When institutions of higher learning have to provide remedial courses for their incoming freshman in order for them to begin taking "college-level" course, we have a problem.  When you add into the mix the fact that the majority of incoming freshman were ranked in the top 25% of their graduating classes, we have an educational crisis brewing.  When institutions of higher learning have to provide remedial courses for their incoming freshman in order for them to begin taking "college-level" course, we have a problem.  When you add into the mix the fact that the majority of incoming freshman were ranked in the top 25% of their graduating classes, we have an educational crisis brewing.  Unfortunately, the remediation concerns don't stop there.  Employers have begun to invest critical training dollars in "finishing" their college graduates whom they employ. Many lack basic communication skills required for the workplace such as written communication, public speaking, and business math.  What is even more disturbing, many of these new BA's and BS's graduated at the top of their college classes.

So whose doorway do we lay the blame for this downturn in literacy in our society? I would like to blame Bill Gates but I have come to rely on Microsoft spell check and grammar programs.  So who then? Is it the politicians? The media? Drugs and rock'n'roll? Texting?

Rather, I think the problem is more basic.  Public schools have become the key institution in society for inculcating required socialization strategies.  This "new" curricula is deemed necessary for civil society by legislative bodies whether school boards, state legislatures, or Congress.  So instead of spending time with Johnny on the basics, instructional time is parsed to make room for more and more non-academic programs such as personal safety, AIDS awareness, drug prevention, tolerance of differences, character education, etc.

So are teachers the problems?  In a culture that rates success in the number of dollars traded for the service performed, teachers don't climb to the top of the pile. Many of those who would make the best teachers choose a place in the private sector that rewards their intellect and ability.  So finding qualified teachers has become more difficult as regulations and requirements are increased and pay remains static.  According to a report on teacher education written by Arthur Levine, former president of Teacher's College at Columbia University, "Aspiring teachers emerge from college woefully unprepared for their jobs...."  In addition, the report lists a host of other problems: low admission standards (those who can't, teach), disengaged college faculty, insufficient classroom practice and poor oversight.

So where do we begin in addressing this problem?  Let's look to models of success outside the field. Let's turn teacher's colleges into the equivalent of the Eller School of Business in prestige, and maybe, just maybe, remove the "socialization curriculum" from the halls of public institutions of learning.