San Francisco Chronicle
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Double dose of bad news for schools in California: Test
shows many of state's high schoolers couldn't handle college classes.
Tanya Schevitz, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, October 14, 2004
Nearly 4 out of 5 California high school juniors who volunteered for a new
test by the California State University need remedial English and nearly half
need remedial math, according to results released Wednesday.
The Early Assessment Program test is designed to give college-bound students
a chance to improve their skills in their senior year of high school as part
of the CSU's effort to reduce the need for bonehead English and remedial math
once students get to college.
Up until now, students took English and math placement exams after they were
admitted to one of CSU's 23 campuses.
"This early assessment is going to help parents and students make sure
students are well-prepared when they enter college," said Roberta Achtenberg,
chair of the education committee of the CSU Board of Trustees. "Those who
are deemed not yet ready to do their college work will be empowered to use their
senior year to get ready."
About 40 percent of last year's 385,000 high school juniors took one or both
of the exams. Seventy-eight percent of the 153,846 students who took the English
exam showed they could not do college-level work. Of the 115,762 students who
took the math exam, about 45 percent didn't score high enough to take college-level
math.
"Certainly, I would think this is not good news to the school systems in
California, but it gives them a real benchmark of where they are and it gives
the students a year to improve," said Jacqueline King, director of the
Center for Policy Analysis at the American Council on Education, a higher education
umbrella group.
CSU admits students who score in the top third of their high school class and
have at least a B average, and Wednesday's test results will not be used to
deny admission. Instead, students will be required to take the college placement
test and then be given 15 months to pass remedial courses.
CSU campuses spend about $30 million annually on remedial courses to teach material
that should have been absorbed in elementary and secondary schools. In 1996,
the CSU Board of Trustees approved a get-tough policy saying all freshmen who
had not shown they could do college-level work would have to do so within their
first 15 months of college or be kicked out.
The trustees hoped that by 2004 78 percent of admitted freshmen would demonstrate
proficiency in English courses, and 74 percent would be proficient in math.
They were overly optimistic.
Last fall, only about half of the freshmen who entered the CSU system could
read and write proficiently, while just 63 percent were proficient in math.
The exam data released Wednesday shows that students coming through the pipeline
are not likely to do better without some help.
"If they know early, that gives them time to work on their deficiencies,
and therefore their success rate will be higher," said Ellen Smith, a college
adviser at Las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek.
The early assessment test is a collaboration between the CSU system and the
state's K-12 education leaders.
"This test will serve as a wake-up call for many of our high school students,"
said state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, who participated
in a phone news conference with CSU officials to release the scores. "I
believe the senior year of high school will now be more productive. The scores
reveal that we must make high school more rigorous if we want our high school
students to be successful in college."
O'Connell and other state education leaders have touted improvements on state
standard tests during the last few years, but they acknowledge that the gains
have been slowest at the high school level and that despite improvements, 64
percent of public school students can't read proficiently.
CSU officials said the test results show that high school teachers need to prepare
students differently. University instructors have developed a new expository
writing curriculum that will be available next year for 12th-grade teachers.
In addition, CSU is offering an online math tutorial, and it also will focus
its professional development programs on strengthening teaching in the areas
where students need improvement.
"In year two and three we expect the message to get out to teachers, because
they will know what students need. It is really to give an early signal,"
said Executive Vice Chancellor David Spence.
The new testing program alone will cost CSU about $3 million annually. But in
a time of shrinking state support for higher education, CSU officials say it
is vital for CSU campuses to help their students graduate on time and make classroom
seats available for the next wave of students.
Students who show college readiness through the early assessment exam are exempt
from taking the CSU system's English and math placement exams and do not have
to take remedial courses.
CSU released only the aggregate score for English and math and did not provide
a school-by-school breakdown. That data were sent to the state's schools and
districts.
In the San Francisco Unified School District, 26 percent of students were ready
for college-level English and 67 percent were ready for college-level math.
"While the school district ranks ahead of the state average, we realize
there is still room for improvement," said district spokesman Roqua Montez.
California is not alone in the problem of unprepared college-bound high school
students. Of the nearly 1.2 million students nationally who took the ACT college
admissions exam, nearly one-third of test-takers were not ready for college-level
English and 60 percent were not ready for college-level math, according to a
report released Tuesday by ACT, the company that produces the test.
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A LOOK AT THE TEST
Sample math question:
Topic: Distinguish between reasonable and unreasonable claims.
An investment company advertised that last year its clients, on average, made
a profit of 9 percent. Which of the following claims can legitimately be made,
based on that information?
A. All of their clients made a profit of at least 9 percent last year.
B. At least one of their clients made a profit of at least 9 percent last year.
C. Some of their clients will make a profit of at least 9 percent this year.
D. All of their clients will make a profit of at least 9 percent this year.
E. If a person becomes one of their clients, that person will make a profit
of at least 9 percent each year.
Answer: B
Sample English question:
Topic: Chester Nakamura is an expert on samurai swords.
Directions: Select the sentence that provides the best support for the topic
presented.
A. The swords are richly decorated, and their engravings have meaning to the
collector.
B. Collectors around the world seek his advice about swords they plan to buy.
C. Each samurai took pride in his sword.
D. Many people in the United States have extensive collections of such swords.
Answer: B
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E-mail Tanya Schevitz at tschevitz@sfchronicle.com.
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URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/10/14/MNGQA99FDQ1.DTL
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