LATimes: South L.A Student Finds a Different World at Cal (UC Berkeley)

[HejKatt]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-c1-cal-freshmen-20130816-dto,0,4673807.htmlstory

 

Excerpt:

Kashawn Campbell overcame many obstacles to become a straight-A student. But his freshman year at UC Berkeley shook him to the core.

 

As I write this, I've just finished watching lecture 3 or 4 from the Stanford Math course that's been discussed on the board, and one focus was mindset - how encouraging students to make mistakes and learn from them has a disproportionate influence on  females and minorities in STEM fields. Yet, Kashawn's story seems to point to some other requisite: an intellectual scaffolding to make mistakes and grow in. 

 

One more data point - ds recently read the picture book "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" - about a Malawian boy who learned to build a windmill from reading science books, in English, a painstaking task since he did not know the language. He's at Dartmouth now and apparently doing well. This article does mention that he works with a math tutor for calculus, so he can take more engineering classes, but that sounds reasonable. 

http://dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/the-power-of-one/

 

So my mind is a jumble of factors, and where they fit in the picture - motivation to succeed, natural talent, intellectually rich environment. Certainly we want to encourage all aspects for our dc. Still, can we end up over-emphasizing one to the point that dc misread the situation, e.g. I can do this if I try hard,  I can never do this because I have no-one to teach me?

[8filltheheart]

He sounds like an amazing young man.

 

To answer your question.....I don't think it has an answer. As overly simplistic as that sounds, I really believe a lot of it has to do with individual personalities. My kids are all very, very different from each other, so much so that I can make generalizations about them individually, but I can't make generalizations about "them."

 

I think the best we can do to empower them is to help them know themselves/ their strengths and weaknesses, how recognizing their weaknesses is not a weakness but a strength bc it enables them to understand that seeking assistance is how we get stronger, etc. Learning to understand their own personalities can help them, too. Knowing that there aren't one-size-fits all solutions means they can accept that what might work for someone else, might not be right for them and that is ok.

 

Fwiw, my 6th grader was one who as a younger child would shut down when even simple problems appeared hard. I tried multiple ways to help her develop more perseverance, and ultimately realized that the best way was to basically immerse her in constantly difficult problems that I knew she was capable of solving.....not difficult in that they were too hard for her.....and make her struggle her way through them no matter how mad she got at me and herself. After a while she recognized that she had abilities she claimed she didn't and she actually became more confident in herself. Now she asks to do the more challenging problems bc they make her think and she likes that. If I had taken an approach like that with her oldest sister who struggled, she would have shut down completely.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-c1-cal-freshmen-20130816-dto,0,4673807.htmlstory

 

One more data point - ds recently read the picture book "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" - about a Malawian boy who learned to build a windmill from reading science books, in English, a painstaking task since he did not know the language. He's at Dartmouth now and apparently doing well. This article does mention that he works with a math tutor for calculus, so he can take more engineering classes, but that sounds reasonable. 

http://dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/the-power-of-one/

 

So my mind is a jumble of factors, and where they fit in the picture - motivation to succeed, natural talent, intellectually rich environment. Certainly we want to encourage all aspects for our dc. Still, can we end up over-emphasizing one to the point that dc misread the situation, e.g. I can do this if I try hard,  I can never do this because I have no-one to teach me?

 

Clearly, motivation and hard work alone are not sufficient to succeed.  But the big difference between the Malawian boy and the LA boy is that the latter went to a terrible high school, where he apparently got little high-school level education.  He essentially skipped high school and then tried to do college level writing, and is failing horribly, despite all his hard work.  He just didn't have the required foundation.  The Malawian boy had a benefactor who sent him first to a private high school school in the capital city, which is presumably pretty rigorous, and then to the African Learning Academy, which is a rigorous, two-year pre-college program.  I'm sure the latter worked hard, but it is important to work hard at the right things, in the right order.  The E.D. Hirsch books talk about this a lot.

