I think student's not doing well if a very complex issue, and imo the best people to change it are the students themselves. But of course for some that is simply not going to happen. Self motivated learning is the best way to understand things, but can teachers do anything about that?
Teachers cannot do much when they have large classes, must emphasize preparation for standardized tests, and work within a system that is process driven rather than results driven. These conditions also frustrate those students who already are self-motivated.
School systems judge success by things that are relatively easy to measure: scores on standardized tests, graduation rates, and admission to higher education. To quote from the article, this says little about "whether students are growing intellectually and becoming prepared for success in college-level coursework." I would be interested in seeing how many of a school system's graduates actually graduate from college, or demonstrate measureable success in other pursuits like the military or a skilled trade. I would be interested in knowing, say 10 years after graduation, how many have criminal convictions, excessive debt, difficulty keeping a job, etc. Obviously the educational system isn't responsible for all these problems, but it certainly helps if your education actually prepared you to succeed in the job market.
Both schools (K-12) and colleges need to be more demanding, and focus on real substance rather than simply a list of checked boxes. If poor and/or minority students can't meet these demands, the answer isn't to shut them out, but to address their shortcomings as early as possible, whether that is lack of support at home, fear of "trying to be white", medical or nutritional problems, whatever. This is where "affirmative action" really belongs, at the very beginning of the pipeline, where disadvantages will have effects that last a lifetime.
Being more selective should help colleges and universities, too. It takes alot of money to educate these vast hordes of students propelled toward college by eager guidance counselors and families. Historically, college education has been rationed as much by ability to pay as by merit, resulting, among other things, in the significant amount of student loan debt in play today. If colleges admit only those truly able to benefit from what they offer, those who don't make the cut will either have to improve their background, or rethink their strategy and choose another path in life. They can always try again later, when their greater maturity and life experiences may indeed make them prepared to benefit.
