College freshmen still weak on skills
Daily Breeze 3/14/07
Also up for discussion are the results of a college readiness study rating incoming CSU freshmen in the system's 23 campuses, including Cal State Dominguez Hills. The study documents what percentage of the freshman class needs remedial education in math and English.
Over the past four years, the number of those needing remedial education at CSU remained excessive, with only 63 percent of freshmen deemed proficient in math and 55 percent proficient in English. Those numbers are far off the trustees' goal of reaching 90 percent readiness in those subjects by the fall of this year.
The numbers for Dominguez Hills, which receives a large share of its freshman class from high schools in Los Angeles Unified and other lower-income areas, were particularly disturbing. Of the freshmen admitted in the fall of last year, 84.5 percent needed remedial instruction in math and 83.1 percent required remediation in English. Indeed, the remediation rate at Dominguez Hills has worsened since 1999, when 77 percent lacked proficiency in English and 81 needed remedial education in math.
One has to wonder how such numbers come to pass after years of reform efforts within L.A. County school districts, as well as the CSU's emphasis on testing high school juniors so they can overcome deficiencies before entering the CSU system.
Though the university system has brought many under-performing students up to speed, it's lamentable that CSU must pay out millions of dollars on remedial education at a time when it is poised to raise student fees 10 percent and faculty members are set to strike unless contract issues are resolved.
The number of CSU students requiring remedial education is another sign of the urgent for change in low-performing L.A. school districts.