What are we trying to accomplish anyway?  Well if we look to the research and not the marketing department for that answer we find some interesting things.  Namely that there are certain academic behaviors that students need to arrive at college with in order to be successful.

If they lack those key behaviors then they have to develop them on the fly and as anyone that’s been a struggling freshman knows, that’s like changing a tire on a moving car…a difficult thing to do.  That’s one of the reasons why nationally we see 40% of freshmen students drop out of school.  Their college entrance exams said they were academically ready for school, but their academic performance tells a different story.

What’s this have to do with student planners? Well, there are key cognitive skills (patterns of intellectual behavior) and academic knowledge and skills (content knowledge and cognitive strategies) that teachers are tasked with imparting to students and in many states, those same teachers are measured on how well those cognitive skills are demonstrated on standardized tests.  If you were in their shoes, where would you focus your attention?

Do some research (contact me if you want to know where to start) and you will quickly see that these two areas alone are a full-time job for any school.  Do the quick math and determine how many productive hours there are in a school day times the number of days in a school year.  I’m not signing up for that mission.  Call in the Navy Seals.

Soooo…still haven’t answered the question have I?  Are student academic planners wasteful spending or wise investing?  Hang in there, we are almost there!  The question is coming into focus.