“We have to see this as a wake-up call,” Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in an interview on Monday.

What was she talking about?  She was referring to a New York Times article on December 7, 2010, “Top Test Scores from Shanghai Stun Educators.”

It is disheartening to look at where the USA falls when compared to students in 65 other countries who took the 2009 PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) test.

Science = Shanghai, China was first on the list,  USA is 22nd (below Slovenia and Poland).

Reading = Shanghai  was first on the list, USA was 17th.

Math = Shanghai was first, USA was 31st.

Congrats to China as we note that USA students are falling behind on a international scale.  What does this mean for the future of our country?  What can we do?

Education starts at home.  Parents–role model. Encourage your children to study, and work with them. I remember my father helping me type my school papers on our manual IBM typewriter.

Consider discussing college essays years before they are needed, such as in middle school. Learning to write, and write about yourself and your goals and interests has been proven to be a way to help students build and maintain their competitive edge.

“It’s easy when you know how.” Have you ever felt that?

Before you learn how to do something, it seems scary and maybe even impossible. Then, after you’ve learned a technique, the mystery is gone, and in its place is a perfectly attainable goal.

The goal of this blog is to speed you towards the after.

But first, here is a little quiz to assess where you are right this minute:

1. I know why colleges want to read an essay. T F
2. I know how to describe my strengths so I don’t sound like I’m bragging. T F
3. I know what my “writing voice” is when writing essays. T F
4. I have a draft so far, and I know how to edit it to improve it. T F
5. I know the best length for my essay. T F

No one was born knowing how to write a college application essay, so five “F”s are pretty standard. But even if you circled “T” five times, you most likely have other uncertainties.

You may have written an essay before, but you’ve never written an essay to be admitted to college. A college application essay is not what the same type of essay that your English teachers have been talking about for years.

Learn more by reading this blog and information in the resources. Take yourself on a tour around the site, click around.

Welcome to Essay Coaching!

Photo Credit: quinn.anya | CC BY SA 2.0