[nansk]

I was surprised to read that the student was failing at constructing basic sentences, and even more surprised that two writing tutors he worked closely with could not help him improve over two semesters! If his problems were apparent from his very first paper, why didn't they give him the specific instruction he needed? What were they telling him in their one-on-one tutoring sessions? How is it that a motivated student wasn't improving at all after a year's instruction?

 

I feel for this boy. It is obvious he is not getting the support he needs in college. How much farther can he get by relying on his roommate's help?

[8filltheheart]

I was surprised to read that the student was failing at constructing basic sentences, and even more surprised that two writing tutors he worked closely with could not help him improve over two semesters! If his problems were apparent from his very first paper, why didn't they give him the specific instruction he needed? What were they telling him in their one-on-one tutoring sessions? How is it that a motivated student wasn't improving at all after a year's instruction?

 

I feel for this boy. It is obvious he is not getting the support he needs in college. How much farther can he get by relying on his roommate's help?

I thought it sounded like the teachers were even tutoring him. Wasn't there a part where it mentioned how long they had spent working on a single sentence and when he turned in his paper it was still not correct?

 

Without re-reading it today, my perhaps faulty understanding was not that he wasn't getting enough help, but that he was so in over his head that he was not really able to catch up. If he had spent so many yrs writing improperly with poor grammar, sentence construction, and organization receiving As, think about how ingrained those poor habits became. At the university, by the time he recognized just how bad things were part of the first semester was over. So, he has been trying to fix a huge deficit in a semester and a half.

 

At a CC or at a lower tier college, I suspect the writing assignments would probably be less challenging and perhaps at a lower level,and his skills would have a better step to gain foothold bc in those classes they are remediating writing and helping kids learn to write. I suspect, though i can't say for sure, that his freshman writing class is about development and not fundamental skills. Especially if he hasn't mastered grammar and basic sentence a d paragraph construction, his writing writing is probably no where near elite college level.

 

I have a lot of thoughts on how he landed in a position he was clearly unprepared for through no fault of his own, but I am going avoid them bc I don't think they are relevant to the OP's post. The fact that he didn't quit, didn't drop out, and is still going to try to make it says a lot for his character. He is an amazing young man that lots of people failed, but I don't think it was his 2 college English profs who really seemed committed to not failing him.

 

How does a parent raise a child to have that level of determination vs giving up. I think it is partly simple personality.

 

(I'm pecking on my iPad and am too lazy to go back through and edit all the mistakes....please excuse!!)

[regentrude]

I was surprised to read that the student was failing at constructing basic sentences, and even more surprised that two writing tutors he worked closely with could not help him improve over two semesters! If his problems were apparent from his very first paper, why didn't they give him the specific instruction he needed? What were they telling him in their one-on-one tutoring sessions? How is it that a motivated student wasn't improving at all after a year's instruction?

 

From the article, it sounds as if his instructors went above and beyond in offering him individual help. But one year's tutoring is not sufficient to remedy what twelve years of school failed to accomplish.

And the student may, despite all his determination, not be the caliber of student for this kind of institution. It is politically incorrect to state this, but I do not believe all students possess identical intellectual abilities.

 

This article, to me, illustrates the pitfalls of placing students in an academic environment where they are unprepared to succeed. This student may have been served better had he begun with remediation at community college level and then transferred to a top university when he has a chance at succeeding. I do not see what is accomplished by placing a student in an academic environment where he is struggling this much, despite tutoring and instructors lowering their standards (usually, a grade if incomplete is reserved for situations where a student can not complete the coursework because of severe illness, not because he is underperforming).

I would like to know on what basis he got admitted.

 

I wish him well, he sounds like a hardworking and motivated young man. But I do not believe that attending UCB right out of high school was the best decision for him.

 

ETA: We can not discuss all implications, because that will lead into political territory we we are not allowed to debate here, but I just want to point out that situations like the above are one of the main critique points for affirmative action, because they lead to lower graduation rates among the very students who were supposed to benefit.

