Retrospective Perspective of High School

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In Retrospect: What College Undergraduates Say about Their High School EducationAuthor(s): Gail L. Thompson and Marilyn Joshua-ShearerSource: The High School Journal, Vol. 85, No. 3 (Feb. - Mar., 2002), pp. 1-15Published by: University of North Carolina PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40364358 .

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InRetrospect:WhatCollegeUndergraduatesayAboutTheir

HighSchoolEducation

GailL. ThompsonThe Claremont raduate niversity

Marilyn oshua-ShearerCaliforniatateUniversity-Northridge

©2002TheUniversityfNorth arolina ress

This article resents heresults fa studynwhichuniversitytudentswerequestionedabout theirhighschool experiences.Majorfindingsnclude 1) There s a greatneed to

improvehe uality f nstructionhat tudentsreceivenmath, cience, riticalhinking,ndstudy kills; 2) HispanicandAfrican meri-can students elievethat here s a needforgreaterccess tocollegepreparatoryourses;and 3)Race/ethnicitynd culture ave a greatimpact nstudents'chooling xperiencesndthevaluethat hey lace ondifferentspectsoftheir chooling. mplications or ducatorsandpolicymakers rediscussed.

IntroductionAlthoughhey reoften nderrespected,n-derpaid, and underappreciated Ingersoll1999), eachers ulfill ne of ociety'smostm-portantolesbecausethey re entrusted ithpreparing tudents or he workforcer forcollege.Aplethoraf esearchegardingeach-ing nd nstructionalracticesxists.Arecur-ringtheme s that there s a link betweenteacherfficacynd students'kills ndknowl-

edgebase. Well-preparedeachers, uch as

thosewhomajored r minorednthesubjectthat hey each, end oprovide etternstruc-tion to theirstudents Wenglinsky 000).Underpreparedeachers, uch as those whomajorednEducation,nstead fa more pe-cializedsubject,ike math rscience, end oprovide lowerquality f nstructionDrew1996).Thompson2000)reportedhat hema-jority ftheteacherswho participatedn astudyhatheconductedaidthatmost f heirstudents ere eadingelowgradeevel.At he

sametime,nearly 0 percent f theteacherssaid that heydid notreceive dequatetrain-ingto teachreading.Moreover, tudents fcolor remore ikely han tudentsrommain-stream ackgroundso have underpreparedteachersQualityCounts 000;Wilson1996).One possiblerelated utcomes thatAfricanAmerican, ispanic, ndNativeAmericantu-dentsnationwidehave lowermath, cience,andreading est cores hanWhites r Asians(National enteror ducation tatistics999).

Ingersoll1999)reportedhat ut-of-fieldeach-

1



TheHighSchoolJournal Apr/May002

ingoccurs nmore hanhalf f he econdaryschools ntheUnited tates ndover ourmil-lion secondary tudents re taught y suchteachers achyear.He found hatnearly ne

third fsecondary eacherswho teachmath,one fourthf econdary nglish eachers,ndone fifthf econdarycience eachers idnotmajoror minor n thesubject hat heywereteaching, ordidtheymajor rminorn a re-lated ubject.ngersolllso revealed hat ighpovertychools,small schools,and privateschoolsweremore ikely han arger r afflu-ent choolstohaveteacherswho were each-ing out-of-field.Withinthe same schools,studentsnhonors, dvanced lacement,nd

College reparatorylasseswere ess ikelyhanothers obetaught y eachers howere each-ingoutof heir ield. urthermore,uniorhighormiddle chool tudents eremoreikelyhanhigh chool students o haveunderpreparedteachers.ngersollisted numberfnegativeconsequences f out-of-fieldeachinghat f-fect oth eachersnd students.

Inadditiono henegativeffectsf ut-of-fieldteachingnstudentchievement,esearchershave dentifiedther actorshat ffecttudent

achievement.he result s a cleardelineationbetween hequalities, ttitudes,nd instruc-tionalpractices f ffectiveersus hose f n-effectiveeachers. ffectiveeachers avehigh(Foster Peele1999;Hale 1986;Lucas,Henze& Donato1995;Nieto2000)and clear xpecta-tions,model whattheywant students o do,upgrade heir kills ndknowledge ase con-tinuously,semultiple trategieso make hecontentomprehensibleo ll students,elievethat ll students an earn, ndthey tilize n

additive ersus eficitedagogy. dditionally,teachers ho re ffectiveith tudentsf olorshowthem hat hey areaboutthemFoster& Peele1999),make he urriculumulturallyrelevantAu1993;Delpit1995;Kunjufu 986;Ladson-Billings994), especttudents'inguis-ticcodes (Darder 991;Delpit1995),createcooperativeersus ompetitivelassroom li-mate Coiner Poussaint 992;Foster Peele1999;Hale 1986), reate tructurendempha-sizedisciplineFoster Peele1999), ndbuild

on students' riorknowledgend skills Roeet al. 1998; Ruddell 1999). Ingersoll 1999)surmised hat ood eaching equires1)know-2

ingwhat oteach, 2) knowing ow toteach,and (3) knowingwhich method o use with

particularopics, tudents,nd settings34).The converse s trueof neffectiveeachers.

Theseteachers end o have owexpectations,a low evel f nstructionDelpit 995; indholm1992), believe that certain students are

cognitivelyeficientDelpit, 995;Flores, efft-Cousin& Diaz 1991), reate competitiveer-suscooperativelassroom limate,nd blamethe tudentsndtheir arentsor eachers'ackof uccesswith hese tudents.

