By
12/03/05
It's an ongoing problem for all but the nation's elite colleges and universities. Far too many high school students admitted to four-year schools as freshmen have not mastered college-level math and English.
The trend is costly for the institutions, which must provide remedial classes, and it puts students behind their classmates because they must take catch-up classes that don't count toward their degrees. It also could hurt the state's economy.
"If those numbers aren't improved, the average per capita income will
fall in this state because a less educated population won't qualify for the
higher paying jobs," said Charles Reed, chancellor of the 23-campus
There's also a more basic question: How can students be admitted to college if they can't do college-level math and English? The CSU system reports that more than 60 percent of 40,000 freshmen admitted to its campuses were in need of remedial classes in math or English.
Here's where it gets interesting as we educate students who will compete in a global economy. Judging by their success in high school, these are not marginal students. A CSU report says the typical student needing remedial English had a 3.2 grade-point average.
Putting it another way: They have taken their college prep classes, have the grades to go with them, and have been admitted to college. But they aren't ready for college, at least when it comes to math and English.
Seems like something has gone haywire in a system that says you're ready for college, but wait a minute -- not really. You could argue that students are being pushed into college for the sake of perpetuating the higher education system. If they aren't ready, shouldn't their admission to college be delayed until they are?
But the problem is so widespread, that educators, especially at the high school level, accept it. Of course, they have plenty of other things to worry about. With a growing dropout rate and too many students failing basic courses, worrying about the lack of preparation by the college-prep kids -- the students we call the "good kids" -- is not high on the priority list.
But a little more investment in those students would have an immense payoff. It turns out that most of these students become proficient in their freshmen year through remedial classes, and go on to earn their degrees.
They can do the work if they are taught the skills they need. That puts the question back on the high schools. Why aren't college-bound students taught enough math and English to meet basic college standards?
Part of the answer is the lack of resources in public schools, and part is an acceptance by too many teachers, parents and students that taking extra math and English classes isn't worth it.
Fresno County Schools Superintendent Pete Mehas said grade inflation should be factored into the argument, with many students being admitted to college with grades that wouldn't stand up a generation ago.
"I'm not impressed with grades out of high school," Mehas said. "Grades are all over the map." Getting a "B" in one school isn't the same as getting a "B" in another school, he said.
Mehas believes that high schools with lenient grading standards give students a false sense of what they can accomplish in college. They may think they are helping students, he said, but they are hurting them in the long run.
Mehas said high schools and universities in
The CSU system has established the Early Assessment Program that tests high school juniors to let them know if they need to take an extra math or English class as seniors so they'll be ready for college. That's a good start, although the system needs to be tweaked to give students more notice on whether they need to add a math or English class to their senior year schedule.
Della Duncan, director of the Early Assessment Program at
"If I could just get them into a senior year math program, these kids
would be okay," said Duncan, who also chairs the math department at
The solution seems simple. Give students help earlier in their high school careers and force them to take classes to avoid remedial programs when they get to college.