When the federal and state education agencies passed
standardized test requirements, they hoped it would not only give
educators a way to monitor academic achievement, but also make sure
the students were adequately prepared for college. But some
teachers and administrators say that students coming out of
California high schools are less prepared for university-level
course work than they were only a decade ago and don’t know where
to place blame.
Hollister – When the federal and state education agencies passed standardized test requirements, they hoped it would not only give educators a way to monitor academic achievement, but also make sure the students were adequately prepared for college. But some teachers and administrators say that students coming out of California high schools are less prepared for university-level course work than they were only a decade ago and don’t know where to place blame.
The issue was raised again Wednesday during a joint meeting between the Gavilan College and San Benito High School, when Gavilan Trustee Laura Perry mentioned that she sometimes gets letters from students that look like they are written by a sixth grader. She said unless public schools address academic underachievement the problem will continue to grow until it is out of control.
“It’s not fair to students that the state of California will hand them a diploma and they can’t even multiply fractions or write two paragraphs clearly,” Perry said Thursday.
Some 85 percent of students entering Gavilan College are placed in remedial classes intended to bring them up to speed, according to numbers provided by the school. Of those, 97 percent are required to take pre-college math and 77 percent must pass pre-college English before they can enroll in other classes. Although some are re-entry students who haven’t been to school in years, many are recent high-school grads who test below college-level proficiency.
Many of these underprepared students are also entering the California State System, where more than half are put in remedial classes, said Clara Potes-Fellow, a spokesperson at the CSU’s Chancellor’s office. Although a 3.0 GPA is needed to be accepted into the system, many freshman lack basic English and math skills, she said. The problem not only hurts the students, who are faced with bigger bills for college, but also tax payers supporting the system, she said.
Grant Richards has witnessed the decline in academic ability with his own eyes. When he started teaching English at Gavilan College almost a decade ago, there were only several classes each semester for students who didn’t qualify for the basic English class. Today there are 22 – accommodating the growing number of students who aren’t ready to take college-level courses. And because there are only two courses that teach English below the college-level available at the school, students of different ability levels are often lumped together.
“You can have someone who can barely read and someone who is reading at an 11th grade level in the same class,” said Richards. “It’s not an easy thing to deal with.”
The increase in remedial sections in junior colleges and state universities is emblematic of the larger problem facing California schools – low scores on just about every type of state test from the California High School Exit Exam to the tests required as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act. Only 41 percent of students at San Benito High School District passed the math portion of the test and 68 percent passed the English section, when the test was first given in 2001.
Perry, the Gavilan board member, says standardized tests have an important role in measuring academic achievement, but they catch problems too late in the game. She said academic underachievement must be tackled before students graduate from public education.
“We are doing it all backwards … we need to address the problem at the grade level,” she said.
One way student achievement can be improved is by streamlining curriculum from elementary school through college, making sure students have no gaps in knowledge and don’t arrive at college expected to know something they have never learned.
Teachers say that’s exactly what they are doing, but added that they often have to alter the program to fit individual student needs.
“My job as a teacher is to make sure every single child is prepared for the next grade,” said Jose Anaya, a second grade teacher at Calaveras. “But each one has different needs. If a child doesn’t know vowels, we can’t move on to reading; otherwise they will just fall behind.”
Teachers call the method scaffolding, meaning each concept is built block by block, until the full picture is presented. But they know they can’t do it alone.
Dennis Kurtz, principal at Gabilan Hills and a former teacher, said that educators are already doing plenty to facilitate learning and stressed that parents need to take a more proactive role in their kids’ education.
“What tends to happen is parents are really involved in kindergarten, but by the time their child reaches high school, they aren’t really there for them,” said Kurtz. “Schools are doing the best they can, but they are facing an uphill climb.”
Studies have shown that student achievement is linked to economic status, and that is something that needs to be considered, said Kurtz. However, many parents work two or three jobs to make ends meet, leaving little time to make sure the kids are doing their homework and aren’t having problems in school.
“Schools need to look at new ways to help their students succeed because their parents aren’t there for them,” said Kurtz.
Karina Ioffee covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at (831)637-5566 ext. 335 or [email protected]