Ruddell 1999) found hatduring heirK-12schoolingyears, high chievers avean av-

erageof 3.2 influential eachers,while low

achievershave only1.5 such teachers" 4).Ruddell ompiled listof haracteristicshatwere associated withinfluential eachers.Amonghese haracteristicsere ensitivityo"individual eeds,motivations,ndaptitudes,understands here tudentsare,'andplaceshighdemands nlearners"5).

Althoughheres a substantialodyof itera-ture egardinghat onstitutesood eaching,andhowschoolscan be improved,heres a

greater eedfor tudents hemselvesoenterthediscussion Faltis t al. 1992;Nieto2000;Thompson 000).Thecurrentrticle eeks oofferdditionalnsightshatmightmprovehequality f education hat tudents eceivebyelicitingeedbackromollege tudentsegard-ing heir igh chool xperiences. he follow-ingquestionswill be addressed:1)Whowerethe tudents'esthigh chool eachers?2)Whowere heirworst igh chool eachers?3)Howdid studentsate he ualityf heir igh choolinstruction?

4)Which

ighchool ourseswere

most difficultor tudents?5) Whichhighschool courseswere easiest? 6) Were herecorrelationsetween ow tudents ere aringacademicallyttheuniversitynd the oursesthatwereeasiestor mostdifficultor hemnhighschool? 7) Whatrecommendationsostudentsuggesto teachersnorder obetterprepare hem or ollege?

Method

Backgroundbout he articipantsnthe tudyData were collectedfrom 56 studentswhowereenrolled n a comprehensiveour-year



InRetrospect: hatCollegeUndergraduatesay

universitynsouthernalifornia.hestudentscompleted questionnairena sociologylassthat srequired or llundergraduates.llstu-dentswho were nclass on thedaywhenthe

questionnaire as distributedadtheoptionofchoosing ocomplete hequestionnairerdecliningo do so.Sixty-twoercentf he tu-dents hose toparticipatenthe tudy.

Nearly 8percentf he tudents hopartici-patedn he tudy ere ornntheUnited tatesand themajorityad attended ublicelemen-tary,middle, ndhigh chools n California.Eighty-oneercentaidthat hey poke nglishfluentlyhen hey tartedlementarychool.Females omprised 4percent f he ample.Ninety-fourercent f the studentswereen-rolled n theuniversityn a full-time asis.Nearly 0percentwere uniors ndnearly 0percent ere eniorsSee Table1).White tu-dents ccounted or lmost alf f he ample(See Table11). Sixtythreeercent f the stu-dentsranged n age from 0-25 yearsold.Twenty-threeercent ere 1years ld orolder.

Level Percent

sophomore12.0

junior 57.0

senior 28.0

noanswer 3.0

Total 100.0

Table1: Students' niversityevel

Thirty-eightercent fthe studentsaid that

theyhad utilized utorialervices ttheuni-versity. frican-Americansereoverrepre-sented mong hosewhoutilized utoringinthat 5percentaidthat hey ad utilized u-torial ervices) ndamong hosewho had essthan 3.0college rade ointverage. ore han60 percent fthe tudentswhoneededtutor-

ingneeded t n math.

TheQuestionnaireThe questionnaireonsisted f 58 questionsand a sectionfor dditionalcommentsSee

Appendix ).To ncrease eliability,umerousquestionsbout hedependent ariableswere

included Kerlinger986) and thequestion-naire's ength lso contributedo reliability(Juddet al. 1991). Validitywas ensuredthrough ieldtesting he instrument.Uni-

variate nd bivariate tatisticswereused toanalyze hedata.

Race/Ethnicity Percent

Hispanic 23.0

NativeAmerican 0.6

White/Anglo 47.0

Asian 3.0

Pacific slander 0.6

African 1.0African merican 15.0

Other 6.0

noanswer 3.0

Total 99.2

Table I: Race/EthnicityfParticipants

ResultsBestHighSchool TeachersFifty-twoercentf he tudentsaid that heyhadmore han ne "best"high chool eacher.More hanhalf aid that high choolEnglishteacherwas their est teacher.Math,foreignlanguage,ndhistoryeachers ollowed s bestteachers. early wice smany tudents itedanEnglish eacher s their est,however,hanstudents ho cited math eacher. herewerealso differencesn howthe hreemajor acial/

ethnicgroups electedbest teachers. orex-ample,African mericans ere ess ikelyhanWhites rHispanicsto selecta math eacheras their est. econd,whereas heoverwhelm-ingmajorityfWhites ited nEnglish eacheras their est, maller ercentagesfHispanicsandAfrican mericans id so. Additionally,whereasno African merican tudents iteda science teacher s theirbest,one fifthfWhites id so and an evenhigher ercentageofHispanics id.Furthermore,much maller

percentagefAfrican mericans hanWhitesorHispanics elected historyeachers theirbesthigh chool teacher.AfricanAmericans

3



TheHighSchoolJournal-Apr/May002

were lso less ikely hanWhites rHispanicsto elect foreignanguageeachers their est(See Table II).

Worstigh

SchoolTeachersThirty-oneercent f the students aid thattheyhad more hanone "worst"high choolteacher.Math nd science eacherswere itedas worst eachersmore requentlyhan thers.Hispanicsweremore ikelythanWhitesorAfrican mericanso cite math r nEnglishteacher s theirworst.

Conversely, ispanicswere ess likelythanWhites rAfrican mericanso dentifygov-ernmenteachers theirworst. frican meri-

cansweremoreikelyhanWhitesrHispanicsto cite Historyeacher.Whereas othWhitesandHispanics itedforeignanguage eachersamongheir orst,o African mericansid o.Moreover, fricanAmericanswere theonlygroup f he hreemajor acial/ethnicroupsn

the urrenttudy, hoonlydentifiedne,ver-susmore han ne,worsteacherSeeTableV).

