Essayist Says Students Must Change From Within

Struggling to explain the poor academic performance of high school graduates, Ventura County teens point to weak schools, distracted parents, large classes--and to themselves.

Ventura County high school students entering the latest essay contest sponsored by the Ventura County Edition of The Times cited a range of explanations for the high number of freshmen at Cal State University campuses who need remedial classes in math and English.

Winning essayist Richard Stier wrote that no cause should be singled out.

“I feel that the problem is too complex to go finger-pointing at an individual source,” wrote Stier, an 18-year-old senior at El Camino High School in Ventura, a campus for students who study independently. “The change begins within the student, at home and at school, in collaboration with a challenging, accountable, and supportive school environment.”

About 40 public and private-school students entered the contest, the latest in a monthly series sponsored by The Times.

Stier’s essay, which earns the writer $100, will be published Sunday on the Ventura County editorial page and will be posted on The Times’ World Wide Web site at https://www.latimes.com/essaycorner.

Contestants addressed the following question: About half of this year’s freshmen at Cal State campuses failed basic reading and math exams. Who’s to blame for this poor performance and what should be done?

Some essayists faulted teachers for failing to engage students in their work.

“Students are no longer interested because the teachers aren’t making learning fun or exciting,” wrote Leah Wallace, a sophomore at Moorpark High.

“To improve these test scores, teachers should learn to make learning fun, not boring,” agreed Christiana King, a sophomore at Santa Susana High School in Simi Valley. “Teachers need to make us, as students, want to come to class and learn.”

Blaming Themselves

But more often, students blamed themselves.

“Learning isn’t always fun, work isn’t always fun, and learning is work,” wrote Moorpark High sophomore Sarah Moore.

“Many attend primarily because they are required to by law and do not comprehend the importance of learning,” wrote Gary Wallace, another Moorpark sophomore. “Only a minority of American students actually care about obtaining a good high school education which will prepare them for college and future careers. Generally, teenagers are more interested in their friends, sports, parties, the opposite sex, and, in some cases, drugs.”

“Many students merely don’t value education enough,” agreed Susan Tam, a freshman at Westlake High School in Thousand Oaks. “Students see their high-school years as just a time to be young, have fun, and test their limits.”

“High school students today juggle sports, friends, school, appointments, jobs, boyfriends and girlfriends, stress and homework,” wrote Kerri Adams of Camarillo, a sophomore at La Reina High School in Thousand Oaks. “Therefore, it is not a surprise that many students begin to see their grades drop.”

Kimberly Shively of Moorpark, also a La Reina sophomore, wrote that “The idea of ‘living the good life’ does not seem to include a higher education. Half of the young adults in our community want to do something in life but are simply too lazy to work for it.”

Schools also are to blame for their graduates’ poor performance in the Cal State exams, many students argued.

“Too many students have learned how to ‘get by’ in their high-school classes without ever having this fundamental knowledge, and somehow they manage to last four years without anyone noticing the enormous gaps in their education,” wrote Laura Ingman, a La Reina sophomore.

“The schools often act as ‘social workers,’ focusing on socioeconomic issues rather than core curriculum,” wrote Ari Shaw, a Moorpark High sophomore.

Becky Miller of Westlake Village, a sophomore at La Reina, argued that “most blame should be placed on a system that allows students not only to graduate elementary school, but especially high school without meeting the requirements and standards of California universities.”

Too often schools let students get by without learning, agreed Erin Meister of Thousand Oaks, a sophomore at La Reina. “Very rarely does the child fail a high-school course; rather they receive a ‘C,’ which leads them to believe that they did fine and are ‘average.’ ”

Parental Push

Many students said parents--for various reasons--don’t do enough to push students.

“Most parents in the 1990s work, often leaving their children to come home to an empty house,” wrote La Reina student Susanne Dunwell of Agoura. “Without parent supervision of their children, no rules are enforced about completing homework.

Consequently, children never learn a set routine to come home, do homework, and then watch television or play games.”

Students also pointed to large class sizes.

Having as many as 40 students in a class “makes it very hard for teachers to do their job well,” wrote Ashley Thompson, a La Reina sophomore. “If they do not have time to help each student individually, students start to slip through the cracks.”

Some also objected that textbooks--math books in particular--short-change students by dwelling on concepts, rather than on practical skills.

Some math books “discuss history and poetry more than math, focusing on the fun of arithmetic rather than teaching actual skills,” wrote Jennifer Ghaussy of Thousand Oaks, a La Reina sophomore.

A few students pointed to race as part of the problem, arguing that affirmative action at the college level and bilingual education in high schools play a role in low test scores.

“Some students of minority groups are placed in the Cal State schools in order to fulfill their quota and increase the diversity,” wrote La Reina student Rose Lindgren of Thousand Oaks. “In some cases these students had little other merit.”

Not all students bemoaned the low test scores. One writer described the poor Cal State test scores as “a success story in disguise.”

“The California State University system, because of its relatively low cost, is attracting many people who in the past would never even think of attending college,” wrote La Reina sophomore Kara Tredway.

“Included in this group are recent immigrants who are not native English speakers, older adults returning to the classroom, and recent graduates who did not take college-prep classes,” she wrote. “Given the background of these students it is very easy to see why the test scores are so low. Who can be expected to pass English vocabulary or grammar tests without being fluent in the language? How many theorems will a student remember if he studied geometry 20 years ago?”

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Should Students Rate Teachers?

May’s essay contest asks Ventura County teenagers to consider whether schools should ask students to rate the quality of teachers.

The topic: Would a system of formal evaluations of teachers by students help improve the quality of a high school education, or would it be harmful?

* Eligibility: Any Ventura County high school student may enter.

* Content: Essays must be no longer than 600 words and be each author’s original work.

* Required information: Entries must include the writer’s name, age, grade and school. A home address and phone number must also be supplied, but will not be published.

* Deadline: Essays must be received by noon May 25.

* Submission: Entries should be mailed or delivered to: Education Page Editor, Los Angeles Times, 93 S. Chestnut St., Ventura 93001. They may be submitted by fax (653-7576) or e-mail to jack.robinson@latimes.com

* Judging: Winning entries will be chosen by Times editors for originality, persuasiveness, logic and handling of the mechanics of writing, such as grammar, spelling and syntax. Research and reference to current events will be considered. Decisions are final and within the discretion of The Times.

* Publication: Contestants must agree to publication of their work in the newspaper and on the Los Angeles Times Web site, subject to editing. Entries will not be returned and may be used by The Times, its agents, assigns or licensees, in any manner and any media now known or hereinafter devised. Entries and entrants’ names may be used by The Times for promotion purposes.

* Prizes: The winner, to receive $100, will be announced on the Education Page on June 1.