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.

Participation was optional. Of 385,000 high school juniors, nearly 154,000 took the English assessment and nearly 116,000 the math.

The study found:

78 percent were unprepared for college English.

45 percent were unprepared for college math.
"We feel these percentages will get much better once teachers understand what the standards are," said David Spence, CSU’s executive vice chancellor, at a teleconference. "We’re doing this to identify students who are not on course to be ready (for CSU) so they have a full senior year to prepare."

California is the first state to try this approach, piggybacking college-level questions onto the state’s standardized testing for high school students.

CSU devised 15 new questions in both math and English along with an essay. The process took years and Maxwell retired before the change he advocated took effect.

High schools have already received the results; they will be posted online next week.

Jack O’Connell, the state superintendent for K-12 schools, described the test as a wake-up call. He plans to host a summit Oct. 25-26 on how to increase rigor of high school courses.

"I want all of our students prepared to succeed in college and the workplace," O’Connell said.

CSU trustee Roberta Achtenberg predicted the state’s effort would result in more students completing a college degree in less time. More students have been taking five years to earn a four-year degree.

Both CSU and the University of California offer so-called placement tests to determine whether newly admitted freshmen in fact have the skills to be successful in collegiate math and English.

CSU campuses, designed for the top third of California high school students, require four years of English, three years of math (algebra, geometry, and algebra 2) and a 3.0 grade-point average.

The latest CSU placement tests showed 52 percent needed remedial English and 37 percent remedial math.

Spence said CSU has the highest placement standards in the nation, and trustees want to shrink the number of remedial students to 10 percent.

Remediation costs CSU $25 million to $30 million annually. Better-prepared students would free up resources, a welcome change at a time of major funding cutbacks due to state budget woes.

According to Spence, 62 percent of incoming CSU freshmen need help even when they earned Bs or better.

One reason students have difficulty in English is that high school courses concentrate on literature while college faculty demand writing skills.

"We’re talking about emphasizing different things," Spence said.

Grade inflation may be a factor.

"We’d to love to see that ‘B’ mean you met CSU placement standards," Spence said.

CSU faculty have developed an alternative college-prep English course that is being piloted by high schools in the Sweetwater district near San Diego and in Santa Monica. Some units are available now and a full course is expected by spring.

To assist in math, CSU faculty have prepared an online tutorial.

CSU also offers online diagnostic services in both English and math.

Cabrillo College English instructor Peter McLean sees many students who struggle with writing.

"They can’t punctuate. They don’t know a run-on, and they don’t know how to organize," he said.

New CSU assessment
WHAT: 15 questions each in English and math, and an essay.
WHEN: Given to high school juniors.

WHY: Reduce remediation in college, save students time and money.

Online help available:

Math assessment: http://mdtp.ucsd.edu/.

Math tutorial: www.csumathsuccess.org.

Writing assessment: http://www.essayeval.org/.

Source: California State University, http://www.calstate.edu/eap/.