As a young person considering a career in law enforcement, you're
certainly looking at the educational requirements. While some police
departments require a bachelor's degree in something, most still require
only a high school diploma. When you start looking at Federal agencies,
you'll find more requirements for bachelor degrees. It's just a simple
demand issue. The fewer positions that are available in any career field
will require a higher educational background. As for police
departments, those serving America's wealthiest jurisdictions will be the
ones requiring bachelors degrees since their salaries and benefits
usually reflect that wealth which, in turn, creates more competition for
positions.
Let's look at your situation. If you're just graduating from high school,
and you have the opportunity to go directly to college and get that
bachelor's degree, that's exactly what you should do. If you're
absolutely certain that you're going to pursue a law enforcement career,
you should load up on English and Political Science courses. Your ability
to communicate and understand political processes will give you the best
background for beginning your career. Stay away from those creative
writing courses that push a lot of abstract ideas will little attention to, or
appreciation of, basis rules of sentence structure and punctuation.
If you're lucky, you will have had the same kind of 10th grade English
teacher I had. For the entire year, she taught nothing but simple;
complex; compound sentences, and sentence diagraming. When you
start reading police reports, you're going to see little punctuation.
You'll see a few commas and even fewer periods. Police aren't the only
ones. I was recently looking at universities online where I came across
a university president's message to prospective students. The first
paragraph of his message was a seven line one sentence paragraph. In
other words, the only period appeared at the end of the paragraph.
There's so much discussion today about the terrible state of public
education, yet that same system that is performing so badly, is telling
you that everyone must continue to a college education. It would be
simpler to just extend your public education for another four years, but
that wouldn't set well with an ever growing university industry.
If your aptitude lies in mathematics and science, it's not likely you're
going to pursue a police career. So, since you're reading this, you're
planning on a college education heavy with social science. The first
thing you should know is that police work is mired deep in the muck of
social science. Nearly any viewpoint, from the reasonable to the absurd,
will pass for acceptable during your college education. Just as high
school is insulated from the real world, so is college.
Knowing your language and being able to write it is the most important
part of any education you pursue. As a police officer, you'll be writing
something everyday of your career — not just most days, but everyday.
When you begin your career, you're going to find that more police
officers have college degrees than ever before. Another thing you'll
notice is that many, if not most, still write at an 8th grade level. How
some of these college graduates became college graduates with their
limited written communication skills should give you a good insight into
the declining quality of college education.
If you've reached the age of 21, and you're certain you want to be a
police officer, don't put off your career in favor of going to college. You
can always pursue a college degree during your career. Sure…it's going
to take a little longer, but you'll get the same end result. Remember,
bachelor degrees are becoming the new high school diploma, and you
will benefit from having one. The biggest benefit will be not being
denied something simply because you don't have a college degree.
As a young person, you're constantly bombarded by educational
propaganda. While a college education certainly can't hurt you, the
propaganda would have you believe that your bachelor's degree is going
to make everything happen for you. Well, that just isn't how it works.
It is, and it always has been, about personal and political relationships.
The college education is simply one factor in your background to assist
you in establishing and fostering those relationships.
certainly looking at the educational requirements. While some police
departments require a bachelor's degree in something, most still require
only a high school diploma. When you start looking at Federal agencies,
you'll find more requirements for bachelor degrees. It's just a simple
demand issue. The fewer positions that are available in any career field
will require a higher educational background. As for police
departments, those serving America's wealthiest jurisdictions will be the
ones requiring bachelors degrees since their salaries and benefits
usually reflect that wealth which, in turn, creates more competition for
positions.
Let's look at your situation. If you're just graduating from high school,
and you have the opportunity to go directly to college and get that
bachelor's degree, that's exactly what you should do. If you're
absolutely certain that you're going to pursue a law enforcement career,
you should load up on English and Political Science courses. Your ability
to communicate and understand political processes will give you the best
background for beginning your career. Stay away from those creative
writing courses that push a lot of abstract ideas will little attention to, or
appreciation of, basis rules of sentence structure and punctuation.
If you're lucky, you will have had the same kind of 10th grade English
teacher I had. For the entire year, she taught nothing but simple;
complex; compound sentences, and sentence diagraming. When you
start reading police reports, you're going to see little punctuation.
You'll see a few commas and even fewer periods. Police aren't the only
ones. I was recently looking at universities online where I came across
a university president's message to prospective students. The first
paragraph of his message was a seven line one sentence paragraph. In
other words, the only period appeared at the end of the paragraph.
