User:Davedoumis

Bio
Hello, I’m Doumis and I am a third quarter student in the Interior Design program at the Art Institute of Seattle. I am currently living in Seattle, and was born and raised here. I enjoy a great amount of outdoor activities like skiing, hiking and jogging, but wish I had more time to take part in them. I enjoy traveling, and experiencing different cultures. School is a very big part of my life and seems to always keep me busy. Always enjoying life, and never taking a day that goes by for granted.

Final
With such high pressure for success in the public school system, one would wonder why, after the billions of dollars that are spent each year, the graduation rate is still not as high as it is in other countries that invest far less money on public education says the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Clearly the amount of money spent on public education isn’t benefiting students for the future success in college or wherever they choose to go after high school. So what is the issue then, is the public education system lacking in preparing students success or is it the fault of the students in their aspirations to succeed? The whole point of school, from elementary through high school, is to prepare students for real life and living on their own, whether or not they decided to attend college. But for most, college is the time when you learn how to be capable, task oriented and efficient. The goal of high school has been dramatically shifted, from helping students ease in to their futures, to forcing students to memorize equations and learn better test-taking skills in hopes for higher standardized testing scores. The use of standardized testing in the United States is a 20th century invention and seems as though is that what is not tested is not taught. Under the federal No Child Left Behind law in the United States, low test scores mean schools and school districts can be labeled as in need of improvement and punished. If standardize tests are the only method of accountability for the schools then parents and educators are less likely to know how well children are learning in untested areas. Vincent Tinto, the chair of the Higher Education Program at Syracuse University in New York says "A large number of students are ill-equipped for the challenges of college," and goes on to say “…they [students] forget to focus on what lies ahead: challenging academics, living away from home, maintaining their finances, learning time management skills, and taking responsibility for their own lives.” After high school graduation, students are expected to have gathered and learned all the information they need to move on to college. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, not only is taking the right number of courses important but as well as the right kind of courses, and the rigor of these courses, is critical to student readiness for college-level work. Every student should be prepared and have a future in mind before they leave for high school. According to the College Readiness Report sent out by the ACT says that the “existing standards in many states are not rigorous enough to ensure that students will be ready for either credit-bearing college-level work or workforce training programs. Based on comparisons completed so far of standards in 39 states to the ACT College Readiness Standards, which describe what students need to know and be able to do to be ready for college, we have identified some striking disparities between state standards and college readiness standards.” College seems to be aspired by many high school students. In fact, 80% of 10th-graders say they want to attend college. This number has risen compared to the percentage in the last decade. One would expect to see the college turn out, and success rate at a high as well, but that is on the contrary. Only a staggering 71% of teenagers even graduate from high school (NCES). With low high school graduation rates, this means that even fewer students are attending college and even fewer actually succeed and graduate from college. Getting acclimated to college life is a big issue with most high school students. So why doesn’t the public education system help with the transition? High school teachers put high demands on students to get work done. The high demand from the teachers make students less motivated to achieve any work, making the students feel as though they can slack off and still get by. Study habits by the students are put into place at a young age and by the time student’s graduate high school their study habits are well developed. Teachers seem to be unaware that if they don’t establish what is acceptable and what is not acceptable, then students will continue to maintain their study habits, if they are good habits or not. Once in college, students are no longer pushed but taught, the drastic change causes the students to get overwhelmed. To some, the constant surveillance from faculty and parents, rigid schedules and strict guidance in high school inhibit their development and learning. When put into a college atmosphere the students are suddenly no longer surrounded by the forces of high school, and are left on their own, with no rigid schedule, and less guidance. High school students seem to be unaware that college is a choice, instead of being a demand like high school. If there is no aspiration to succeed in college by the student there will be no success achieved. Some critics say the issue behind the dropout rate is from the high school teachers not knowing what the college professors want. Some say that it is the student’s fault, and to actually succeed in college there needs to be more effort put forth. At any rate, the lack of attendance and growing drop out rate in college is a serious issue. The problem actually lies before the secondary school system, with the lack of education given to the students on how to function efficiently before starting college. With more emphasis put on teaching students the reality of living on their own, and easing students in to their futures, there could possibly be a growth in the attendance of colleges, as well as the success rate of graduating. Other options are out there too, if public educators show that there are other possibilities beyond high school, showing students that there are other options other than college, it is clear that some students are simply not cut out for the stresses of college, but this doesn’t mean that they will be stuck at dead end jobs forever, trade schools and education programs offered through different companies can offer students a great future without the tuition and expenses of college. At any rate the statistics show that the amount of money spent on public education isn’t benefiting students for success in their futures may it be in college or wherever they choose to go after high school. If you choose to be college bound, the rigor process of filling out college applications start early.

Reflective Assessment
Through out the quarter, I have gained a great amount of knowledge about the process of narrowing down a topic and finding research to support that topic. I enjoyed learning about dividing sections of that topic and then splitting into a team. I learned about the different topics that each of the groups had presented upon, and have really enjoyed the process of making a group paper, that all relates and flows. I also benefited from the class discussions that we had each week, and the group papers we had read in class. By reading other groups work, I felt like it benefited our group immensely because even though we weren’t all focusing on the same topic, it gave me an outline and an idea of what other groups were focusing on. Each class I felt prepared, but also thought if I had more time to sit down with my group, so we could all be on the same page then it might have benefited the quality of the paper. Over all I thought this class went in the direction that I desired. At first I was skeptical of the Wikiversity process, and trying to format our main topic into a paper on the site. But with guidance, we soon were on the ball, and once the format was set it was a much easier process and went along smoothly.