Texas Developmental Education Crisis

In light of unsatisfactory educational outcomes in lower and higher education in Texas, the practice of instituting progressively lower academic standards should be reconsidered. The continual stream of students who graduate and demonstrate low proficiency in writing skills in the marketplace reflects poorly on the academic integrity of their colleges and universities. It is inherent to the job of educators to be gatekeepers, ensuring the academic proficiency of students who pass their courses. If the issue of academic rigor, which is necessary for high-level learning, fails to be a priority of educational leaders, it is doubtful whether the current stream of students and dollars will continue to flow to higher education institutions. If the line of rigor between respected colleges and so-called degree paper mills begins to blur, educators may wake up to a culture that is not willing to traverse traditional educational pathways which are no more than a shadow of the intellectual fortresses of the past. Rather than continuing to lower educational standards, educational researchers and legislators should return to the standards that made American schools and colleges the destination of choice for many in the world: academic tasks that are challenging, testing methods that are strict and valid, and degrees that employers trust to represent graduates with critical and advanced skills.