EasiestHighSchoolCourses ndSubjectsWhen asked to identifytheir easiest highschool course orsubject,56 percentofthe stu-dents cited more than one course. No coursewas cited by the majorityof studentsas the

easiest,however,nearly 0 percent aid that n

Englishcoursewas theeasiest,followedbyP.E.

Regardingtheireasiest core or required aca-demic subjects,AfricanAmericanswere theleast likely of the threemajor racial/ethnic

groupsto citemath,science, or a foreignan-

guage as theireasiest course. Hispanics weremore ikelythanWhites orAfricanAmericans

to citeGovernment,s easiest and least likelyof the threegroupsto cite English (See Table

V).

Most DifficultHigh School Courses and Sub-

jectsForty-four ercentof the students dentified

Subject Math Engl.ScienceGov. Hist. P.E. Busn Shop DrvEd rnLngMusic Other

Stu Type

TotalSample 27 51 18 19 24 10 3 3 8 26 10 3Whites 33 67 20 15 32 9 4 3 8 35 11 3

Hispanics 31 47 33 28 28 19 3 8 17 25 8 0

AfricanAms. 22 44 0 30 9 9 0 0 0 17 13 9

N=156Note: Totalsmayexceed 100 percentbecause manystudents selectedmultipleanswers.

Table II: BestHighSchool Teachers

Subject Math Engl.Science Gov. Hist. P.E. Busn Shop DrvEd rnLngMusicOther

StuType

TotalSample 28 15 28 12 15 8 3 0 3 14 0 1

Whites 29 15 34 18 17 8 4 0 5 23 1 0

Hispanics 42 22 31 3 17 11 3 8 3 11 0 0

AfricanAms. 22 13 26 17 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

N=156Note: Totalsmayexceed 100 percentbecause manystudents electedmultipleanswers.

Table V: WorstHighSchool Teachers

4




more hanonehigh choolcourse/subjectstheirmostdifficult. ore thanhalf aid thatmathwas theirmost ifficultigh chool ub-ject.AhigherercentagefAfrican mericans

andWhites hanHispanicssaid that mathcoursewas theirmostdifficult. owever,highpercentagef tudentsnall three f helargestacial/ethnicroupsnthis tudyndi-cated hatmathwasproblematicor hem. ci-ence was the second mostfrequentlyitedmostdifficultcademic ubject nd a higherpercentagefHispanics hanWhites r Afri-can Americans ited t.Foreign anguagewasthird, utHispanics were less likelythanWhites r African mericanso dentifyt as

theirmostdifficultubject.A higher ercent-ageofWhites hanHispanics rAfrican meri-cans citedhistorys theirmostdifficultighschool ubjectSee TableVI).

HowStudents ated heQuality fTheirHighSchool nstructionMore han 0percentf he tudentsated heoverall uality f nstructionrovided ymost

of theirhighschool teachers s "good" andonly wopercentatedt s poor.Ratings erelinked o the tudents'cademic racksnthatthose whowere n higher racksweremorelikely orate hequality f nstructionshigh(r=.51;p<.001).TableVIIprovidesmore nfor-mation bout hestudents' atings. ispanicswere more likely thanWhites or AfricanAmericans o rate thequalityof theirhighschool nstructions fair ndless likely hanWhites r African mericanso rate tas ex-

cellent.Conversely, frican mericansweremore ikely hanWhites rHispanics oassigna goodorexcellent atingo theoverall ual-ity f nstructionftheir igh choolcourses(See TableVII).

Subject Math Engl. Science Gov Hist. RE. Busn Shop DrvEdFrnLngMusic Other

StuType

TotalSample 17 39 12 17 25 33 8 3 21 22 19 8Whites 22 48 17 17 27 39 6 0 24 24 28 9

Hispanics 22 31 14 25 31 44 17 11 25 36 14 6

AfricanAms. 4 52 4 17 30 17 4 4 17 9 13 13

N=156Note: Totals may exceed 100 percent because many students selected multiple answers.

TableV: EasiestHighSchoolCourse/Subject

Subject Math Engl. Science Gov. Hist. RE. Busn Shop DrvEdFrnLngMusic Other

StuType

TotalSample 52 17 31 14 13 3 1 0 0 25 0 5

Whites 62 17 33 17 20 4 1 0 0 34 0 6

Hispanics 47 25 47 14 8 3 3 0 0 14 0 3

AfricanAms. 5 17 22 13 4 0 0 0 0 30 0 4

N=156Note:Totalsmay xceed100percent ecausemany tudents electedmultiple nswers.

TableVI:MostDifficultighSchoolCourse/Subject

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TheHighSchoolJournal Apr/May002

Poor Fair Good Excellent

TotalSample 2 22 62 11

Whites 1 17 65 14Hispanics 0 41 54 6

African ms. 0 9 73 18

N=156

Table VII: How Students atedtheQualityof nstruction rovided yTheirHighSchool Teachers

QualitiesfOutstanding

eachersWhen asked to identifyhemost mportantqualities foutstandingeachers,tudents e-lectednumerous haracteristics.enqualitieswerecitedbynearly alf rmore hanhalf fthe studentsSee TableVIII). Eighty ercentsaid that utstandingeachers xplainthingswell.Seventy-one ercent aid that utstand-ing eachers repatient.More han 0percentsaid that utstandingeachers re enthusias-tic.Fairness,making he oursework elevanttostudents'ives,making oursework hal-

lenging, rovidingxtra elp, ndfriendlinesswerealso considered o be importantharac-

teristics y a substantial ercentage f stu-dents.Moreover, higher ercentagef stu-dents electedhumor nd makes thecourseworknterestingnstead f ntelligence,trict-

ness, rniceness.A lowpercentagef tudentssaidthat iving ewardss an importantual-itybutgivingotsofhomework as the eastsignificantharacteristicothemajorityf tu-dents See Table X).

