Is college prep not prepping kids for college?

Hi-Desert Star 3/24/07

Here’s an interesting news item: A new study suggests almost half of first-year college students are unprepared for college-level studies.

A report to the California State University Board of Trustees shows an average of 45 percent of CSU freshmen needed a course in remedial English and 37 percent needed a simple math course before they could tackle college-level material.

The report hits home especially because Cal State, San Bernardino had one of the lowest percentages of freshmen who are prepared for college.

This is the kind of head-shaking news that might just seem worse than it is.

A CSU chancellor says 83 percent of remedial students get up to speed by their second year. They graduate in the same numbers as kids who hit the ground running in their first year of college.

They’re obviously as intelligent and capable as their high-achieving freshman counterparts. So why do some kids need to do remedial work when they enter college?

The most obvious answer: Californian high school’s college-prep classes aren’t cutting it.

Certainly in some cases the most obvious answer is the correct one. But it’s not the only answer.

There are college-prep courses, in public and private schools, in which students aren’t exposed to the right material or held to appropriately rigorous academic standards.

However, there are also students who need the extra time and help of catch-up courses or junior colleges to push them into higher-level academics. They also need extra time to prepare to cope with the distractions and stressors of college life.

A few suggestions:

• High schools should track the success of their college-prep classes using students’ scores on Advanced Placement tests and their grades in their freshman year of college. Curricula or teachers who consistently produce students who fall short should be reviewed and improved.
  
  
• College-bound students and their parents should take community colleges more seriously. Junior colleges aren’t the perfect fit for all students — but for some, they can be empowering and advantageous.
  
  
• Accept that students aren’t raw materials that can be treated exactly the same way to get exactly the same finished products. Some people aren’t ready for college until they’re older. Some don’t need to go at all. One size fits all isn’t a good maxim for education. The success of CSU’s programs to get students up to speed is proof of that.