Blasco 1 Alex Blasco Megan Keaton English 112 31 March 2013 Annotated Bibliographies Perkins-Gough, Deborah. Whats Next?

Are We Ready? Education Leadership Oct. 2012: 7. EBSCOhost. Web. 20 March 2013. The author of this article is focusing on their feelings dealing with their son graduating from high school. The author discusses what kind of pressure she is under and the type of stress her family has been dealing with this past year because of her son graduating. This article is showing that there is a lot to think about when applying and going to college. It takes a lot for someone to be well prepared for what lies ahead in college. There are certain questions that need answering like, Whats next and am I ready? This brings me to the thesis of the article which is just that, Whats next and am I ready? I believe this is a simple question but also the thesis and the title. In the article the author touches on several points but the main one is deciding whether students are prepared and ready for college. The author doesnt assume that the readers will agree with her but just that it might bring some understanding to how it makes most people feel about the preparedness of our students. The author is addressing an audience that is parents just like her with children that are either entering college now or will one day. In this article the author doesnt argue against their point but in a way she asks questions that are almost arguing her point because after she asks the arguing question she quickly answers in her favor by using evidence from other sources.

Blasco 2 This article relates to my topic because it focuses on the emotional side of students graduating and being prepared for college. Its nice to see a side thats more from a parents stand point on their child and their future. This article shows that school is hard work and it takes a lot of effort from not only schools but the students themselves to be prepared for college. I feel that the author makes a valid point to show the audience what it takes to prepare a student in high school for college and this will be good with my topic. The common core state standards focus, instead, on ensuring that all students are college and career ready. We must acknowledge the value of other pathways to success, he writes, providing students with more high-quality career counseling and career education. They force us to consider what our evolving society needs, as well as what we most desire for our children. Jacobson, Jennifer. High-School Curricula Do Not Prepare Students For College, Report Says. Chronicle of Higher Education Oct. 2004: 38. EBSCOhost. Web. 20 March 2013. The author in this essay focuses mainly on the negative aspects of high school and how it does not prepare students for college. The thesis is easy to find in this article because it is the first sentence beginning the article. The thesis is American high schools core curricula insufficiently prepare students for college-level work and even for job training, according to a report released this month by ACT, the organization that administers the college-entrance examination of the same name. This is the thesis because the whole article discusses how the ACT is directly correlated to why students arent being prepared for college. The author

Blasco 3 definitely takes a clear stand on their issue because they are clearly saying that high school doesnt always prepare students for college. There is evidence used by the author by quoting credited scholars in the article. The author doesnt consider any opposing arguments; the article discusses only one side and that is that high school does not prepare students for college. The author chooses to discuss the importance of high school students being prepared for college and quotes the ACT several times as evidence to back up her argument. There is a focus on minorities as being less prepared for college than most other students and the author focuses on providing evidence from the ACT as she does with most of her points in the article. The writer makes it easier to agree with what she is saying but also there are holes in her argument that leave room for arguments. As the author concludes this article they make a point as to how the ACT will work to prepare students for college better and help improve the schooling involved. This article goes with my topic because it talks about a certain view point that the author has about how high school prepares a student for college. This article explains how the high school curriculum does not prepare students and what schools need to do in order to make sure students succeed. I like having more than one view point on whether schools are or are not preparing students for college. The report, Crisis at the Core: Preparing All Students for College and Work says that only 22 percent of the 1.2 million high-school students who took the ACT test in the 2003-04 academic year were ready for college-level courses in English, mathematics, and science. Even if students take the minimum number of core courses that does not guarantee they will be ready for college, the report says, because those courses may not be rigorous enough.

Blasco 4 Weve made virtually no progress in the last 10 years helping them to become ready. CITY University of New York. High School Prepares Students for College, Careers with Accelerated Programs. Curriculum Review 2013: 8. EBSCOhost. Web. 28 March 2013. The author of this article is focusing on the positives rather than the negatives. This is different from the other articles I have read because most articles are negatively saying that high school does not prepare students for college. It is refreshing to see an argument that says that high school does prepare students for college. The article also shows several ways students can take different approaches to prepare themselves. The thesis in this article is In todays educational and economic climate where higher education is no longer an accessory but more a necessity, the push to get high school students to make college plans is more important than ever. I believe that this sentence is the thesis because it is what the entire article is about; making sure that students are well prepared for college and how we aggressively and effectively do this. The authors purpose for writing this article is to shed light on different ways students can be better prepared for college. The audience of this article could be anyone that is entering the college world since this would be a positive outlook on how you should be prepared for college. There was plenty of evidence in this article to back up the authors argument; there were quotes and knowledgeable sources such as New York Daily News. The author is trying to show that there are more ways to prepare a student for college than they probably know. I understand the authors points and agree that there are certain things that high school students dont know about in order to help them get into college. The writer doesnt oppose different arguments, which are good in a way for this article but not only is the author trying to get people to understand the importance of college preparedness and exactly how a high school student should

