CNN - Many College Athletes can't read or write

[Excel]

Apologies if already discussed: Story - Info by school

"A CNN investigation found public universities across the country where many students in the basketball and football programs could read only up to an eighth-grade level."

"As a graduate student at UNC-Greensboro, Willingham researched the reading levels of 183 UNC-Chapel Hill athletes who played football or basketball from 2004 to 2012. She found that 60% read between fourth- and eighth-grade levels. Between 8% and 10% read below a third-grade level."

"On the ACT, we found some students scoring in the single digits, when the highest possible score is 36 and the national average is 20. In most cases, the team average ACT reading score was in the high teens."

"University of Oklahoma professor Gerald Gurney found that about 10% of revenue-sport athletes there were reading below a fourth-grade level."

"Mary Willingham was in her office when a basketball player at the University of North Carolina walked in looking for help with his classwork. He couldn't read or write... she was shocked that one couldn't read. And then she found he was not an anomaly... "If I could teach him to read well enough so he could read about himself in the news, because that was something really important to him," Willingham said.

Big Ten Universities included:

Maryland: Refused to provide requested information

Michigan: Refused to provide requested information

Michigan State: Refused to provide requested information

Nebraska: Refused to provide requested information

Ohio State: Refused to provide requested information initially. Provided WRAT scores, "A review of those documents found that several of the scores were in the elementary range for reading skills"

Rutgers: Refused to provide requested information

Wisconsin: "Wisconsin provided CNN with 122 scores of football players admitted between 2007 and 2012. Only two scored below the threshold on both the ACT reading and English tests.... The average of the ACT scores provided to CNN was 23...the average freshmen admitted to Wisconsin-Madison scores between a 26 and 30 on the ACT composite."

Of the schools that provided information these seemed interesting:

Texas Tech: Football - 70/194 of the ACT scores were 16 or below. 73/272 of the SAT scores were 400 or below.

Texas: Football: 52/314 scored at or below the threshold (400 SAT/16 ACT) on all tests taken.

TAMU: "The university provided 118 sets of scores to CNN....We found that 29 scored below the threshold. That's about 25%."

UNC: "Of 183 athletes in revenue-generating sports admitted to UNC between 2004 and 2012: - About 60% were reading between the fourth and eighth grade reading levels. - Between 8% and 10% were reading below a third grade level."

Clemson: Football - 34/199 scored below the threshold.

Washington: 25/180 or 13.89% of athletes who took the SAT scored below 400 on both the critical reading and critical writing part of the test.

 

[Excel]

 

[AgMarauder04]

Transparency!

*snicker*

 

[NUance]

To address this, the NCAA added a partial qualifier to the suggested guidelines. Thus, under the revision, an athlete who met either the 2.0 high school GPA or 700 SAT/15 ACT score would be eligible to receive a scholarship, but would be unable to practice with or play for the team for one academic year.[2] This partial qualifier was subsequently overturned in 1989 following the passage of Prop 42.[2] However, amendments to Prop 42 restored it after much protest.[2] The newest amendment to Proposition 48, Prop 16, was passed in 1992 and later revised in 2008. As of 2008, under Prop 16, a sliding scale for standardized test scores was expanded to allow for a zero score to be allowed in a test, as long as the high school GPA was sufficient to balance it out. Moreover, the number of core high school courses required was increased to 14.[2]LINK

So, what is the minimum ACT score? If I read this correctly it looks like the minimum was an ACT of 15 coupled with a 2.0 GPA including core courses. But the last couple sentences seems to indicate that a sliding scale is now in effect, allowing for a lower ACT score so long as the recruit has a higher than minimum GPA to offset it.

 

[jaws]

The student, parents, teachers, primary and secondary school administration, colleges, and even elected officials can all share the blame.

 

[wiuhusker]

To address this, the NCAA added a partial qualifier to the suggested guidelines. Thus, under the revision, an athlete who met either the 2.0 high school GPA or 700 SAT/15 ACT score would be eligible to receive a scholarship, but would be unable to practice with or play for the team for one academic year.[2] This partial qualifier was subsequently overturned in 1989 following the passage of Prop 42.[2] However, amendments to Prop 42 restored it after much protest.[2] The newest amendment to Proposition 48, Prop 16, was passed in 1992 and later revised in 2008. As of 2008, under Prop 16, a sliding scale for standardized test scores was expanded to allow for a zero score to be allowed in a test, as long as the high school GPA was sufficient to balance it out. Moreover, the number of core high school courses required was increased to 14.[2]LINK

So, what is the minimum ACT score? If I read this correctly it looks like the minimum was an ACT of 15 coupled with a 2.0 GPA including core courses. But the last couple sentences seems to indicate that a sliding scale is now in effect, allowing for a lower ACT score so long as the recruit has a higher than minimum GPA to offset it.

