It is important to remember that the authors do not describe these differences in order to condemn the students or to give teachers an excuse for failing to teach the current students. Their goal is to give teachers the information to enable them to reach these students and to integrate them into the learning community. Although there are exceptions, the evidence supports teachers' suspicions that students are less prepared and less committed to academic pursuits than they were twenty years ago. Teaching practices, both in high school and college, frequently help create disengaged students. High school teachers often rely too heavily on memorization and require little rigorous academic discipline all the while developing a personal relationship with the students.
College freshmen expect that same supportive personal relationship with the college professor.
In addition, in high school material is usually covered in class, requiring little outside reading, and testing is more frequent and lacking in demands for critical thinking. Two factors in the high school student's experience lead to problems of time management while in college. The fixed schedule of high school classes with little demand for home work does not train students to develop skills for managing their own schedule and for taking responsibility for their learning. Perhaps more distracting is the rapid growth of student entrance into the work force. By the senior year many students are able to leave the school early for part-time jobs, or they work long hours after school.