Why So Many Students Drop Out of College

Your “dropout” editorial (Dec. 28) was but the latest in a series of articles and editorials decrying the sad state of college retention of (mainly) black and Latino students. As usual, no answers to the problem are suggested--only the question of why so many students drop out of college.

Without even daring to discuss the complexities of the high school dropout problem, I would like to offer a few words on what happens to those students who, amid fanfare and congratulations, finish high school and go off to college, only to slink back in disgrace a few months or even weeks later, disillusioned and mystified at what overwhelmed them in college.

Parents--especially if you are the parents of black or Latino students, but parents of any ethnicity should also take note--before you let the neighborhood in on the happy news that your child has been accepted by the University of California or the Cal State system, please check up on just how effectively the high school has prepared your child for the college experience:

1--Since the ninth grade, but particularly in the 11th and 12th grades, how many books (not counting textbooks) has your child read? How many formal book reviews has your child written for English, history or science?

2--Since the ninth grade, but particularly in the 11th and 12th grades, how many research papers has your child written for English, history or science? How long were these papers--at least 10 pages? How many hours did your child spend in the library doing the research needed for the paper, followed by additional hours of digesting, organizing and writing the materials gathered?

3--Do you know if the teachers of the academic subjects your child is taking even assign such projects? Or if they teach the mechanics of doing the work?

My letter is prompted by the fact that I spent much of my so-called Christmas “vacation” time reading and grading five dozen full-scale student research papers. Each one takes between 20 and 45 minutes to go through. The work is time-consuming, yet gratifying; however, I’m not paid for it. And I suspect that many of my colleagues won’t make this effort unless and until they are paid for it, and maybe not even then.

Any student who assumes that college professors won’t be assigning book reviews and research papers, plus heavy reading loads, and expecting that students will perform the assigned tasks, is living in a fool’s paradise.

The adjustment from high school to college work is an enormous one, and students who are not prepared to make it are being cheated by apathetic teachers and naive parents. If the system is to work, everyone has to help make it work.

ABRAHAM HOFFMAN

Los Angeles

Hoffman is a teacher in the Social Science Department at Franklin High School.