There's so much discussion today about the terrible state of public
education, yet that same system that is performing so badly, is telling
you that everyone must continue to a college education. It would be
simpler to just extend your public education for another four years, but
that wouldn't set well with an ever growing university industry.
If your aptitude lies in mathematics and science, it's not likely you're
going to pursue a police career. So, since you're reading this, you're
planning on a college education heavy with social science. The first
thing you should know is that police work is mired deep in the muck of
social science. Nearly any viewpoint, from the reasonable to the absurd,
will pass for acceptable during your college education. Just as high
school is insulated from the real world, so is college.
Knowing your language and being able to write it is the most important
part of any education you pursue. As a police officer, you'll be writing
something everyday of your career — not just most days, but everyday.
When you begin your career, you're going to find that more police
officers have college degrees than ever before. Another thing you'll
notice is that many, if not most, still write at an 8th grade level. How
some of these college graduates became college graduates with their
limited written communication skills should give you a good insight into
the declining quality of college education.
If you've reached the age of 21, and you're certain you want to be a
police officer, don't put off your career in favor of going to college. You
can always pursue a college degree during your career. Sure…it's going
to take a little longer, but you'll get the same end result. Remember,
bachelor degrees are becoming the new high school diploma, and you
will benefit from having one. The biggest benefit will be not being
denied something simply because you don't have a college degree.
As a young person, you're constantly bombarded by educational
propaganda. While a college education certainly can't hurt you, the
propaganda would have you believe that your bachelor's degree is going
to make everything happen for you. Well, that just isn't how it works.
It is, and it always has been, about personal and political relationships.
The college education is simply one factor in your background to assist
you in establishing and fostering those relationships.
Education
and Police
and Police
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
The Price of Admission: How America's Ruling Class
Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges -- and Who Gets Left Outside the Gates
by Daniel Golden
Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges -- and Who Gets Left Outside the Gates
by Daniel Golden
| Beware of the Rip-Offs |
There's a large for-profit education industry that exists almost entirely
through the acquisition of federal student tuition loans. The tuition
isn't cheap, and you'll be responsible for the repayment of any loan you
receive whether or not you complete your studies.
If you take the time to do some research, you'll find a lot of horror
stories from people who allege false promises of job placement, and high
pressure sales tactics. I've linked you to a CBS 60 Minutes report you
should find interesting:
If you join a police department which requires only a high school
diploma, a college degree will be of little benefit, if any, at the entry
level phase of your career; unless, the hiring process provides extra
points for an associate or bachelor's degree. When it comes to your
academy training, the process will be structured, and --quite frankly --
your instructors couldn't care less about your educational background as
long as you can successfully complete the academy training.
through the acquisition of federal student tuition loans. The tuition
isn't cheap, and you'll be responsible for the repayment of any loan you
receive whether or not you complete your studies.
If you take the time to do some research, you'll find a lot of horror
stories from people who allege false promises of job placement, and high
pressure sales tactics. I've linked you to a CBS 60 Minutes report you
should find interesting:
If you join a police department which requires only a high school
diploma, a college degree will be of little benefit, if any, at the entry
level phase of your career; unless, the hiring process provides extra
points for an associate or bachelor's degree. When it comes to your
academy training, the process will be structured, and --quite frankly --
your instructors couldn't care less about your educational background as
long as you can successfully complete the academy training.
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From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com
The frenzy surrounding college admissions has spawned a vast and profitable
industry. Especially among affluent families, the hiring of private tutors to prepare
for the SAT, coaches to nurture athletic skills, and college consultants to help
prepare the right application portfolio have become familiar features of
adolescence. Of late, the pressure on Junior to get on the track to Harvard has
been pushed to ever-younger ages. In large cities, it is not uncommon for parents
to hire counselors to coach their toddlers for the interview for admission to
pre-school. In a bizarre foreshadowing of what is to come later, some
pre-schoolsnow proudly offer early decision programs for 2-year-olds. And just
when it seemed that all the possibilities for satire had been exhausted, parents
began to push for enrollment in the best play groups for 6-month-olds.