Responsesalso variedamongracial/ethnicgroups. hefourmostfrequently-citeduali-ties hat ispanicselected ere xplainshingswell,patience,friendliness,nd makesthecoursework elevant. hefour haracteristicsthat alf rmore han alf f heAfricanmeri-cans selectedwereexplainsthingswell,pa-tience,nthusiasm,ndfairness. hemajorityofWhites lso selected xplainsthingswell,patience, nthusiasm,ndfairnesss thefourmost mportantualities, utfor achqualitythepercentagefWhites ar xceeded hat fAfrican mericans ho electedhe ame ual-ity.Furthermore,frican merican tudentswere ess likely hanWhites rHispanicstoselect riendlinessrhumors importanthar-acteristicsf utstandingeachers.Whites ere

moreikelyhanAfrican mericansrHispan-ics toselectmakes he ourseworknteresting

Quality TotalSample Whites Hispanics African ms.

ExplainsThingsWell 80 96 72 78

Patience 71 86 67 74

Enthusiasm 64 86 50 57

Fairness 58 73 39 52

MakesCrswkRelevant 53 58 56 44MakesCrswk hallenging 52 56 44 44

GivesExtraHelp 51 47 50 48

Friendliness 50 58 58 39

Humor 49 63 47 39

MakesCrswknteresting 46 58 36 35

N=156Note:Totalsmay xceed100percent ecausemany tudents electedmultiplenswers.

TableVIII: The 10Most-FrequentlyitedQualitiesofOutstandingeachers

6




as an importantharacteristic. oreover,greaterercentagefWhiteshanHispanics rAfrican mericanselected umor ndmakesthe ourseworkhallengings importantuali-

ties.Among he ess-cited ualities, higherpercentagefWhites hanHispanicsorAfri-canAmericanselectedntelligencend strict-ness.A lowerpercentagefHispanicschosegives ewardsnda higher ercentagefAfri-canAmericanshoseniceness.

Students' ecommendationso TeachersWhen skedhowthepublic chool ystemanbetterreparetudentsor ollege,he tudentsmade numberf ecommendations.wo ug-gestions, eachbetter ritical hinkingkills

and teachbetter tudy kills,were recom-mended ynearly 0percent f he tudents.Nearly alf f he tudentsaidthatmore oun-seling bout ollege ndmorewritingracticeareneeded.Bettermathpreparation,ermit-ting ll students o takecollegepreparatorycourses, nd increasing arent nvolvementwerealso suggestedya substantial umberof tudentsSee TableX).

Thepercentagef tudents ho selected ach

recommendationlso variedamongracial/ethnic roups.Whereas hemajorityfWhitesselected each etterriticalhinkingkills ndteach ettertudykills,s well sprovidemorecounselingbout ollege, ndoffer orewrit-

ingpractice stheirmost-frequentlyited ec-ommendations, Hispanics and AfricanAmericanselected ermitll studentsotake

collegepreparatorylasses as theirmostfre-

quently-citedecommendation.orWhites,

Quality TotalSample

Intelligence 40

Strictness 28

GivesRewards 22

Niceness 19

GivesLotsofHomwrk 7

N = 156Note:Totalsmay xceed100percent ecau

however, ermit ll students o takecollegepreparatorylasses was thefourthmost-fre-quently itedrecommendation.dditionally,a greater ercentagefWhites hanHispanics

orAfrican mericans ecommendedhat ar-ent nvolvemente increased.

A number f other uggestions ere citedbysmaller ercentagesf tudentsSeeTableXI).Althoughtudentsn each ofthethreemajorracial/ethnicroupsrecommended hat hequality f collegepreparatorylasses be im-proved,higher ercentagesfHispanicsandWhites hanAfrican mericans id so.Whiteswere lso more ikely o recommend hat et-ter eachers e hired.African mericans ere

least ikelyorecommend ore omeworkndmore eading ss igninents.

DiscussionThe results fthecurrenttudyndicate hatmany f he tudents adpositive igh choolexperiencesnd felt hat heoverall uality finstructionhat hey eceivedwasgood.How-ever, hefindingsndicate hat 1) There s aneedformprovementnareas, uch asmath,science, eachingtudents etterritical hink-

ing, tudy kills, ndwritingkills, rovidingmore ounselingbout ollege,ncreasingar-ent nvolvement,nd ncreasingccesstocol-legepreparatorylasses; 2)Someracial/ethnicgroups avehadqualitativelyifferentchool-ing experiences,nd (3) racial/ethnicroupsappeartoplace differentalue on certain s-pectsof heir chooling rtoperceive chool-ingexperiencesuitedifferently.

Whites Hispanics African ms.46 42 35

41 28 22

27 17 22

27 25 30

8 11 7

semany tudentselectedmultiplenswers.

Table X:TheFiveLess-FrequentlyitedQualitiesofOutstandingeachers

7




Thecharacteristicsf utstandingeachershatstudentsdentifiedsmost nd east mportantyieldsomeuseful nsightshatmight e ben-eficialo ducators.ix of he 0most requently

citedcharacteristicspatience,enthusiasm,fairness, ivesextrahelp,friendliness,ndhumor)deal morewith heteacher's erson-ality hanhis/heredagogy.notherwords,tappears hat hequalities hat tudents aluemost,cannotbe taught n teachertrainingcourses nd individualswithcertain erson-alitiesare more ikely o be successfulwithstudentshanothers. ecausethesequalitieswere tressed s beingmportantomany tu-dents,eacherreparationnstitutionsust ind

ways obringhis nformationothe ttentionofprospectiveeacherso that hey anunder-stand he olesplayed ypersonalityypesndtraitsnteacherffectiveness.urthermore,heresults fthestudy uggest hat eachers ncertainubjects,uch sEnglishllanguagerts,aremore ikely ohave theaffectiveualitiesthat tudents aluemore han ther eachers.

