Providing Assistance to those who need help overcoming academic readiness deficiencies

From third world countries like Guatemala or Perú to inner city neighborhoods like Chicago’s Little Village it is unfortunate that education is not a right but a privilege. History has shown over and over that an educated society is able to adapt to the continuous changes that take place on our planet, and societies where scientific knowledge is valued are usually better off. But how do we sell the idea that education is the key to prosperity to someone who lives in poverty? Although learning is not confined to a classroom, we live in a society that ignores the learning processes that takes place outside of an educational environment. From a very early age, almost everyone learns mathematics without even realizing it. In Latin-America, mothers usually sing to their babies a song that says “2 y 2 son 4, 4 y 2 son 6. 6 y 2 son 8 y 8 16.” In the Mediterranean, the Greeks teach the concept of infinity through simple language use. Since education is a very personal experience the teaching-learning experience should be tailor to an individual’s needs and abilities as much as possible. But how can this be done in a diverse society like ours and in classrooms affected by socioeconomics?

It is my believe that society truly needs to embrace the old African proverb “it takes a village, to raise a child.”  We need to come together as a family in a prosperous atmosphere of growth and development.  Our duty, responsibility and commitment ought to be to motivate, encourage, and inspire others to achieve their own personal educational venues and professional fulfillment.  As a person with firsthand experience of the constant challenges surrounding learning science and mathematics, I can personally acknowledge the impact that encouragement, determination, guidance and mentoring have on a student’s academic life.  I graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School, one of many Chicago Public Schools in the Albany Park district, in 1995.  Like several of my former students, I had a hard time navigating our country’s educational system and adapting to the academic world as an undergraduate. However, I was fortuned to find someone to showed me the way to navigate the academic world, which turned my life around and placed me in a successful academic path.

Every year approximately 60% of first-year college students discover that they are not adequately prepare for post-secondary studies even though they have met high school graduation requirements (The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, 2010). These students usually lack algebraic, geometric, modeling, statistical, and probabilistic knowledge (Arizona Department of Education, 2015).  However, Conley’s (2007) defines mathematics college readiness as the student’s ability to be successful in college-level mathematics courses without the need for remedial or developmental coursework.  Most states define these abilities as being able to communicate, reason and problem solving, make connections between mathematical concepts, and being able to relate mathematics to other disciplines and real-life situations (McCormick & Lucas, 2011).

I believe that it is society’s job to work together to give the new generation the tools needed to be ready for college, don’t leave it just to the educators!  Remember “it takes a village, to raise a child.”

David Tello, Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics for the Life and Social Sciences 2012 – Arizona State University.

Disclaimer:  The above represent the ideas solely of the author and are not associated with any other person or organization.  Comments are welcome, private comments can be send to [email protected].

References:

Arizona Indicators: University STEM Education. (2015). Retrieved from https://arizonaindicators.org/content/university-stem-education

Conley, D. T. (2007). Toward a more comprehensive conception of college readiness. Eugene, OR: Educational Policy Improvement Center. Retrieved from https://docs.gatesfoundation.org/documents/collegereadinesspaper.pdf

McCormick, N. J., & Lucas, M. S. (2011). Exploring mathematics college readiness in the United States. Current Issues in Education, 14(1). Retrieved from https://cie.asu.edu/ojs/index.php/cieatasu/article/view/680/