Survey Uncovers Perception Gap between High School Teachers and College Faculty

The Chronicle of Higher Education recently surveyed high school teachers and college faculty about their views on student preparation for college. The survey results, summarized in an article titled “A Perception Gap over Students’ Preparation,” show that on the whole, college faculty are more likely than high school teachers to view students as being poorly equipped for college-level work. This perception gap is especially pronounced in the area of writing: nearly half of professors believe students are unprepared for college-level writing, compared to just a tenth of high school teachers. Significant differences of perception also appear in core areas like math and science. Professors and teachers agreed, however, on the “urgent need for better communication and greater interaction among high schools and colleges.” Addressing this need could be the first step toward better preparing high school students for college.

FINDINGS

Academic Expectations

• Forty-eight percent of college professors and 17 percent of high school teachers expect students to spend six hours or more each week on work outside of class.
• Sixty-one percent of high school teachers say they never assign papers of more than five pages, compared to 28 percent of college professors.
• Sixty-five percent of college professors and 66 percent of high school teachers say that students make much less or somewhat less effort in class than they expect; 4 percent and 5 percent, respectively, say students do much or somewhat more.
• Sixty percent of professors believe that high schools are only somewhat adequately conveying to their students what colleges will expect of them academically; 37 percent say that high schools are not conveying this at all.
• Ninety-three percent of college professors and 89 percent of high school teachers say that colleges are only somewhat or not at all successful in making their academic expectations clear to high school teachers.
  

Views of Preparation by Academic Area

• Thirty-six percent of teachers and 6 percent of college professors view students as very well prepared for college-level writing; 10 percent of teachers and 44 percent of professors describe them as not well prepared.
• Thirty-seven percent of teachers and 4 percent of college professors view students as very well prepared for college-level math; 9 percent of teachers and 32 percent of professors describe them as not well prepared.
• Twenty-six percent of teachers and 4 percent of college professors describe students as being very well prepared for college-level research; 18 percent of teachers and 49 percent of professors describe them as not well prepared.
• Thirty-eight percent of teachers and 5 percent of college professors view students as very well prepared for college-level science; 8 percent of teachers and 20 percent of professors describe them as not well prepared.

The full results of the Chronicle survey are available online to subscribers.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Eighty-four percent of college professors and 65 percent of high school teachers say that high school graduates are unprepared or only somewhat well prepared for college.
• Forty-five percent of college professors believe that students today are less well prepared for college than students were ten years ago.
• Seventy-five percent of high school teachers, compared to 49 percent of college professors, agree strongly or somewhat that students who pass Advanced Placement tests have already indicated that they can do college-level work.