Thehigh chool nglisheachersf he tudentsinthe urrenttudy ppeared obesuccessfulwithmost tudents. orexample, nglishwas

selected y higher ercentf tudentsstheireasiest ourse nd themajorityf tudentsaidthat n Englishteacherwas theirbesthighschool teacher.Because theoverwhelmingmajorityfstudentselected xplainsthingswell, atience,ndenthusiasms the hreeop

qualities f utstandingeachers,logical on-clusion s that nglish eacherswereconsid-ered amongthe best highschool teachersbecausetheymet hese riterias well as oth-

ersthatweredeemed mportantythemajor-ity f tudents.

Conversely,y n large, hehigh choolmathteachersppearedobeunsuccessful ithmanystudents.naddition o he act hat substantialpercentagefthecollege tudents,speciallyAfricanAmericanstudents, aid thattheyneededmath utoringt theuniversityevel,thestudents lso expressed omediscontentregardinghe uality f heir igh choolmathand sciencenstruction.or

xample,mathnd

scienceteacherswerecited s worst eachersmorefrequentlyhanothers. econd, hema-jorityf tudentsaid thatmathwas theirmostdifficultigh choolsubject nd sciencewasthe econdmost requentlyitedmost ifficultacademic ubject.Moreover,rovide tudentswith etter ath reparationasrecommendedby43 percent fthetotal ampleofstudentsand 50 percent fHispanics, s a waytobet-ter reparetudentsorollege. ronically,lowpercentage f AfricanAmericans hosethis

recommendation,ven hough frican meri-canswere hemostikely f hegroupsoneedmath utoringt theuniversityevel.

Using he riteriahat tudentsdentifieds themostmportantualities f utstandingeach-

Suggestion TotalSample Whites Hispanics African ms.

Better rit.Thinkingkills 56 63 47 30

Bettertudy kills 56 63 58 35MoreCounselingAboutCollege 49 63 58 35

MoreWritingractice 48 63 50 44

Allow all Students oTakeCPCourses 46 56 67 48

BetterMathPreparation 43 60 50 22

Increase arentnvolvement 42 62 44 30

N = 156Note:Totalsmay xceed100percent ecausemany tudentselectedmultiplenswers.

Table X:TheSevenMost-FrequentlyitedRecommendationsrom tudents

8




ers, t can be hypothesizedhatmany f heirhigh chool math nd scienceteachers ailedto meetthesecriteria. erhapstheydid notexplainhings ell,werempatient,nd acked

enthusiasmbout heir ubjectmatter. iventhepreponderancefresearchndicatinghatmanyecondarychoolmath nd cience each-ers areunderqualifiedo teach hese ubjects(Drew 1996; Ingersoll 1999), teacherunderpreparedness ight lso explain whymath ndsciencewereproblematicormanystudents.

Anothermportantindinghat urfacedsthatthe esponsesfHispanics nd African meri-canssuggesthat ccess tocollegepreparatorycourses oncernshem. urdinan'study2000)and theAmerican ivilLiberties nion's aw-suit gainsthe tate fCalifornianbehalf fHispanicandAfrican merican igh choolstudents hohavebeen ystematicallyeniedaccess oAP coursesDupuis 999), ddvaliditytothe tudents'ecommendation.ecausethestudentsuggestedhat neway hat ducatorscanbetterreparetudentsorolleges tograntall studentsccess o ollege reparatorylasses,the mplications that ducators nd policymakers houldreexamine hepublic schoolsystem'sraditionf rackingtudents.oryears,many esearchersaveargued hat rackingsdisadvantageouso students fcolorbecausethey redisproportionatelyelegated o lowleveltracksFord1995; Hacker1992;Nieto

2000;and Oakes1999).A clearmessage romHispanics ndAfrican mericans hopartici-pated nthe currenttudy s that tudents fcolornotonlywant ccess to thehigherevel

tracks or hemselves,utfor ll students.Anothermportantindings that ace/ethnicityand/or ulture ppearsto be a factornhowstudents iewtheirchooling xperiencesndthevalue that hey laceoncertainspects fschooling. hissuggestshat here ontinuestobe a needfor ducators o receive ulturalawareness nddiversityrainingDelpit 995;Foster nd Peele 1999;Nieto2000) throughinservicesndworkshops.Wenglinsky2000)found hatwhenmath eachers eceived ro-fessionalevelopmentrainingo mproveheirefficacy ith specialneeds"students,hesestudents'math kills mproved rastically.norder o mprove tudents' cores, kills, ndachievementevels, nd therebyheir repa-ration or ollege, ll educators ouldbenefitfromngoingultural warenessnddiversitytraining.

ConclusionThe currenttudy anprovide ducatorswith

crucial eedback romtudents.fusedwisely,thisfeedback anempower ducators, olicymakers, nd teacher rainingnstitutionsntheir uesttoimprove hequality f nstruc-tion that tudents rom ll backgrounds e-ceive. Moreover, dditional research thatexamines he inkbetween utoffield each-

Suggestion TotalSample Whites Hispanics AfricanAms.

