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Math and English Proficiency of CSU Freshmen Holds Steady
Proficiency in mathematics of first-year freshmen who entered the California State University(CSU) in fall 2003 remained steady at 63 percent, and English proficiency increased from 51 percent in 2002 to 52 percent in 2003. More importantly, 42 percent of first-time freshmen were proficient in both English and mathematics, an increase of 10 percentage points since 1998 when the BOT' policy to reduce remediation went into effect.
The proficiency rates for first-time freshmen entering CSU in fall 2003 are far from a mid-point goal set by CSU Trustees for 2004 calling for math proficiency of 74 percent and English proficiency of 78 percent. The ultimate goal is that by 2007 at least 90 percent of freshmen enter the CSU ready for college level English and math.
"Proficiency has improved significantly but is not reaching the benchmarks set by the CSU Board of Trustees," said David Spence, CSU executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer. "This year's results underscore the need for an early assessment program that will assess high school juniors' readiness for college English and mathematics and the need for additional math and English classes during the high school senior year for those students who are not college-ready."
To improve proficiency levels at a faster pace, the CSU, in collaboration with the California Department of Education, the State Board of Education, and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction announced last November an Early Assessment Program (EAP) that includes an augmented California Standards Test (CST) in English and mathematics.
The CSU evaluates the progress of first-year freshmen who enter the CSU needing remediation and who take remedial English and mathematics at CSU campuses. Ninety-seven percent of freshmen entering in fall 2002 needing remediation and taking math and English at the CSU became fully proficient at the end of their first year in college. The results show the rapid progress achieved by students taking remedial English and math at the CSU campuses.
Early Assessment Program (EAP) for 11th Grade Students and the Academic Preparation Program (APP) for 12th Grade Students
The California State University has implemented the CSU Early Assessment Program (EAP), a collaborative effort between, the California State University (CSU), the California Department of Education (CDE), and the State Board of Education (SBE), designed to strengthen the comprehensive, school-based, college preparation for high school students in English and mathematics. EAP incorporates the CSU's placement standards into existing high school standards tests in augmented English and mathematics California Standards Tests (CST). Over the past 24 months, the CSU has been working closely with many stakeholders, including K-12 instructors and higher education faculty to reach this goal.
The goal of the EAP program is to bridge the gap between high school standards and college expectations in order to decrease the number of incoming college students who require remediation in English and/or mathematics. Even though remediation is a common occurrence in all states, the CSU believes that EAP will substantially increase the college readiness and eventual college success of California's high school students.
The EAP program will strengthen the comprehensive college preparation programs, it will also allow each public high school and CSU to determine the college preparation status of individual students at a point in high school that will permit sufficient time (during the senior year) to attain the additional skills needed to enter CSU college-ready. For those students assessed as ready for college on the basis of the early assessment, CSU will certify these students as proficient in English and/or mathematics, and upon matriculation these students will enroll in baccalaureate courses without the need to take any additional placement tests. Early assessment will address remediation and cultivate understanding of the study/learning skills necessary for college success.
The Academic Preparation Program (APP) for 12th grade students will foster a more challenging high school senior year, while establishing a much-needed articulation mechanism between education systems. The goal of the APP program is to identify approaches for helping high school seniors who need additional preparation to meet CSU placement standards.
A set of senior year programs will be based in all California public high schools and will address directly the college preparation needs of those seniors assessed in the EAP program as eligible for admission to CSU but not ready for college-level study. As an example, a task force under the aegis of the CSU English Council is developing a curriculum and teacher-training materials for an expository reading and writing course to be offered to high school students in their senior year. This course will not only satisfy the 4th year high school "a-g" English requirement but also address critical reading and writing problems identified by the CSU English Placement Test Development Committee. The task force includes high school English teachers, CSU English faculty, and ESL specialist, a reading expert, a California Department of Education representative and a high school principal.
The CSU Entry Level Math (ELM) Development Committee in consultation with the math department chairs is identifying approved, monitored, and interactive web-based and mediated instructional tools such as ALEKS, Academic Systems, and "I Can Learn." In addition, students who are conditionally exempt in mathematics will be exempt from taking CSU's ELM placement exam if they successfully complete a math course in their senior year that requires Algebra II as a prerequisite.
This spring, the CSU, the CDE, and the SBE will make the early assessment program available to all high school juniors who are taking the appropriate eleventh grade English and mathematics courses required for admission to the CSU. The spring 2004 administration of the STAR (11th grade English, 11th graders taking Algebra 2, and 11th graders taking High School Summative Mathematics) will be the first rollout of the EAP for all eleventh graders. Instructions regarding the administration of voluntary spring 2004 EAP have been provided to districts/high schools in the STAR administration packages. Additional information will be available on a web site that will be released shortly.
As CSU reshapes its student academic outreach efforts to focus on early assessment and identification of students needing additional assistance before entering the CSU, it is reaffirming its commitment to the professional development of teachers and faculty in order to accomplish its goals. This historic collaborative effort between the State Board of Education, California Department of Education, and the California State University will better align academic achievement and expectations between K-12 and higher education, resulting in better prepared students ready to succeed at the State's universities.
