A graduate of the Class of 21 sporting a 3.7 gpa, including As and Bs in four AP courses, was told by his university advisor that his placement test scores were so low that he is required to complete high school geometry and writing courses before he can enroll in a university math or English course. His high school counselor had spoken of college credit being awarded for his AP course completions – no credit was awarded. Is this an anomaly or an academic injury of the pandemic? What was the balance of academic rigor, grading, and proficiency when students were bouncing between remote and in-person instruction? Is a pandemic graduate “softly” prepared for life after high school?
There are no immediate, incontrovertible answers. Several may apply. An answer is that this high school graduate did not achieve enduring content knowledge or skills resulting from his curricular instruction during his K-12 education. His gpa may reflect the aggregate of his formative test scores and not the level of his summative learning. A lower level of resilient knowledge and skill can accrue from surface-level learning.
An answer is that this graduate is not a good test taker and/or did not understand the importance of college placement tests. Some students perform better on daily schoolwork and formative assessments than they perform on “on demand” test dates. ACT and college placement tests are not like usual in-course tests or even semester exams in high school. They are high stakes tests resulting in scores that affect a student’s post-test options. For this reason alone, many take and re-take ACT exams.
An answer is that the learning in the recent junior and senior years has produced a “softer”, less rigorous graduate than in years past. Three semesters of remote teaching and learning allowed juniors and seniors to “skate” through courses. In some instances, online course testing was open book because there was no way for the instructor to do otherwise. Homework was collected but because many students lacked consistent tech connections leading to missing submissions, daily accountability for learning was hit and miss. My conversation with the 3.7 gpa grad confirmed that accountability, even in AP courses, was diminished. He did the minimum and it was minimal.
A “soft”proficiency provides a student with credit for accomplishment without the requisite evidence of content or skill achievement.
We are seeing a parallel softness in grade advancement in elementary and middle school. Predictably, academic assessments in September showed more children below the 50th percentile and more below the 25th than in past years. Pandemic teaching and learning did not produce pre-pandemic results. However, these children advanced a grade level in the PK-12 ladder just as seniors graduated in June 2021. Credit for accomplishment of the school year was granted.
Not all was lost for a graduating senior. My 3.7 gpa friend is much more prepared for college than friends in prior graduating classes. His junior and senior courses gave him real experience with schooling in a college-like time frame. He did not rise and go to school every day. He was online and connected only when scheduled. He was responsible for submitting assignments on his own – perhaps a downfall in his case. He was personally accountable for his learning. Other friends told me stories of their junior and senior years being college-like in the absence of daily class period structure, face-to-face contact with teachers, and being personally responsible for submitting assignments. Almost every conversation contained the double-edged realization: “Freedom from class periods is great! My schoolwork is not a rigorous and my work on my assignments is not as complete as it used to be”. In essence, a pandemic education gave them strong insight into college education, for better or worse.
My advice to my 3.7 gpa friend is in a golfer’s analogy. “Play the ball where it lies. There are no mulligans.” Your end game is a degree in engineering. The “lie” you find yourself in is very playable, just longer and slightly off course from your goal. Your goal is very achievable. You learned many of the challenges of a college education in high school. Use all your skills and experiences now to achieve your college goals. Be a post-pandemic college graduate and engineer.