Improve heQuality fCP Courses 35 42 44 26

HireBetter eachers 28 38 22 17GiveMoreReadingAssignments 24 31 42 4

OfferAT/ACTrep, n Elem.School 19 28 8 17

Offer P Courses n Elem.School 15 14 8 17

AssignMoreHomework 10 13 25 4

Other 5 4 8 0

N = 156Note:Totalsmay xceed100percent ecausemany tudentselectedmultiple nswers.

Table XI: Other uggestionsrom tudents

9



TheHigh choolJournal- pr/May002

ing nd studentchievements needed. ur-thermore,xaminationsf he ole f ultureandrace/ethnicityn students'choolingx-periencesarranturtheresearch.dditional

research,uch as comparativetudies hatelicit eedbackromon-collegeoundhighschool tudentsndfromtudentsho ttendcommunityollegesmightlsoprove seful.The currenttudys limited ecausewomenwere verrepresentedn the ample ndcer-tainethnic roups ompriseducha smallportionf he otal amplehatheywere x-cludedfrom heresults. hese imitationsshould e considerednplanningelatede-search rojects.

ReferencesAil,K. 1993.Literacynstructionmulticulturalettings.

(FortWorth,X: HarcourtraceCollege ublishers).Burdinan,. 2000. xtraredit,xtrariticism.lack ssues

inHigher ducation, 7 18),28-33.Comer, .P. Poussaint, .F.1992.Raising lack hildren:

Twoeading sychiatristsonfronthe ducational,ocial,andemotionalroblemsacing lack hildren.ewYork:Penguin ooksUSA, nc.

Darder, . 1991.Culturendpowern the lassroom. ewYork: ergin Garvey.

Delpit, . 1995. Other eople's hildren. ulturalonflictinthe lassroom. ew York: heNew Press.

Drew, . 1996.Aptitudeevisited. altimore:heJohns

HopkinsUniversityress.Dupuis,J.1999.Californiaawsuitnotesunequal ccesstoAP courses.RethinkingchoolsOnline 4 !].

Faltis,C.J.& Memo,B.J. 992. Toward definitionfexemplaryeachersnbilingualmulticulturalchoolsettings.n Criticalerspectivesnbilingualducationresearch,ds. R.V. adilla& A. H.Benavides, 77-299.Tempe,Az:Bilingual ress.

Flores, .,Tefft-Cousin,.,&Diaz,E. 1991.Transformingdeficitmythsbout earning,anguage, nd culture.LaneuaeeArts. 8. dd. 369-378.

Ford, . 1995. esegregatingiftedducation:need nmet.Journal fNegro ducation,4(1),53-62.

Foster, . &Peele, .B.1999.Teachinglackmales: essonsfrom he xperts.nAfrican mericanMales nSchool

andSociety:racticesndPoliciesor ffectiveducation.V.C. Polite & J.E. Davis (eds) pp. 8-19). New York:Teachers ollege ress.

Hacker, . 1992. Twonations: lack ndWhite,eparate,hostile, nequal.NewYork: allantine ooks.

Hale,J.E. 986.Black children: heir oots, ulture,ndlearning tylesrevised d.).Baltimore, aryland:heJohns opkinsUniversityress.

Ingersoll,.M. 999. heproblemf nderqualifiedeachersinAmericanecondarychools. ducational esearcher,28(2),26-37.

Judd, M., Smith, .R. & Kidder, .H. 1991.Researchmethodsn socialrelations,6th d.).Texas:HarcourtBraceJovanovichollege ublishers.

Kerlinger,.N.1986.Foundationsfbehavioralesearch,

(3rd d.).FortWorth: arcourtraceJovanovichollegePublishers.

10

Kunjufu,. 986.Counteringhe onspiracyodestroylackboys.Vol.2).Chicago:African mericanmages.

Ladson-Billings,. 1994.Thedreamkeepers:uccessfulteachersfAfrican-Americanhildren.anFrancisco:Jossey-Bassublishers.

Lmdholm,K.J.1992. Two-waybilingual/immersioneducation: heory,onceptualssues, ndpedagogicalimplications. n Criticalperspectives n bilingualeducationesearch,ds.R.V. adilla&A. H.Benavides,195-220. empe,Az:Bilingual ress.

Lucas, , Henze, .&Donato, . 1995. romotinghe uccessofLatino anguage-minoritytudents: nexploratorystudyof six high schools. In Shiftinghistories:Transformingducationorocial hange,ds.G.CapellaNoya,K.Geisinar G.Nicoleau, 23-348.Cambridge:Harvard ducational eview.

National enteror ducationtatistics999.Thenation'sreport ard. Washington, C: U.S. Department fEducation.

Nieto,S. 2000.Affirmingiversity: heSociopoliticalContext

fMulticulturalducation3rd dition). ew

York: onginan.Oakes,J. 999.Limitingtudents chool uccess nd ite

chances: he mpactf racking.nContemporaryssuesincurriculum2nd d.)eds.A.C.Ornstein L.S.Behar-Horenstein,p.224-237.Needham eights, A:AllynandBacon.

Quality ounts. 000.EducationWeekXiX{ 8).Roe,B.D., toodt,.D.&Burns,.C. 998. econdarychool

literacynstruction:hecontentreas 6th d.Boston:Houghton ifflino.

Ruddell,R.B. 1999.Teachinghildrenoreadandwrite:Becomingn nfluentialeacher2nd d.).Boston: llynand Bacon.

Thompson,G. 2000. California ducatorsDiscussthe

Reading risis.heEducationalorum 4

Spring,29-

234.Thompson, .2000.Therealdealonbilingualducation:

Formeranguage-minoritytudentsiscuss ffectivendineffectivenstructionalractices,ducationalorizons,78(2),80-92.

