Summary Of How Children Succeed By Paul Tough

I had an ah!ha! moment when reading the introduction to How Children Succeed by Paul Tough. There was a lot of information in regards to the GED program and how it began. The purpose of the program made sense; however, I always wondered why those students who passed the test are less likely to go to college. The reasoning according to Heckman is, that they lacked important traits learned in high school for instance, “…an inclination to persist at a boring and often unrewarding task: the ability to delay gratification; tendency to follow through on a plan—also turned out to be valuable in college, in the workplace, an in life generally” (2012, pg. xix). Therefore, getting out of school sooner does not seem to work well because students are less likely to stick to the long years college may bring.

In my experience in education, those who have taken the GED are students that were not doing well in school. However, they were smart enough to pass the test and gave themselves the opportunity to be able to continue their education. I do not feel that intelligence can be measured according to test results; however, not having a GED or High School Diploma makes for a harder career path after high school. I feel that students who attend regular high school have a better chance to succeed because they are learning to be patient and responsible. College can take many years depending on the career and allowed schedule of the student. Therefore, I feel that students who stick to a program instead of testing out of it have a better opportunity to succeed in