Stepping into this cauldron of anxiety about admission to elite colleges is Daniel
Golden, a Wall Street Journal reporter who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2004 for a series
of articles on the inner workings of college admissions offices. In his provocative
and stimulating book, The Price of Admission, Golden makes a powerful case that
the number of well-to-do whites given preference to highly selective colleges
dwarfs that of minorities benefiting from affirmative action. He follows this central
theme in a wide-ranging series of case studies of systematic preference for the
wealthy, the privileged and the famous, as well as legacies, faculty children and --
most innovatively -- athletes in such patrician sports as rowing, horseback riding,
fencing and even polo. A tough investigative reporter, Golden does not hesitate to
name names -- not only of specific institutions (including Harvard, Duke, Brown,
Notre Dame, the University of Virginia, Princeton, Stanford and Amherst) and
administrators, but also of individual students (including the sons of Al Gore and
Sen. Bill Frist) whom he deems to be beneficiaries of preferences for the privileged.
The result is a disturbing exposé of the influence that wealth and power still exert
on admission to the nation's most prestigious universities.
That virtually all elite private colleges give preference to the sons and daughters of
alumni will come as a surprise to no one. But preference also extends to wealthy
applicants whose families have been identified as potential donors --
"development cases" in the parlance of the trade. Golden documents that even
Harvard, with its $25.9 billion endowment, is not above giving preference to the
scions of the super-rich. His primary example, however, of development cases
being central to the admissions process is Duke, where the university embarked
on a systematic strategy of raising its endowment by seeking out wealthy
applicants. Golden estimates that Duke admitted 100 development applicants
each year in the late 1990s who otherwise would have been rejected. Though this
may be something of an extreme case, special consideration for applicants flagged
by the development office is standard practice at elite colleges and universities.
Also enjoying substantial preference at elite colleges, both public and private, are
varsity athletes. In a fascinating case study of women's sports at the University of
Virginia, Golden shows how the effort to comply with Title IX, a gender equity law
that has the praiseworthy goal of ensuring equality between female and male
athletes, has had the unintended effect of giving an admissions edge to female
athletes who play upper-class sports. Between 1992 and 2002, the number of
college women nationwide in rowing, a sport highly concentrated in private schools
and affluent suburbs, rose from 1,555 to 6,690; more recently, the number of
female varsity horseback riders increased from 633 to 1,175 between 1998 and
2002. The net effect of the rise of these overwhelmingly patrician sports, Golden
argues, has been to further advantage already advantaged women.
After spending most of the book roundly criticizing the admissions practices of
many of the nation's most prestigious colleges, Golden turns to what he considers
a model institution: The California Institute of Technology. Unlike other leading
colleges, Caltech does not allow the prerogatives of privilege -- whether wealth,
fame or legacy status -- to affect who gets in. In stark contrast to other top
institutions, Caltech believes that it is possible to raise the funds necessary to
maintain a great university without using admission as a bribe, and its own
distinguished history supports that belief.
But the Caltech admissions policy, though exemplary in its integrity, is not without
problems. In no small part because of its narrowly conventional definition of merit
(primarily scores on standardized tests, grades and rank in class), it has been
notoriously unsuccessful in enrolling African Americans; in 2004, just one out of
207 Caltech freshmen was black (for purposes of comparison, the black
proportions of the undergraduate student body at MIT, Stanford and Harvard -- all of
which use a more flexible definition of merit -- were 6, 10 and 8 percent,
respectively).
A recent study by the Century Foundation estimated that only 3 percent of freshmen
at highly selective colleges came from the bottom socioeconomic quartile,
compared to 74 percent from the top quartile. Growing awareness of this shocking
disparity has led a number of leading private colleges and universities, including
Amherst, Harvard and Princeton, to take measures to increase the number of
low-income students. But Golden is surprisingly ambivalent about these efforts,
fearing (perhaps justifiably) that the admission of more poor and working-class
students will be accompanied not by a reduction of preference for the rich, but by a
decline in the number of middle-class students. The Caltech model that he finds
so appealing is utterly inadequate to address the problem. Given the magnitude of
class disparities in educational achievement, only affirmative action for the
disadvantaged -- what former Princeton president William Bowen has called a
"thumb on the scale" for low-income students -- promises to produce significant
results.
The Price of Admission estimates that the end of affirmative action for the privileged
would open up roughly 25 percent of the places in the freshman class at elite
colleges and, in so doing, free up spaces for aspiring students of modest origins.
Based on my own research, I would estimate a figure of 10 to 15 percent -- still a
considerable number. But the main beneficiaries of such a shift -- absent a more
profound change in the prevailing definition of merit -- would not be the
socioeconomically disadvantaged, but rather the children of the upper-middle class.