Wenglinsky,. 2000.Howteachingmatters:ringingheclassroomback into discussionsof teacher uality.Princeton,ewJersey:ducational estingervice.

Wilson,W.J. 996.Mien work isappears: he world fthenewurban oor.NewYork:Alfred nopf,nc.




AppendixA

Schooling xperiences fCollegeStudents

Thisquestionnaireealswith heschooling xperiences fcollegestudents. lease complete

thequestionnaires thoroughlyndhonestlys possible. fyouwould like tobe interviewedfor he tudyn order oprovidemoredetailednformation,lease ncludeyourname ndtele-phonenumberrEmailaddress ttheendof hequestionnaire.hankyou verymuch.

1. Didyouattend lementarychool nCalifornia?) yesb) no

2. Wereyoua fluentnglish peakerwhenyoustarted chool nCalifornia?a) yes b) no Ifnot,what syournative anguage?

3. Howlongdidyouattend lementarychool nCalifornia?a) lessthan neyr. b) oneyr c) twoyrs. d) three rs.e) four rs. f) fiveyrs. g) sixyrs.

4. During lementarychool,wereyouplaced in:a) Giftednd Talented ducationGATE) ourses b) SpecialEducation c) neither

5. Didyourepeat nyelementary rade? a) yes b) noIfyouanswered yes,"whichgrade(s)didyou repeat?a) kindergarten ) first c) second d) third e) fourthf) fifthg) sixth

6. Howoften ereyougivenhomeworkssignmentsyMOST ofyour lementarychoolteachers?a) once week b) twice week c) threeimes week d) four imes week e) daily

7. WasMOSTof hehomework: ) beneficial b) somewhat eneficial c) notbeneficial

8. Howmuch imedidyougenerally pendonhomework

uring lementarychool?

a) onehourperweekor ess b) 2-3hoursperweekc) 4-5hoursperweek d) more hanfivehoursperweek

9. Inwhich lementaryrade(s)was the ourseworkmostdifficult?ircle ll that pply.a) kindergarten ) firstc) second d) third e) fourthf) fifthg) sixth

10. In which lementaryrade(s)was thecoursework asiestforyou?a) kindergarten ) firstc) second d) third e) fourthf) fifthg) sixth

11. Inwhich lementary rade(s)didyouhaveyourbest eacher(s)?a) kindergarten ) firstc) second d) third e) fourthf) fifthg) sixth

12. In whichlementary rade(s)

didyou

haveyour

worst eacher(s)?a) kindergarten ) firstc) second d) third e) fourthf) fifthg) sixth

13. Howwouldyourate hequality f nstructionhatMOST ofyour lementaryeachers

provided?a) poor/inferior) fair c) good d) excellent

14. Inwhat ype f lementarychooldidyou completeMOST ofyour lementarychool-

ing?Circle wo answers.a) public b) private c) otherd) urban/innerity e) suburban f) rural

15. Howwouldyourate hequality fyourparent(s)/guardian(s)nvolvementnyour

elementarychooleducationregardingomework,meeting ith eachers, ttendingschoolfunctions,tc.)?

11




a) poor/inferior) fair c) good d) excellent

16. Didyouattendmiddle/juniorigh chool n California? a) yes b) no

17. Howlongdidyouattendmiddle/juniorigh chool n California?

a) less thanoneyr. b) oneyr. c) twoyrs. d) three rs. e) more han hree rs.18. DuringMOSTofyourmiddle/juniorigh choolyears,which cademic rackwereyou

on?a) SpecialEducation b) Vocational/Business ) Basic/Regulard) CollegePreparatory ) Honors/GATE

19. Did youfailany middle/juniorigh chool courses? a) yes b) noIf o,howmany?

20. Ifyouanswered yes,"which ourse(s)didyoufail?Circle ll that pply.a) Math b) English/Languagerts c) Science d) Social Studiese) RE. f)Reading g) Elective h) Other

21. How often ereyougivenhomeworkssignmentsyMOSTofyourmiddle/juniorighschool teachers?a) once week b) twice week c) threeimes week d) four imes week e) daily

22. Was MOSTof hehomework: ) beneficial b) somewhateneficial c) notbeneficial

23. How much imedidyou generally pendonhomework uringmiddle chool?a) one hourperweekor ess b) 2-3hoursperweek c) 4-5hoursperweekd) 6-7 hoursperweek e) 8-9 hoursperweek f) 10 or morehoursperweek

24. Inwhichmiddle/juniorigh choolcourse(s)was theworkmostdifficult?ircle llthat pply.a) Math b) English/Languagerts c) Science d) Social Studiese) RE. f)Reading g) Elective h) Other

25. Inwhichmiddle/juniorigh choolcourse(s)was thework asiestforyou?a) Math b) English/Languagerts c) Science d) Social Studiese) RE. f)Reading g) Elective h) Other

26. Inwhichmiddle/juniorigh choolcourse(s)didyouhaveyourbest eacher(s)?a) Math b) English/Languagerts c) Science d) Social Studiese) RE. f)Reading g) Elective h) Other

27. Inwhichmiddle/juniorigh choolcourse(s)didyouhaveyourworst eachers)?

a)Math

b) English/Languagerts

c)Science

d)Social Studies

e) RE. f) Reading g) Elective h) Other

28. How wouldyourate hequality f nstructionhatMOST ofyourmiddle/juniorighschoolteachers rovided?a) poor/inferior) fair c) good d) excellent

29. Inwhattype fmiddle/juniorigh chooldidyou completeMOST ofyour chooling?Circle woanswers.a) public b) private c) urban/innerity d) suburban e) rural f) ther

