Parental Expectations

We are at the beginning of another school year. For parents and students both, this provides the opportunity for a fresh start, and perhaps new and higher expectations. For many parents this is also a time for transitions. No right of passage is more significant than the one from high school to college. I visited with three families experiencing such a transition at church yesterday. It brought back memories of the long ride home after dropping off our kids in their first college dorms.

I recently came across some data released by the Iowa based testing company ACT that I think parents of college freshmen need to keep in mind when setting their expectations. Across the board ACT tests scores have remained at the same level over the last few years. Maximum score on the ACT test is 36 and the average test score in all four subject areas tested ranges from 20.6 (English) to 21.4 (Reading). "We've got a lot of work to do," noted ACT President, Cynthia Schmeiser. For example, 40% of students were unable to use the correct adverb or adjective form in a sentence. 30% were unable to evaluate the contribution that significant details make to a text as a whole.

Based on those test results, maintaining a "C" average as a college freshmen might be the best we can hope for, in many cases. My experience as a parent and also high school counselor, also tells me that freshmen year is more a matter of survival. Typically a student's college GPA will go up as they move through the college years. Part of this is due to students learning how to manage their lives and part to being able to focs on classes that really apply to them and their career goals.

The beginning of a school year is a great time to sit down with your student and discuss their expectation for the future with them. What kind of vision have they cast for themselves. What current objectives have they set that will help them reach their long-term goals. Grades, whether they be in high school or college, are only a part of that the big pictures. Unrealistic expectations could not only lead to disappointment but can hurt a relationship.