[rdj2027]

California automatically admits the top 9% of high school students as long as they meet the minimum requirements for admission (which aren't all that rigorous in my opinion).  He probably never went through a thorough admission process due to his standing in high school.  The only caveat is that the student may not be admitted to the campus of his choice but he must be admitted within the system.

 

 

[nansk]

...Especially if he hasn't mastered grammar and basic sentence a d paragraph construction, his writing writing is probably no where near elite college level....

 

Yes, this was the first part that was so surprising to me. First, how is it that a high school graduate (esp. one at the top of his class) can still have problems with sentence construction? Second, how was he, with those level of basic skills, admitted to a UC college?

 

I didn't properly understand HejKatt's points in her OP, at first, but I see you did:

 

...The fact that he didn't quit, didn't drop out, and is still going to try to make it says a lot for his character. He is an amazing young man ...

How does a parent raise a child to have that level of determination vs giving up. I think it is partly simple personality.

 

And as homeschoolers, this really is the main question we should be asking ourselves. I imagine if I was in Kashawn's place, I would probably have crumpled under that kind of pressure and disappointment. Yes, one part must be his innate personality. Another part must be his circumstances. So how do we, whose children are growing up in comfortable, safe homes, who have not experienced many (or any) hard knocks, still ensure that they grow up to be resilient and strong?

[regentrude]

. So how do we, whose children are growing up in comfortable, safe homes, who have not experienced many (or any) hard knocks, still ensure that they grow up to be resilient and strong?

By not making things too easy for them, both academically and in daily life. By having high expectations, by helping them to do things themselves instead of doing everything for them, by giving them the gift of experiencing failure, or near-failure and by creating opportunities where they have to overcome obstacles through work and persistence.

If the external circumstances do not pose a hardship, if the kids do grow up in intact families in safe neighborhoods, these character traits can be cultivated through academic challenges, extracurriculars, jobs. It is possible; I know plenty of people from stable homes in safe neighborhoods who still turned out strong, resilient, hardworking, and high achieving.

So how do we, whose children are growing up in comfortable, safe homes, who have not experienced many (or any) hard knocks, still ensure that they grow up to be resilient and strong?

 

In addition to what was said above, I think it is key that we adults model the behaviors we want to see in our kids.  In some ways, I think homeschoolers have an advantage over traditionally schooled kids here.  Homeschooling is hard.  If our kids see that we are continually learning, struggling to improve our skills, both as teachers and in the subjects we teach, that's a good life-long lesson.

[FloridaLisa]

I wonder whether grief could be a factor.  Not the only factor, of course, but definitely something mixed with a cocktail of other influences and problems. To think that he suffered the death of the woman who raised him, in a world where he was so very different and had to chart his own course, and then moved to a school where he couldn't really share and process that with anyone. It could very well have affected him more than even he realizes.  I don't think it's the only thing. Clearly excellent grades at a failing school still don't indicate being prepared for college rigor.  Still, I have to wonder.  Sounds like an amazing boy with amazing grit. 

 

Lisa

 

 

[Ameena]

Yes, this was the first part that was so surprising to me. First, how is it that a high school graduate (esp. one at the top of his class) can still have problems with sentence construction? Second, how was he, with those level of basic skills, admitted to a UC college?

 

Incredibily common, and not just at UC. I went to a private Catholic University in TX, and tutored as a side job, primarily in English & History. You would be AMAZED at the number of students, even from GOOD schools or private high schools & those who were the top of their class, who cannot read or write basic working english. I tutored kids who had been valedictorian & took AP classes, but they were on their 3rd go round of English 1301 because they couldn't read for understanding or organize their thoughts well enough to write an essay. I was lucky if they could write even a semi-correct sentence, and very few knew how to properly write an essay that wasn't the format used by the state test {which no one else uses}.

 

It's called functional illiteracy - you can read / write but not well enough to function for more than the most basic of jobs. They learned in school {thanks to teaching to the test} how to read to answer questions, but not how to read to understand & comprehend well enough to give opinions based on what they read.