Cal State Releases First Results in Program to Gauge High-School Students' Readiness for College, Chronicle of Higher Education
The results are in from the first year of a new California testing program that is designed to help high-school juniors learn how they can better prepare for college, and the findings, released on Wednesday, show that many students have more work to do to become proficient in mathematics and English.

Double dose of bad news for schools in California, San Francisco Chronicle
Not Ready: Many of state's high schoolers couldn't handle college classes, test shows.

High schoolers in state score low on diagnostic exam, San Diego Union-Tribune
Only 22 percent of California high school juniors participating in a new state program proved themselves ready for college-level English.

High schoolers fall short, CSU learns, Sacramento Bee
Nearly six months after giving the first statewide exam to identify students who aren't prepared for university-level course work, California State University officials found that nearly 80 percent of high school juniors they tested are not ready for college English.

Test judges 11th-graders on readiness for college, Hayward Review
California State University system plans to use results to help students get better prepared for advanced education.

Numbers show California teens need better college prep courses, Santa Cruz Sentinel
Eight years ago, Harbor High School art teacher Don Maxwell had a radical idea: Why not give high school juniors a college placement test to see if they are ready for college math and English? Administrators with the California State University system listened, and on Wednesday they released the results of the groundbreaking statewide assessment last spring.

Exam shows low readiness for college, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Just 22 percent of California's 11th- graders are prepared to take college English, while 55 percent have the skills needed to tackle college math, according to a report released Wednesday.

Students find out if they have the right stuff for Cal State, San Bernardino County Sun
About 40 percent of California's high school seniors know whether or not they're ready for math or English in the Cal State system. Last spring, they volunteered to take an extended version of the already required California Standards Tests. It was the first year all students could take the Cal State test.

CSU test finds 11th-graders lag in English, Press-Telegram
Just more than half of California 11th- graders who took an early assessment test were college-ready in math, and only one- fifth were prepared in English, according to results from the California State University's new high school testing program.

Test shows 22 percent of high school juniors are 'college ready', The North County Times
Twenty-two percent of high school juniors who completed an extra "college-readiness" section on their California Standards Tests were found to be ready for college English, it was announced Wednesday.

High school juniors not ready for college, The Mercury News
More than three-quarters of California high school juniors tested last spring could not read or write well enough for college-level work. Students fared much better in math; 55 percent of the juniors met the college math standard.

Study: Some aren't ready for college, The Press-Enterprise
High school juniors need to boost their English and math skills before they attend a four-year college, according to figures released Wednesday.

Math, English skill is lacking, The Modesto Bee
Only 22 percent of high school juniors are prepared for English courses in the California State University system. Just 55 percent made the cut for CSU math courses, according to results of a new test.

UCSD to lead 50 centers in study of early Alzheimer's, San Diego Union-Tribune
$60 million project will have 800 participants.

UC Davis gets home for genome study, Sacramento Bee
$95 million, six-story facility will house 700 employees.

Public gets first peek at UCSC growth plan, Santa Cruz Sentinel
The community at large will have an opportunity to see the first draft of a long-awaited development plan for the UC Santa Cruz campus at an off-campus workshop Oct. 20.

Double dose of bad news for schools in California, San Francisco Chronicle
Penalties Loom: Under No Child Left Behind, 20% now failing federal standards.

County schools face sanctions, San Diego Union-Tribune
After repeatedly falling short of federal academic goals, 92 public schools in the county must give students the option to switch to schools that have made the grade, and give them rides there. That's 20 more than last year.

L.A. Unified's Math Off by 5,000, Los Angeles Times
Once again, the district has underestimated the drop in enrollment. Schools stand to lose teachers and millions in state funding.

School Is Down but Looking Up, Los Angeles Times
Sun Valley campus is among 1,626 statewide that have failed to meet federal standards. But scores don't tell the whole story.

College faculty fights proposed pay cuts, Contra Costa Times
Contra Costa community college teachers are fighting a plan to use salary cuts to save $4 million

Sure Feels Like Being Left Behind, Los Angeles Times
Replete with the children of migrants, Coachella Valley schools again fall short of federal goals. Officials want time.

Colleges unveil plan to boost enrollment, Ventura County Star
Trying to keep the state from cutting their budgets, Ventura County community colleges plan to offer more classes next spring and summer to increase enrollment and conduct an aggressive publicity campaign to woo back students shut out by fee increases and course cutbacks the past two years.

Can small schools make a big difference?, CNN/AP
From Oregon to New York, school districts are scaling down to combat problems that are very big indeed: high dropout rates, sinking test scores and low attendance.

Study of College Readiness Finds No Progress in Decade, New York Times
American high school students are no better prepared for college than they were 10 years ago, according to a new study by ACT, one of the two big organizations that offer college entrance tests.

A Better Way to Rank Colleges Could Be Crafted Out of Students' 'Revealed Preferences,' Paper Says, Chronicle of Higher Education
The selectivity measures used by U.S. News & World Report and other college-ranking services can and should be drastically restructured, four scholars have proposed in a working paper released this week.

Daniel Weintraub: Voters see governor's strengths and weaknesses, Sacramento Bee
The public, while paying relatively little attention, seems to get things right most of the time.

Editorial: The End of a 15-Year Detour, Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles school board ended 15 years of detours and disappointments Tuesday when it approved a controversial plan to raze most of the historic Ambassador Hotel and construct a school complex on the site.

Governor's budget chief leaving post, San Francisco Chronicle
A Florida transplant, Arduin was on job for less than a year.

Arduin to Leave Finance Position, Los Angeles Times
The conservative's departure is seen as a realigning of the governor's budget team.

NOTE: For additional political coverage, visit the Rough & Tumble website.

California’s 11th graders get early signal of their math and English proficiency, CSU Public Affairs
In an unprecedented partnership between the California State University and California’s K-12 public schools to assess college readiness, nearly 40 percent of 11th grade students this year volunteered to take tests of their abilities to succeed at college-level mathematics and English at the California State University.

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