takes to make their dream job opportunities their reality.

Words Can Be More Damaging Than You Think

In the United States, 1 out of every 6 students is regularly bullied. This means that they aren’t only bullied a few times, but that they are bullied quite often, daily even. Bullying in the United States has increased over the years because of the advancements of technology. Kids are not only bullied face to face but over the internet on social networking sites as well. Many people don’t take bullying seriously, but it has become more and more of a problem. Bullying is very hurtful and needs to be stopped. Bullying can cause a violent environment for children, health problems, and decreased academic achievement.

When children go to school, their parents expect them to be able to learn in a safe environment. Bullies can simply just taunt a student and make fun of them. However, some bullies result to violence. “282,000 students are physically attacked in secondary schools each month.” According to this statistic, bullies create an unsafe environment for others. On the flip side, kids that are bullied are more than likely to retaliate back using violence. A lot of teenagers that are bullied want revenge. According to The Bureau of Justice Statistics, “86% of surveyed teens say, ‘other kids picking on them, making fun of them, or bullying them’ causes teenagers to turn to lethal violence in the schools.” Bullying is not only violent for the victims. But the victims of bullying may result in violence to get their ‘pay back’.

Children that are bullied may have some health complaints. Bullying can cause depression and anxiety which means the victims can have increased feelings of sadness and loneliness. When children are bullied, it makes them feel like nobody likes them and that they are all alone. Depression can cause adolescents to do harm to themselves. When depressed teenagers harm themselves, they may result to cutting or other methods of trying to commit suicide. Bullying can also cause another psychological health issue which is uncontrollable anger. When someone is bullied, it not only causes them to become extremely upset, but very aggressive and angry as well. The anger that children get from being bullied can cause them to retaliate against their bullies and others. As a result, these acts of revenge would then become a major factor in creating an unsafe environment for everyone around them.

Children who are bullied have a high chance of decreased academic achievement. Someone that has high academic achievements is someone who is very focused on school and on getting good grades. When someone is bullied, it can cause them to lose that focus and drive for academic achievement. Decreased academic achievement consists of a lowering GPA and lower standardized test scores. Many students that are bullied are very likely to keep to themselves and not be involved in school participation. Just because of being bullied children who are more likely to miss, skip, or drop out of school.

Bullying in schools is a problem that needs to be stopped. More people need to be aware of how big of an issue bullying is. Bullying causes children to feel unsafe. It also causes children to feel deeply depressed and sad. Bullies can make children feel worthless and not worthy of anything. No one at that age should have to feel that way.

High School Does Not Prepare Students Enough

High School Does Not Prepare Students Enough

                In today’s society high school is a joke, high school does not prepare kids enough while they are enrolled. I know from personal experience that a student can go through high school without cracking a book, and still graduate with a four point zero grade point average. I was one of those students who didn’t have to study, and that should not be the way it is. Teachers should push their students to their utmost potential, and push them to learn more and more each day. If students are not pushed to their full potential they will not be prepared for college, and reality will suddenly smack them in the face because they are realizing that everything will not be handed to them. In my opinion teachers do not give enough homework, teachers let students get away with too much nonsense, and some teachers don’t care if you comprehend their lessons or not.

First of all, I do not think that teachers give students enough homework at night. If teachers would give students homework every night on the material that they studied that day in class, then it would make subjects more understandable. I have always been taught as a child that practice makes perfect. I am positive that is why I have excelled as much as I have in baseball because all of my life I loved practicing for baseball, just to work on my game. If teachers gave homework every night it would give students the opportunity to practice what they learned in class, and it makes them comprehend more than just going home and forgetting it and not remembering the next day.

Secondly, teachers let students get away with too much nonsense. I had teachers that would be in front of a class and have students carrying on their own conversations, and not be paying any attention to what the teachers were trying to teach. If I was a teacher and students were talking while I was trying to teach I would send them out of the classroom and he/she would be in trouble. It’s not only disrespectful to the teachers, but it is disrespectful to the students who are actually there to learn. High school teachers are somewhat of a push over to students, and when students get to college or out in the real world they are going to realize that they are not prepared for anything.

Thirdly and finally, some teachers do not care if their students understand their lessons or not. For example in high school I had a biology teacher in high school that would not help me on a paper that I had turn in the next week. I stayed after school one day to see if he could help me and he told me that it wasn’t his job to make me understand what I was writing a paper on. That day I packed up my things and I never said a word to him again, unless I had to in class. I just do not comprehend why he chose being a teacher if he couldn’t help someone, who didn’t understand something that he had taught. Don’t get me wrong, not all teachers are the same, but the ones like this do not prepare anyone for college or the real world.