They do use a sliding scale now. I'm not sure what the minimums are for each of the ACT and GPA but when I was being recruited in 2008 all the coach asked me was what my ACT and GPA were in high school. Having spent 2 years in JUCO I was surprised he asked me that. Like i said not sure of the guidelines but I know a sliding scale is in place.

 

[TonyStalloni]

No doubt Texas and the rest of the Big 12 schools voted against this sliding scale. They don't want those kind of students on their campus!

 

[Michiganball]

Precious. On a serious note I'm not surprised, just listen to many team sport athletes speak, they can barely articulate an original non cliche sentence.

 

[EbylHusker]

Most college undergrads are shockingly terrible at reading and writing. What's even funnier is you'll often find foreign students have a better grasp of English, especially written, than American undergrads. It's f'ing pathetic.

 

[krill]

No doubt Texas and the rest of the Big 12 schools voted against this sliding scale. They don't want those kind of students on their campus!

Actually when the Big 12 was formed, it was Nebraska that desperately wanted to keep partial qualifiers (athletes that could not even meet NCAA academic requirements), while Texas argued against that practice. Coach Osborne defended the practice as means to help student athletes who would otherwise languish in Juco, or possibly not go to to college at all, but I always thought that was a weak argument because there is an entire industry of greasing athletes through Juco to fully qualify as NCAA athletes. Furthermore, the players who did come Nebraska with partial qualification always seemed to be the ones with pseudo majors that were in no way academic or career prospect enhancing.

Why should someone who can't even muster a B average in high school and an 18 on the ACT be receiving a scholarship at a public research university? It's ridiculous now more than ever when students who do meet the entrance requirements, but don't receive large scholarships are taking on huge amounts of debt to go to college. A contributing factor to the skyrocketing cost of college is all the money being spent on non-eduction like "lifestyle enhancement" (dorms nicer than most apartments), entertainment, student activities, and athletic departments.

I'll always support the Huskers, and I think it's good for people to feel an affinity with public universities that their tax dollars support. At some point though that relationship does seem to move from good for both groups, to a bread and circus atmosphere that is bad for the institution's academic mission, bad for students, and bad for student athletes that are there primarily for the eduction. The Red Lobster, SEC Honor Roll, Sports Management major picture really says it all.

 

[jaws]

No doubt Texas and the rest of the Big 12 schools voted against this sliding scale. They don't want those kind of students on their campus!

Actually when the Big 12 was formed, it was Nebraska that desperately wanted to keep partial qualifiers (athletes that could not even meet NCAA academic requirements), while Texas argued against that practice. Coach Osborne defended the practice as means to help student athletes who would otherwise languish in Juco, or possibly not go to to college at all, but I always thought that was a weak argument because there is an entire industry of greasing athletes through Juco to fully qualify as NCAA athletes. Furthermore, the players who did come Nebraska with partial qualification always seemed to be the ones with pseudo majors that were in no way academic or career prospect enhancing.

Why should someone who can't even muster a B average in high school and an 18 on the ACT be receiving a scholarship at a public research university? It's ridiculous now more than ever when students who do meet the entrance requirements, but don't receive large scholarships are taking on huge amounts of debt to go to college. A contributing factor to the skyrocketing cost of college is all the money being spent on non-eduction like "lifestyle enhancement" (dorms nicer than most apartments), entertainment, student activities, and athletic departments.

I'll always support the Huskers, and I think it's good for people to feel an affinity with public universities that their tax dollars support. At some point though that relationship does seem to move from good for both groups, to a bread and circus atmosphere that is bad for the institution's academic mission, bad for students, and bad for student athletes that are there primarily for the eduction. The Red Lobster, SEC Honor Roll, Sports Management major picture really says it all.

Unfortunately these are some of the reasons why some choose the school they attend.

 

[MLB 51]

This has been a problem for many years. Dexter Manley was one of favorite players in '80's. Dude was functionally illiterate.

 

[beanman]

Serious question, do you think Jameis Winston can read and write?

 

[NUance]

Serious question, do you think Jameis Winston can read and write?

Probably not. But really, won't he be able to hire somebody to read for him when he's making million$ in the NFL?

 

[Husker John]

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As long as he remembers his right to remain silent, he'll be fine.....his attorneys will do all the reading and writing for him....