Electronic Admission Applications via CSUMentor
In September 2003, CSU announced a policy encouraging all students to submit an electronic admission application effective for admission in the 2005-06 academic year and thereafter unless they do not have web access via a computer. The policy is a result of a two-year consultation process with all CSU constituent groups, all of whom supported the policy.
Since 1996 when CSU first introduced its electronic admission application as part of CSUMentor, the number of students who file electronic admission applications has grown exponentially. Over 343,400 students filed an electronic admission application during the first two months of the priority application period of October 1 through November 30, 2003 for admission to the fall 2004 term compared to over 232,600 students who filed applications during the same two-month period for fall 2003. Based upon this 47.6 percent increase, it is anticipated that over 90 percent of all admission applications for 2004-05 will be filed electronically.
Students are encouraged to file an electronic admission application. The web-based CSU electronic admission application is available to students 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This allows students complete access at any time day or night at www.csumentor.edu. The electronic admission application allows students to submit more complete and accurate information as a result of CSU's electronic admission internal data checking. An electronic admission application is completed more accurately by students and requires less follow-up, campuses are able to evaluate applications and to notify applicants in a more timely and efficient manner. CSU's electronic admission application system provides online and telephone support to applicants who are completing the electronic admission application and need assistance.
The CSU will continue to accept paper applications, recognizing that there will be instances in which a student may not have access to a computer or other extenuating circumstances that may prevent a student from filing an electronic admission application. In these instances, the students may file a paper admission application that the CSU campus will enter into the CSU electronic admission application system. CSU campuses have agreed that they have an absolute obligation to assist every student who wants to complete and submit a paper application in order to apply for admission to the CSU.
While students will be encouraged to file an electronic admission application, a printable version of the admission application will be available online through CSUMentor that may be downloaded and printed by campuses, counselors, students, families, and the general public. In addition, CSU will make paper applications available to high schools that may not have the resources to print a PDF version of the admission application or that have requested paper applications for other reasons. Students who submit paper applications will have the same priority for admission as students who submit electronic admission applications.
Additionally, it is the responsibility of the campus in cases where the campus or a major is impacted, or the campus is no longer accepting applications, to redirect applications (both electronic and paper applications) to an alternate campus that is open and accepting applications without an additional application fee.
As originally designed, redirection occurred when a campus received an application for an admission category or major that was closed or when the applicant to an impacted admission campus or major did not to meet the supplementary admission criteria for that campus or major. As more CSU campuses declare either campus or major impaction and more students apply to the CSU, the time required to make admission decisions has increased. Even campuses that are not impacted are closing admission categories earlier, leaving few if any options for redirected applicants. As an example, seven CSU campuses stopped accepting admission applications on November 30, 2003 for fall 2004 from first-time freshmen and upper division transfer students, and four additional campuses stopped accepting applications from first-time freshmen. More CSU campuses may stop accepting admission applications from students in early 2004.
By moving to an electronic admission application environment, CSU campuses will be able to provide an additional opportunity to students who apply for admission to impacted campuses or major. Applicants who apply electronically to an impacted campus or major will be notified by the CSU electronic admission application system that they may apply to one additional CSU campus that is not impacted with no additional application fee.
Applicants who apply to an impacted campus or major using paper applications will designate a second choice, non-impacted campus or major on their admission application. The receiving campus will forward the paper applications to the second choice campus at no additional cost to the applicants. Should students wish to apply to more than one additional campus, they will be charged an additional fee for each application beyond the one additional campus.
A principal concern of the presidents, provosts, student affairs vice presidents, faculty, students, high school counselors, and community college academic advisors is the possibility that students who want to file and electronic admission application may not have web access via a computer. In response to these concerns, a number of strategies, including the examples described below, have been identified that the Chancellor's Office and campuses may implement.
- The Chancellor's Office will maintain a printable and scanable copy of the CSU application on CSUMentor and the Chancellor's Office web site that may be downloaded by high school, community college counselors, and other individuals and community groups that may copy the admission application for distribution.
- Students may download, complete, and submit a copy of the admission application.
- The Chancellor's Office will continue to make paper applications available to high schools that may not have the resources to print a PDF version of the admission or have requested them for other reasons.
- Campuses may establish an application "hotline" to which applicants may provide the admission application information over the telephone to a campus representative who enters the information into the campus' electronic application system.
- Some campus admission and outreach staff may carry laptop computers on visits to high schools and community colleges in areas with limited computer access and assist applicants complete the online applications.
- Campus admission and outreach staff will host onsite campus-based and offsite community-based admission workshops to assist applicants with completing online admission application.
- CSU campuses may partner with local community college districts to provide online application assistance to high school and community college applicants.
More information on the electronic admission application process via CSUMentor will be available at the 2004 Fall Counselor Conferences. To learn more about the electronic application process please visit the user-friendly, web-based CSU application at www.csumentor.edu.
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