In conclusion, I do not think high school prepares students enough. Most freshmen in college get the shock of their lives when they get to school. I know personally that it was tough. I did not have to study in high school so I never truly understood how to, and when I got to college I almost flunked out because high school did not prepare me enough. With that being said I rest my case.

Who’s belly is it?

Teen moms are the number one reasons females’ dropout. The number of dropout’s among the new age “tweens” has risen over the past 5 years of 10%. Even though males top the charts with the highest dropout rate teen moms are creeping behind them. Living in the years of a teenager is challenging enough without the responsibilities of parenthood. Today’s society is a little more acceptable of teen pregnancy, but it still draws controversy. Teen pregnancy has contributed to the raging dropout rate because the student lack of time to study, a missing social life, and the overwhelming shock of parenthood.

Although good studying habits are something developed over time, it would be hard to get in the swing of something never practiced. The lack of studying helps increase the chances of dropping out because the student is more than likely going to fall behind in class. Due do to the fact that the baby comes first now studying is not at the top of the list. Most teenage mothers trying to deal with school and motherhood find out juggling both is not as easy as it seems. 46 % of mothers don’t even graduate by age 22 compared to the 89% of teens that were not pregnant. This statics shows that most mothers give up on their education and opportunity to better the life for both of them before it even starts. Lisa, a classmate of mine, says being a teenage mother has affected her studying because the baby is always up and wants her attention. She doesn’t want to ignore her baby’s need so she sometimes let her studying go on the back burner. As a result of that, her grades are suffering. I can agree with that from being a teenage mother myself. It became very frustrating at times ,but i knew that it was to help both of us in the long run.

12th grade prom, senior skip day, senior trip, and graduation is something a lot of teens look forward to. A social life is something a lot of teens hold dear to them and can become tarnish when pregnancy comes around. When teens get the courage to go tell their peers some of their friends don’t want to be seen with them anymore. That makes the teen sometimes feel that they don’t have that support group so they want to drop out of school. They go through physical changes of their newly growing stomach and emotional changes as they go through the months. Immediately they see what they though was important is no longer important. 55% of teens lose friends they had before they were pregnant. The loss of friend’s impacts a teen by feeling they have no purpose or has now became an embarrassment at school. For example, as seen on the TV series Teen Moms you can see that many teen mothers don’t have as many friends as they once did. On the show Chelsea, she has friends but was too embarrassed at school to return after having her baby. She wants to be a hairdresser but by putting her GED off she is pushing that goal back. What if she never was embarrassed by being pregnant in school maybe she would be already in the career she wants to be in?

The shock of parenthood puts a lot of stress on a person. The priorities are no longer just yourself it is another human being. Sometimes the lack of help from the father or support from family makes the process in motherhood more difficult. 65% of teens become distant with their parents due to pregnancy.87 % are not with the father of their child by the end of the 1st year. Janelle on teen moms shows that by the lack of support from her mother and difficulties of parenthood she dropped out of college. She felt that the support of her family was not there. Too often, in most cases the parent of the teenage mothers distant themselves. My mother and I weren’t on the best of terms when i gave birth to my firstborn. She kind of let me get a feel for it and experienced it myself. I was mad with her at the moment because I felt like she didn’t understand me or wasn’t trying to see my point. She wasn’t trying to understand I had to work, go to school, take care of a baby and on top of that I was stressed. Meanwhile, I didn’t understand that was my problem not hers. As time passed by, i came to understand where she was coming from and the reasons she did what she did. We are closer now than ever before.

Being a teen is difficult and as society change the difficulties grow. 70% of teen moms never finish high school due to the lack of time studying, missing social life and shock of parenthood. An education is something so beautiful and priceless. It’s the one thing that someone can’t take away which your knowledge .Even though dropping out has become easier to do just take a challenge and fight through whatever the situation maybe to see the better side. I know the rates of dropouts between race and gender may flutter as the new generation we have to start to set new standards. Learn about the prevention of pregnancies on teenmom2.mtv.com so that the statistics of dropouts of teen pregnancy is no longer a statistics.

