CNN Investigation on Athletic Academics - Wow.

[zookeeper]

This is scandalous. Huge investigative story.

"A CNN investigation found public universities across the country where many students in the basketball and football programs could read only up to an eighth-grade level. The data obtained through open records requests also showed a staggering achievement gap between college athletes and their peers at the same institution."

CNN: Some college athletes play like adults, read like 5th-graders - CNN.com

Check this out (from the CNN story) Mary Willingham at UNC now has whistleblower status:

Early in her career as a learning specialist, Mary Willingham was in her office when a basketball player at the University of North Carolina walked in looking for help with his classwork.

He couldn't read or write.

"And I kind of panicked. What do you do with that?" she said, recalling the meeting.

Willingham's job was to help athletes who weren't quite ready academically for the work required at UNC at Chapel Hill, one of the country's top public universities.

But she was shocked that one couldn't read. And then she found he was not an anomaly.

Soon, she'd meet a student-athlete who couldn't read multisyllabic words. She had to teach him to sound out Wis-con-sin, as kids do in elementary school.

And then another came with this request: "If I could teach him to read well enough so he could read about himself in the news, because that was something really important to him," Willingham said.

[MustangGT]

Heck I know several universities where you do not have to be an athlete to be functionally illiterate. Just NE of Guthrie is one such establishment.

[SoonerDave]

Okay, this is a shocking revelation?

Sorry to come off as the resident cynic, but I read this, and go, "ummm, yeah, do we actually think the Dexter Manley's have stopped?"

Not saying its right, but I think a great many schools use "special admit" status for athletes who couldn't possibly qualify for enrollment under conventional circumstances...its why a kid whose a five-star but can't break double-digits on the ACT gets a full four-year ride to play ball at School X, but a kid like my son who also plays football and has a 4+ GPA and high-20's ACT has virtually no chance at an athletic scholly.

Its also why some schools who have been traditional powers haven't been, as they have in some cases started drawing a "line in the sand" and moving hard requirements up, consequently pushing some of those "special qualifiers" to other schools. That, in turn, is no small reason why SEC schools have started having such dominance in football - their requirements are among the lowest overall, and the most athletically talented end up with nowhere else to play.

Perhaps the fact that kids are in these programs and can't read is at least as much an indictment of whatever school produced them as anything...which backs into all the socioeconomic issues in those communities...so I won't unravel that rug here.

I'm just saying this report isn't that shocking...not defending it, just not that shocked to hear it.

[kelroy55]

It's sad they made it out of High School.

[zookeeper]

It's sad they made it out of High School.

YES! That's a whole other topic, but how do some of them make it out of high school?

SoonerDave - I know what you mean, but when you see it in black and white with real numbers, it still shocks me. Saddens me more than anything.

[kelroy55]

YES! That's a whole other topic, but how do some of them make it out of high school?

SoonerDave - I know what you mean, but when you see it in black and white with real numbers, it still shocks me. Saddens me more than anything.

Back when I was in school they didn't think twice to hold you back a grade if you didn't learn the core subjects.

[Pete]

I can tell you that with many high schools that you only have to pass some very basic core requirements to get a diploma. You certainly don't have to pass all your classes to move on to the next grade.

In LAUSD, half those that start ninth grade never graduate, and even the majority of those who meet the requirements for graduation cannot pass a basic proficiency exam. The state of California found that out when they implemented the California HS Exit Exam, to make sure districts around the state were actually teaching basic knowledge rather than just pushing kids through the system.


As for college, a huge percentage of athletes that get scholarships were very poor students in HS (if little is asked of the unmotivated at this level, much less is asked of elite athletes) and thus completely unprepared for university coursework, especially at some of the better schools.

OU has raised their standards to the point where lots of decent HS students in Oklahoma can no longer get in, so imagine a kid that scored a 15 on his ACT when the curriculum is geared towards those with an average ACT score of 25.

The athletic departments then employ tons of tutors, advisors and spend millions on study halls and other aids. They also treat the athletes like children, closely monitoring grades, attendance and homework. That allows most them to at least scrape by in terms of academic eligibility, but of course many never make meaningful progress towards a degree.

Anyone who has had classes with athletes at a big athletic school know very well that most of them have no business being there.

[Of Sound Mind]

nm

[RadicalModerate]

I would suggest that "The Powers What Be's" vis-a vis either a multiple choice question, perhaps including a brief essay question?, might have a little bit of 'spainin' t' do regarding their six-figure salaries? Suggested question: What is the difference between an educator and an educrat?

[cliff's notes ans: educrats be paid more. on account of education degrees.)

[kevinpate]

If by the time someone leaves middle school, they have no true concept of reading on their own, swimming at least 20-30 feet, even as a frantic dogpaddle, or fixing a small basic meal, sans microwave, I don't hold out a great deal of hope for their success. And true, this should all happen at an even younger age.

[rezman]

For the same reason many athletes were chosen for their college sports ability is why they skated through high school. .. This is nothing new.

[zookeeper]

For the same reason many athletes were chosen for their college sports ability is why they skated through high school. .. This is nothing new.

Very true. Corruption at the very top of government is nothing new either, but we should still be appalled and be kept aware. I'm glad this eye-opening refresher was done.