Blasco 5 get prepared. I feel that any opposing arguments would take away from the main idea of this article. I believe that this article is good for my topic because this article focuses on the positive aspects of preparing students for college. I feel that hearing positive feedback from the author makes it easier for my research paper because it answering my question of Do high schools prepare students for college? This is an article I could use primarily in my research paper because it shows exactly whats working to help prepare students for college. Outside of the city, other schools are also interested in preparing students for the college transition ahead of time. The idea of head starts on skills and academics and increased focus on STEM found at City Poly is a popular one, with this high school being just one of many similar schools introduced in the last decade. In todays educational and economic climate where higher education is no longer an accessory but more a necessity, the push to get high school students to make college plans is more important than ever. Pharinet. Is College for Everyone? Practical Argument. Laurie Kirszner, Stephen Mandell. Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 635-636. Print. This article is stating that college is not for everyone. The author of this article goes through all of the different reasons why some students just arent made out for college. There are some points that the author makes about how students are not ready academically or financially for college and this is why they arent able to succeed in college. In this article the author argues

Blasco 6 both sides of an argument by stating problems students face in which it makes them unable to continue on to college and the author finds ways to fix those problems. This article discusses more than whats obvious in the title, Is College for Everyone? This article focuses on many different types of students and people. The audience in this article could be any student in high school or any student already in college. The thesis of this article is There are too many students enrolled in school who simply dont belong there. This is the thesis because there are students who strive for school but just arent up to par. This problem exists, in my opinion, due to lack of preparedness for college and not only college but any grade level schooling as well. This article goes well with my topic because it can be molded to fit anyones opinion of school and where students stand in their readiness for it. I believe that students feel unprepared for college and therefore people place them as someone who isnt right for college. I believe that this article shows that students suffer to make good grades and are losing the ability to grasp what they really need to learn and what they need for their futures in college. The student who is not yet ready for the academic and financial challenges for college is the most common. There are too many students enrolled in school who simply dont belong there. You wont get anywhere without your education. College prep courses dont often teach students about being responsible. Mulrine, Anna. Getting Kids Set for College. US News and World Report Sept. 2010: 30-34. EBSCOhost. Web. 31 Mar. 2013.

Blasco 7 This article is about students and where they are at in their high school careers as opposed to where they should be. The article shows how the United States are trying to improve the education students receive in high school and to better prepare those students for college. In this article Obama sets goals for high school students and what they should achieve by a certain year. In the article the author points out different schools that are helping to aid their students with more knowledge for them to be prepared and successful in college. The particular plan that the author was trying to portray in this article was that people that work closely with students should help them more to make them successful in their lives in college. Students can get into college but then have trouble and drop out and this would show that those students arent well prepared for college; therefore this article is attempting to show the audience that there are steps to take in order to achieve the goals set for our students. I believe this article goes well with my topic because it shows that even Obama cares about our students future. I would like to include how Obama comes into play and shows that he is even worried about the amount of education students are receiving to be prepared for college. I may not agree with what Obama has to say regarding this article but I believe his input in my paper will make it more professional; If I have the responses of the president on how we should fix students ability to learn and be prepared for their future I feel like that would make my research paper much stronger. Nearly a decade after No Child Left Behind promised to remake the American educational system; there remain troubling--and often dismal--trends about precisely what graduating seniors are learning.

Blasco 8 Only 40 percent of students in the United States who do manage to graduate from high school go on to earn a two- or four-year college degree, meaning that many more are unable to finish the work once they get to the university gates. The goal is to have one quarter of seniors graduate with an associate degree as well as a high school diploma, and another quarter with one year of college under their belts. Rothman, Robert. A Common Cure for Readiness. Educational Leadership Apr. 2012: 10-15. EBSCOhost. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. This article goes into much detail about the Common Core Standards Initiative (CCSS) that helps to get students ready for college and after college, their careers. The author discusses why most students arent graduating from college is that there is a lack of preparation in high school in important areas such as math, reading, and science. The author talks about the history of CCSS and how it makes an effort to help students in need for better preparation in high school. The hope of CCSS is to find out what students need to learn and the graduation standards and compare them to college entrance requirements. The article gives a great deal of detail about the different ways students can be prepared for college and different programs that try and help with that. I believe that the author was trying to get the audience to understand that not all students that go to college graduate. The number of students that do not graduate from college is an alarming number; therefore the author shows ways of dealing with this problem and how students can achieve their goal of college graduation. The article was written to enhance the audiences view on how students prepare for high school and its effectiveness.

Blasco 9 This article will work well with my topic because it gives so much detail about the issue it is presenting. I believe that with the amount of information Im getting from this article that my research paper will be full of detail. This article focuses on how effective preparing for college should be in high school and thats what I wanted to focus my research paper on; not only are we preparing high school students for college but is it effective enough to work. A growing number of educators believe the answer might be inadequate curriculum standards. In developing the college and career readiness standards, the standards writers defined readiness as the ability to succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing, academic college courses and in workforce training programs. Even the most fervent advocate of the common core state standards would acknowledge that the standards themselves will not ensure that students graduate from high school ready for college and careers. A lot more has to happen to bring that about.