College Dropouts

We often wonder how literacy rates affect us as individuals in school or at work.  Does literacy rates have anything to do with college students dropping out of school?  Little do we know, low literacy rates  have an impact on us, andeven on employment.  But the rates of college dropouts are steadily increasing because of the lack of financial aid assistance, family support, and technological knowledge.

Why would the lack of financial aid assistance have an impact on college dropouts?  First of all, if college students aren’t provided with adequate assistance from their financial aid offices, they tend to give up on going to college.  College isn’t as cheap as some would consider it to be. According to Statistics, the finances of students tend to be the biggest cause of students having to drop out of college.  Also, if they are not provided with enough financial aid to cover tuition, housing, and books they usually dropout as well.  Not all college students have a job, so imagine being one of the students who attend college on a full-time basis while working.

However, financial aid assistance is not the only cause of college students to drop out of school.  The lack of family support plays a big role in that as well.  Statics shows that 60% of college dropouts do not get the support that they need from their parents.  For instance, not having our own transportation and having to rely on our parents to take us back and forth to school can be quite frustrating for some students.  I don’t have my own transportation, and I have to rely on my mother to bring me to school.  Sometimes I’m late and sometimes I’m early.  I tend to get discouraged and want to give up on school sometimes.  Also, if our parents are not financially stable, we still can’t depend on them.  Why would we expect students to stay in college if they can’t get the proper support they need at home?

Lastly, the lack of technological knowledge can play a big factor causing some college students to drop out.  Today, schools use more technology than a little bit.  Not everyone is a computer whiz and everyone does not learn the same.  Though, we would expect students to want to learn about the things they do not know, it is not that simple.  Even having the basic knowledge that we need on a day to day basis is not good enough.  We have to obtain extra knowledge through technology. Students who do not have that technological knowledge find themselves getting left behind.   Especially, with the many different changes that technology is making.  We have smartphones and different computer ware that have the IQ of a genius.  Even for classes as simple as math and reading requires some type of work that involves technology.  We are even able to access schoolbooks through technology.  What can we do to make technology more attainable for every student to be successful and want to stay in college?

There are many different factors that students have to face, which usually result in dropping out of school.  What can we do to encourage students to stay in school or help them through their struggles?  Maybe if we can help more college students to help themselves to be more independent, there would be less students dropping out of college.

 

U. S. Proficiency Rate

U.S. Proficiency Rate

            Through the years we have had different proficiency rates for the U.S. A lot might ask what a proficiency rate is. A proficiency rate is how well we might do as a country against other countries in Math, reading and other subjects.  In 2011 the proficiency rate has dropped dramatically.  If the proficiency rate keeps dropping it will effect students in high school, and college prospects, and  future job opportunities,

In the 2011 there was a drop in the math proficiency rate. In 2001 we had a proficiency rate of 32 %in math. This was a major concern to a lot of people because we were in the 32^th place when we where compared to different countries. Our math scores are topped by other countries with a higher score of Shanghai with 75%, Germany with 45% and France with 39%. Our reading rate was a little lower than that we came in with a 32% versus the higher percentages in Korea with the leading 47% and Finland close behind with a 46%. While the U.S. had a mere 31% in reading.

Another area which is drawing some major concern is College opportunities. If our scholars are graduating with low scores they will have to catch up on the information that they did not learn in college. In programs that are offered in college now a lot of students have to take two or three Basic English classes before they are ready to take college English. Math is another subject which may cause students to take additional classes before they are ready for regular College courses. A lot of students may have not been offered the advanced courses in these subjects in high school, however they will still need to learn the information for most college degrees. Since the4y will have to take extra classes to make up for the information that they did not learn they will be in college longer and will incur more student loans tat they will have to pay off.

However, one of the most pressing issues which are causing concern is that now jobs are being outsourced for professional level work to other countries. This is a concern with a lot of people that are watching our nation’s youth. If a lot of our jobs are be outsourced because the younger generation cannot complete the job duties where do that leave the graduating students at? It will increase the percentage of unemployed workers that we have in the U.S. If they can not qualify for entry level positions in accounting firms what will they be able to qualify to do? A lot of other jobs will also be unavailable to them because of there lack of understanding English or mathematics.

There are a lot of consequences of having low scores in proficiency test. There are a few ways our students can help to change that by taking extra classes in English and Math in college. There is still a lot of concern over the jobs that are being out sourced to other countries that our graduate students should be able to apply for. It’s in the best interest for the students and the parents to pay active attention to there education so they will have a promising future.