In his final chapter, Golden issues a series of sensible and hard-hitting
recommendations -- among them, ending legacy preference (already a fait
accompli at Oxford and Cambridge universities in supposedly class-bound Britain),
abolishing preference for athletes in upper-crust sports and for faculty children, and
developing conflict-of-interest policies for the staff of the admissions offices.
Equally important is his suggestion that a firewall be constructed between the
admissions office and the development office -- a change of no small moment in
institutions where the link between the two now looks more like an autobahn. But if
the past is any guide, change is unlikely to come from within and will await a social
movement with the strength and clarity of purpose to demand that our colleges and
universities, at long last, live up to their professed ideals.
Reviewed by Jerome Karabel
Copyright 2006, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.
The frenzy surrounding college admissions has spawned a vast and profitable
industry. Especially among affluent families, the hiring of private tutors to prepare
for the SAT, coaches to nurture athletic skills, and college consultants to help
prepare the right application portfolio have become familiar features of
adolescence. Of late, the pressure on Junior to get on the track to Harvard has
been pushed to ever-younger ages. In large cities, it is not uncommon for parents
to hire counselors to coach their toddlers for the interview for admission to
pre-school. In a bizarre foreshadowing of what is to come later, some
pre-schoolsnow proudly offer early decision programs for 2-year-olds. And just
when it seemed that all the possibilities for satire had been exhausted, parents
began to push for enrollment in the best play groups for 6-month-olds.
Stepping into this cauldron of anxiety about admission to elite colleges is Daniel
Golden, a Wall Street Journal reporter who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2004 for a series
of articles on the inner workings of college admissions offices. In his provocative
and stimulating book, The Price of Admission, Golden makes a powerful case that
the number of well-to-do whites given preference to highly selective colleges
dwarfs that of minorities benefiting from affirmative action. He follows this central
theme in a wide-ranging series of case studies of systematic preference for the
wealthy, the privileged and the famous, as well as legacies, faculty children and --
most innovatively -- athletes in such patrician sports as rowing, horseback riding,
fencing and even polo. A tough investigative reporter, Golden does not hesitate to
name names -- not only of specific institutions (including Harvard, Duke, Brown,
Notre Dame, the University of Virginia, Princeton, Stanford and Amherst) and
administrators, but also of individual students (including the sons of Al Gore and
Sen. Bill Frist) whom he deems to be beneficiaries of preferences for the privileged.
The result is a disturbing exposé of the influence that wealth and power still exert
on admission to the nation's most prestigious universities.
That virtually all elite private colleges give preference to the sons and daughters of
alumni will come as a surprise to no one. But preference also extends to wealthy
applicants whose families have been identified as potential donors --
"development cases" in the parlance of the trade. Golden documents that even
Harvard, with its $25.9 billion endowment, is not above giving preference to the
scions of the super-rich. His primary example, however, of development cases
being central to the admissions process is Duke, where the university embarked
on a systematic strategy of raising its endowment by seeking out wealthy
applicants. Golden estimates that Duke admitted 100 development applicants
each year in the late 1990s who otherwise would have been rejected. Though this
may be something of an extreme case, special consideration for applicants flagged
by the development office is standard practice at elite colleges and universities.
Also enjoying substantial preference at elite colleges, both public and private, are
varsity athletes. In a fascinating case study of women's sports at the University of
Virginia, Golden shows how the effort to comply with Title IX, a gender equity law
that has the praiseworthy goal of ensuring equality between female and male
athletes, has had the unintended effect of giving an admissions edge to female
athletes who play upper-class sports. Between 1992 and 2002, the number of
college women nationwide in rowing, a sport highly concentrated in private schools
and affluent suburbs, rose from 1,555 to 6,690; more recently, the number of
female varsity horseback riders increased from 633 to 1,175 between 1998 and
2002. The net effect of the rise of these overwhelmingly patrician sports, Golden
argues, has been to further advantage already advantaged women.
After spending most of the book roundly criticizing the admissions practices of
many of the nation's most prestigious colleges, Golden turns to what he considers
a model institution: The California Institute of Technology. Unlike other leading
colleges, Caltech does not allow the prerogatives of privilege -- whether wealth,
fame or legacy status -- to affect who gets in. In stark contrast to other top
institutions, Caltech believes that it is possible to raise the funds necessary to
maintain a great university without using admission as a bribe, and its own
distinguished history supports that belief.
