Are high school teachers' priorities misplaced?
By Scott Martindale/Orange County Register
Is there a disconnect between what students want out of high school and what teachers focus on? Accounting giant Deloitte LLP says yes, pointing to the results of a national education survey it released this week comparing teacher, parent and student attitudes about high school's purpose. Alan Gersten, director of the e-Business Academy at Santa Ana's Century High School, works with students in his 11th grade class in this 2007 photo. Programs such as the e-Business Academy -- which expects all students to attend a four-year university after graduation -- are putting teachers' focus increasingly on college preparation. The study found just 9 percent of high school teachers say their primary mission is to prepare students for college, versus 48 percent of students and 42 percent of parents who say college preparation should be the chief focus of high school. (more...)