30. How wouldyourate he uality fyour arent(s)/guardian(s)nvolvementnyourmiddle/juniorhigh chool education regardingomework,meeting ith eachers,ttending

schoolfunctions,tc.)?a) poor/inferior) fair c) good d) excellent

12




31. Didyouattend igh chool nCalifornia? a) yes b) no

32. Howlongdidyouattend igh chool nCalifornia?a) less than neyr. b) oneyr. c) twoyrs. d) three rs. e) four rs.

33. DuringMOST ofyourhigh choolyears,which cademic trackwereyouon?a) SpecialEducation b) Vocational/Business ) Basic/Regulard) CollegePreparatory ) Honors/GATE/Advancedlacement

34. Didyoufail nyhigh chool courses? ) yesb) noIfso,howmany?Ifyouanswered yes,"which ourse(s)didyoufail?Circle ll that pply.a) Math b) English c) Science d) Government ) History f)RE. g) Businessh) Shop i) Drivers ducation j) Foreign anguage k) Music 1) Bandm) Other

35. Howoften ereyougivenhomeworkssignmentsyMOST ofyourhigh choolteach-ers?

a) once week b) twice week c) threeimes week d) fourimes week e) daily36. Was MOSTof hehomework: ) beneficial b) somewhateneficial c) notbeneficial

37. How much imedidyou generally pendonhomework uring igh chool?a) one hourperweekor ess b) 2-3 hoursperweek c) 4-5 hoursperweekd) 6-7 hoursperweek e) 8-9 hoursperweek f) 10 ormorehoursperweek

38. In whichhigh choolcourse(s)was theworkmostdifficult?ircle ll that pply.a) Math b) English c) Science d) Government ) History f) P.E.g) Business h) Shop i) Drivers ducation j) Foreign anguage k)Music1) Band m) Other

39. In whichhigh choolcourse(s)was thework asiestforyou?a) Math b) English c) Science d) Government ) History f) P.E.g) Business h) Shop i) Drivers ducation j) Foreign anguage k) Music1) Band m) Other

40. In whichhigh choolcourse(s)didyouhaveyourbest eacher(s)?a) Math b) English c) Science d) Government ) History f) P.E.g) Business h) Shop i) Drivers ducation j) Foreign anguage k) Music1) Band m) Other

41. In whichhigh choolcourse(s)didyouhaveyourworst eacher(s)?a) Math b) English c) Science d) Government ) History f) P.E.

g)Business

h) Shopi) Drivers ducation

j) Foreign anguagek) Music

1) Band m) Other

42. How wouldyourate hequality f nstructionhatMOST ofyourhigh choolteachersprovided?a) poor/inferior) fair c) good d) excellent

43. In what ype fhigh chool didyou completeMOST ofyourhigh chooling?Circle woanswers. a) public b) private c) otherd) urban/innerity e) suburban f) rural

44. How wouldyourate he uality fyour arent(s)/guardian(s)nvolvementnyourhighschooleducationregardingomework,meeting ith eachers, ttendingchool func-

tions, tc.)?

13



The High School Journal- Apr/May2002

a) poor/inferiorb) fair c) good d) excellent

45. In your opinion,what are the MOST IMPORTANT qualities ofoutstanding lementary,middle school, and highschool teachers? Circle all thatapply.a)

patienceb) friendliness c) niceness d)

explains thingswell e) enthusiasm

f) humor g) fairness h) strictness i) challenges tudents cademically j) makesthecourse work nteresting k) gives rewards 1)gives lots of homeworkm) gives extrahelp n) intelligence o) makes thecourseworkrelevant

p) other

46. What typeofcollege/universitytudentare you? a) part-time b) full-time

47. What is yourcollege level?a) freshman b) sophomore c) junior d) senior e) graduatestudent

48. In your opinion, did yourK-12 courses and teachersprepare you adequately for ol-

lege/universityourse work? a) yes b) no

Ifnot,please explain why.

49. Do you thinkthatcolleges should provide remedial courses for tudentswho did notreceive adequate academic preparation? a) yes b) noIfso, forwhat subject(s).

50. Have you relied on any tutorial services since you enteredcollege?a) yes b) noIfso, forwhat subject(s).

51. In your opinion, inwhatways can thepublic school systembetterprepare studentsfor

college?a) morehomework b) better tudyskills c) morewriting racticed) bettermathpreparation e) morereadingassignments f) better riticalthinkingskills g) allow all studentsto takecollege prep,courses h) hiringbetter eachersi) providemorecounselingabout college j) getting arentsmore nvolvedk) improvethequalityofcollege prep,classes 1)offer ollege prep, n elem. schoolm) offer AT/ACT prep, n elem. school n) other

52. What is yourgender? a) male b) female

53. What is your major?

54. What is thehighestdegreethatyou plan to earn?a) B.A./ B.S. Degree b) M.A. Degree c) Doctorate d) J.D.Degree e) M.D. Degree

55. What is yourage group?a) 17-19 b) 20-25 c) 26-30 d) 31-35 e) 36-40 f) 41-45

g) 46-50 h) 51-60 i) over60

56. What is yourcurrentoverall grade pointaverage?a) 1.0-1.9 b) 2.0-2.9 c) 3.0-3.9 d) 4.0

57. What is yourrace/ethnicity?a) Hispanic b) NativeAmerican c) White/Anglo d) Asian e) Pacific Islander

14




f)African g) African merican h) West ndian i) Other

58. Wereyouborn n theU.S.? a) yes b) no

Ifyouwould ike tobe interviewednorder oprovidemore nformationor hestudy, lease

includeyourname ndtelephone umber rEmailaddress.Thankyouverymuch.Please add additional omments elow oronthebackof hispage.

15

Retrospective Perspective of High School

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