But the Caltech admissions policy, though exemplary in its integrity, is not without
problems. In no small part because of its narrowly conventional definition of merit
(primarily scores on standardized tests, grades and rank in class), it has been
notoriously unsuccessful in enrolling African Americans; in 2004, just one out of
207 Caltech freshmen was black (for purposes of comparison, the black
proportions of the undergraduate student body at MIT, Stanford and Harvard -- all of
which use a more flexible definition of merit -- were 6, 10 and 8 percent,
respectively).
A recent study by the Century Foundation estimated that only 3 percent of freshmen
at highly selective colleges came from the bottom socioeconomic quartile,
compared to 74 percent from the top quartile. Growing awareness of this shocking
disparity has led a number of leading private colleges and universities, including
Amherst, Harvard and Princeton, to take measures to increase the number of
low-income students. But Golden is surprisingly ambivalent about these efforts,
fearing (perhaps justifiably) that the admission of more poor and working-class
students will be accompanied not by a reduction of preference for the rich, but by a
decline in the number of middle-class students. The Caltech model that he finds
so appealing is utterly inadequate to address the problem. Given the magnitude of
class disparities in educational achievement, only affirmative action for the
disadvantaged -- what former Princeton president William Bowen has called a
"thumb on the scale" for low-income students -- promises to produce significant
results.
The Price of Admission estimates that the end of affirmative action for the privileged
would open up roughly 25 percent of the places in the freshman class at elite
colleges and, in so doing, free up spaces for aspiring students of modest origins.
Based on my own research, I would estimate a figure of 10 to 15 percent -- still a
considerable number. But the main beneficiaries of such a shift -- absent a more
profound change in the prevailing definition of merit -- would not be the
socioeconomically disadvantaged, but rather the children of the upper-middle class.
In his final chapter, Golden issues a series of sensible and hard-hitting
recommendations -- among them, ending legacy preference (already a fait
accompli at Oxford and Cambridge universities in supposedly class-bound Britain),
abolishing preference for athletes in upper-crust sports and for faculty children, and
developing conflict-of-interest policies for the staff of the admissions offices.
Equally important is his suggestion that a firewall be constructed between the
admissions office and the development office -- a change of no small moment in
institutions where the link between the two now looks more like an autobahn. But if
the past is any guide, change is unlikely to come from within and will await a social
movement with the strength and clarity of purpose to demand that our colleges and
universities, at long last, live up to their professed ideals.
Reviewed by Jerome Karabel
Copyright 2006, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.
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| Copyright © 2006 - 2009 - Barry M. Baker - CareerPoliceOfficer.com |
| Disclaimer |
| CareerPoliceOfficer.com is not responsible for the contents of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site, or any changes or updates to such sites. Links are provided only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by this site. |
Listed below are two of several websites developed by the American
Educational Guidance Center, Inc.
AEGC is owned and managed by Mary and Dan Rosenfield, two career
educators. Mary has taught and/or tutored students at the elementary,
middle school, high school, and college levels. She has also served
independent boarding schools as a counselor, student residence director,
and director of student social activities.
Early in his career, Dan taught, counseled, and coached in public and
private secondary schools. Later, he moved into higher education, where
he held positions as a director of admissions, dean of admissions, and
dean of enrollment management.
Educational Guidance Center, Inc.
AEGC is owned and managed by Mary and Dan Rosenfield, two career
educators. Mary has taught and/or tutored students at the elementary,
middle school, high school, and college levels. She has also served
independent boarding schools as a counselor, student residence director,
and director of student social activities.
Early in his career, Dan taught, counseled, and coached in public and
private secondary schools. Later, he moved into higher education, where
he held positions as a director of admissions, dean of admissions, and
dean of enrollment management.
| American Educational Guidance Center, Inc. |
www.college-scholarships.com - offers information on
traditional colleges, scholarships, college admission, college
contact information, HBCU's, colleges for women, Christian
colleges, colleges with programs for students with learning
disabilities, career schools, vocational schools, a quick and easy
GPA calculator, and much, much more.
traditional colleges, scholarships, college admission, college
contact information, HBCU's, colleges for women, Christian
colleges, colleges with programs for students with learning
disabilities, career schools, vocational schools, a quick and easy
GPA calculator, and much, much more.
www.online-degrees-and-scholarships.com -
lists and describes more than 135 fully accredited colleges and
universities, and offers links to more than 50 no-cost online
scholarship matching services.
lists and describes more than 135 fully accredited colleges and
universities, and offers links to more than 50 no-cost online
scholarship matching services.