The Race for the Higher Number

Elizabeth Guirado
ENC 1102

It is a matter of statistics; apparently the only trustworthy evidence that determines whether an institution is doing well or bad. Today’s ‘Race for the Higher Number,’ as it will probably go down in history, is shifting people’s efforts towards meeting quotas rather than towards achieving quality. With drop out rates and graduation percentages being shouted from every angle, I cannot help but worry that the same thing will happen to education for the sake of numbers.

As a safety net for society, and as a symbol of liberation for free men and women, like acclaimed author Parker Palmer would call it (Van Gelder), education holds as much importance to civilized society as do the industries that keep it functioning. While declining graduation rates should be reason for concern, the solution should not revolve around increasing these numbers, or like I mentioned before, to meeting the quota. If our statistics are in fact representative of the whole and education is becoming less of a priority to young people, our solution has to be able to address the person. Increasing graduation rates solely for the higher number, for example by lowering the school’s graduation criteria, would undermine the true goal of education, that which is of spiritual rather than monetary enrichment. To address the individual, the solution should revolve around reforming our view of the educational system and more specifically the perspectives students, teachers, and administrators carry with them into the system.

Students have long been told that times have changed and that in order to be financially stable as adults they need to earn a college degree. Well, times have changed, and now they are changing once again. The search for financial stability in the job market today is allowing students that do not feel comfortable in school to skip that step. According to a study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development only 46 percent of American students complete their college studies. Fruzsina Eordogh, an aspiring journalist, exemplifies this new trend, dropping out of college just a few classes away from graduating. She admits that delving into the job market before her classmates has been an advantage and that the debt they will accumulate from their studies will be greater than hers. Indeed, financial barriers are an important determining factor for college students who question the need of a college degree in their field (“Why College…”). The emphasis that students place on their future livelihoods seems to surpass that which they place on gaining personal enlightenment.

John O’Connor, a writer for StateImpact, gives us current and future warnings about an educationally lagging Florida. He states that with only 36.5 percent of its residents earning a college degree, 1.7 percent less than the national average, Florida ranks 31st in the nation in the number of adults who are college graduates. In his article he includes a report from the Lumina Foundation that predicts that Florida will not be meeting its job market demands by 2018, when an estimated 59 percent of jobs will require a college degree. While these statistics are alarming, it would not be surprising to see that many of these students are like Eordogh, ready to get their hands dirty in a profession they love. In fact, the increased emphasis on entrepreneurship across the country may be responsible for these numbers, allowing students to ditch the conventional college degree for the immediate gratification of money. But is skipping college really beneficial? Should not higher education be enthralling students with the opportunity for personal growth, networking, and learning? Even if a changing job market is to blame for the decline in completion rates, measures need to be taken so that students feel better at their institutions and have a greater chance of success.

Dr. Eduardo Padrón, President of Miami Dade College (MDC), was faced with the decision to reform his school’s policies in order to improve the student body’s graduation rate; a rate he states, “no one at MDC would ever say is good enough.” Although the Miami Dade College graduation rate is above the state and national norm, 39% for its college-ready students and 18% for those that are not, the school risks intervention from outside the college if their numbers are not improved soon. Padrón’s MDC3 Student Success and Completion Initiative is a plan that hopes to enhance the student experience through better assessment of student skills and weaknesses (“Collegewide…”). MDC3, read ‘MDC cubed,’ approaches the problem in a three-dimensional way; reaching out to students, faculty and the administration for changes within the school.

Unquestionably, this approach it they key. The fact is that low graduation rates cannot be reduced to the administration’s mistakes. Instead, a closer look should be taken at the individual. Dr. Padrón recognizes that “MDC’s open door mission is very ambitious and guarantees… stubborn challenges.” Although the open door mission provides our county with a second chance at a good education, the school also risks having a greater number of underprepared and unmotivated students registering and later dropping out. Ultimately, this results in lower graduation rates. Such policy also forces the administration to provide a greater variety of guidance resources to serve the variety of educational levels entering the college. Additionally, the policy causes the school to have a larger student body and a weaker sense of community and belonging; two things that students at the college say account for their dissatisfaction with the institution.

Miami Dade College students confirm that these issues exist in their campus. Pablo Machado, a student at the Kendall campus, refers to his school grounds as prison-like and believes that a greater emphasis should be placed on school spirit. Although he feels prepared for the career he will pursue (in criminal justice), he feels that few of his teachers have really helped him achieve this preparation. Lina Pena, another student at the college, is a 40 year-old foreign student on a fast track to graduation. Her experience has been a unique one compared to other students in the sense that she must graduate before two years, the standard time it takes to obtain an Associate’s degree. Despite their different experiences both Machado and Pena agree that the advising services have helped them little to jumpstart their college studies (Machado).

