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Illinois State University Not Surprised By Report on Literacy

Posted on: Monday, 23 January 2006, 18:00 CST

By Michele Steinbacher, The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.

Jan. 22--NORMAL -- College students and professionals at Illinois State University in Normal say they aren't surprised by reports that say many college students can't handle skills needed in the post-collegiate world.

But they think ISU, like other universities, is beginning to pay attention to the problem.

"The role of the university, ultimately, is to produce good citizens. And many schools are starting to focus on preparing students more for life after college," said Maureen Roach of the ISU Career Center.

The national study, released last week, measured three types of literacy: analyzing news stories and other prose; understanding documents such as job applications and payroll forms; and using quantitative math skills to balance checkbooks, compute restaurant tips and more.

ISU, for example, requires all freshmen to enroll in a "career link" course, she said. The content covered includes showing students what it's going to take during college for them to be successful after graduation, she said.

One ISU student says part of the reason the survey results showed life-skills problems is modern society's increasing dependence on technology.

"We have so many gadgets," said ISU senior Rick Meister. "Technology simplifies things. But in some ways it dumbs people down, too."

The survey says about half of students can handle complex tasks. Meister, who serves as an ISU student government leader, said he and most of the people in his circle would fall in that category, but he's not surprised many college students don't.

A decade ago, people heading on a trip might have pulled out an atlas and measured mileage with the scale printed on the bottom of the page.

"Now everybody goes to 'Mapquest' or some other map program online," he said. Just enter a departure point and destination, and the computer fills in directions and mileage. "It completely directs someone," he said.

Considering balancing checkbooks, Meister noted that such a skill was needed when his older brother arrived at college. But now, most students use debit cards and go online to get an account printout listing the computations.

"I think students are hurting themselves in the long run by not learning these skills," said Roach, senior assistant director at the career center.

By depending on automatic devices and programs, students are taking away opportunities to gain analytical and organizational skills.

"It's a very competitive job market. Even if an employer hires someone holding a college degree, any potential promotions down the road will be tied to whether they can function and adapt at learning skills to do the job effectively," said Roach.

In some cases, parents inhibit student growth in these literacy skills, said Roach.

Helicopter parents -- so-called because of their tendency to hover closely over every aspect of this generation's college students -- sometimes don't allow students to take on responsibilities, such as paying bills or preparing for job applications, she said.

The danger in not learning literacy skills is that organizing such ideas aids in the development of analytical thinking, said Larry McQuillan, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based American Institute for Research. The organization, with the help of the Pew Charitable Trust, conducted the survey.

The study's purpose was "to provide information so university leaders and administrators could look at the results and assess them. It's so they can do some soul searching about whether the men and women have been taught and prepared for the outside world," he said.

The spirit of the document also looks at the expectations employers have of a job candidate holding a college degree, he said.

"They expect a certain level of competence tied to that degree," he said. "And universities need to think 'If we're going to bestow our degree on someone, what will that degree represent?" he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.

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Source: The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.

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