An online survey conducted by students of Professor Carlos Gonzalez’s English class, although not representative of the entire college, also sheds light on the level of dissatisfaction within the institution. Between the students surveyed one third had chosen Miami Dade College to transfer later, another third had chosen it to earn an Associate’s degree, and another third had chosen it because acceptance was guaranteed. Results showed that 83% of the students surveyed would not pursue a Bachelor’s degree at the college, even though the college offers a limited amount of them. Additionally, when asked about their favorite facility on campus 83% of them did not have one. Eighty-three percent of the students surveyed also agreed that MDC should change their policies to better suit their students’ needs. Ironically, however, when asked if they would advise friends and family to attend MDC in the future 92% of them said they would (Barroso). This may show that there still is hope amongst the student body for a better college experience. At the same time, these results may indicate that students consider external factors, like poor guidance or campus aesthetics, less of an issue when pursuing an education. Instead, they may view the school only as a stepping-stone in their academic pursuits and may be determined and confident that they will complete their college education. These students, however, would be deemed the ‘crème de la crème’of MDC. Miami Dade College’s real success comes from graduating at-risk students who need the extra support and guidance. 

Miami Dade College’s MDC3 initiative seems to have recognized the needs of its student body. Lenore Rodicio, the plan’s executive director, admits that “students need more structure in the way advisement occurs and the way [they] provide information to them, including more follow-up throughout their college career, and not just at orientation” (“Collegewide…”). In a presentation describing the plan she also discusses the need to address the broad spectrum of students that enroll in the college: those at college level, those below college level, and those for whom English is not their first language. “The glue,” as Rodicio calls it, which will merge these three types of students will be “communities of interest and integrated student support systems” within the school; the former to “foster collaborative learning and connections among student, faculty and disciplines,” and the latter to implement a “pre-admissions process that includes … structured information systems, test prep and early engagement” (Rodicio 11,12). Perhaps one of the most important points made by this plan is the need for collaboration and communication. Students need to feel comfortable with their teachers and administrators, and they need to feel that they have someone to turn to when they have questions.

This movement towards a more collaborative school system is one studies have found to be essential for a student’s success. Anthony S. Bryk and Barbara Schneider referred to this collaboration as “relational trust,” a factor within a school environment that helps initiatives “diffuse broadly across the school” and generates a moral obligation amongst the administration to improve themselves. The creation of relational trust within Miami Dade College would increase communication between students, faculty and staff; ultimately improving the advising services so many students complain about. However, although the MDC3 initiative highlights the need for collaboration and engagement within the college community as a key to the plan’s success (Rodicio 8), it seems that few students and teachers are familiar with the changes the plan is going to bring. In fact, none of the students in the survey mentioned above admitted being familiar with MDC3 (Barroso). This lack of communication contradicts the purpose of a plan that is supposed to be for the student body, and is of great concern to many at the school. In order to achieve the goals that MDC3 proposes the administration needs to establish a sound relationship with its students and faculty. Students need to become aware of the support their school is willing to provide for them.

So far, statistics have helped us identify the problem, but they will do little to help us fix it. According to the numbers, we should fear the return of a society like that of 1973 in which “72 percent of the workforce had no college education” (“Why College Students…”). This will probably not be the case, however. There is a universal need for less emphasis on the numbers and more emphasis on the individual. If administrators, and families, are able to encourage their students to pursue an education for its own intrinsic value that alone would be a great step forward. Education has to be redefined for today’s youth and students need to be given space within their courses to explore their individuality. Students that are behind should be provided with teachers that will spark their desire to learn, not teachers that will remind them of their failures. A college’s standards should not be lowered to increase graduation rates. That would only be a disservice to the student body and to our society.  Trust, communication, support, and organization are elements that should exist at all levels of the institution. Once everyone is able to appreciate their importance within the educational system, the higher numbers will come by themselves.



Works Cited

Barroso, Daniel, Luis Carmona, Carlos Gonzalez, Elizabeth Guirado, Pablo Machado, and Lina Pena. Personal Evaluation of Academic Plan. Raw data. Miami. June 2012.

Bryk, Anthony S., and Barbara Schneider. "Trust in Schools: A Core Resource for School Reform." Education Full Text. H.W. Wilson, Mar. 2003. Web. 31 May 2012. <http://web.ebscohost.com.db16.linccweb.org/ehost/detail?vid=9&hid=106&sid=1f9dd068-a1e5-4176-a092-037d7c4ebce8%40sessionmgr112&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=eft&AN=507813978>.

"Collegewide Initiative on Student Completion in Full Gear." College Forum - Miami Dade College 16 (Apr. 2012): 2. Web. <http://www.mdc.edu/main/collegeforum/archive/vol16-02/academics/l0700_mdc3.aspx>.

Machado, Pablo, and Lina Pena. "My Personal Experience at Miami Dade College." Interview by Elizabeth Guirado. n.d.: n. pag. Print.

O'Connor, John. "Florida Not Producing Enough College Graduates To Meet Job Market Demand." StateImpact. Local Public Media and NPR, 28 Mar. 2012. Web. 14 May 2012. <http://stateimpact.npr.org/florida/2012/03/28/florida-not-producing-enough-college-graduates-to-meet-job-market-demand/>.

Padrón, Eduardo. "To Make a Difference." 7 May 2012. E-mail.

Rodicio, Lenore P. "Connections Conference." 13 Apr. 2012. Web. 31 May 2012. <http://www.fldoe.org/CC/connections/pdf/CompletionbyDesign.pdf>.

Van Gelder, Sarah. "Parker Palmer: Know Yourself, Change Your World." Yes Magazine 09 Sept. 2009. Web. 31 May 2012. <http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/learn-as-you-go/know-yourself-change-your-world>.

"Why college students stop short of a degree." Reuters. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 27 Mar. 2012. Web. 14 May 2012.