Christina Jeronimo of California was an “A” student in high school English, but due to testing scores, when she arrived at her community college she was placed in remedial English. The course was valuable academically, but frustrating and time-consuming. She had hoped to transfer to a four year university after two years of community college, but now in her third year at the community college she isn’t sure of her time frame for transferring.
Unfortunately, Christina is not in some small minority. In fact, a recent report “Diploma to Nowhere” (see link below) states: “Forty-three percent of all students at public two-year institutions have enrolled in a remedial course. Twenty-nine percent of all students at public four-year institutions have enrolled in remedial class.”
Remedial college students are not only the kids that “messed around” in high school. In 2008, four out of five, or eighty percent of remedial students had a high school GPA of 3.0 or better. Over half of these students describe themselves as hard workers that completed nearly all their high school assignments. The assessment made by students: “fifty-nine percent of remedial students report that their high schools classes were easy,” (Diploma to Nowhere) is concerning. High school shouldn’t be impossible, but it shouldn’t be easy.
High school courses should be challenging. They need to increase the student’s academic muscle. Just as lifting light weights over time does not increase muscle strength, a light-weight high school curriculum does not increase academic ability. And this lack is showing in our nation’s colleges’ high need for remedial curriculum.
Remedial classes, while necessary to bring skills to college level, can be time-consuming, expensive and frustrating. College remediation isn’t limited to urban or poor high schools; it affects our middle class high school students with good but not great academic skills.
The high school diploma no longer guarantees college readiness. The “Diploma to Nowhere” study finds “the high school graduates who require college remediation are often the ones who did everything that was expected of them. They went to good schools and took classes to keep a high GPA. Both their parents and teachers told them they would do well in college. But at the Dream University or Community College, the student fails their math or reading placement test and is required to take the remedial course prolonging the college education time-frame.
High schools are not preparing students for college or university. Not only is the academic base being not aligned with college curriculum, the study and analysis skill set is also being neglected. “Only fourteen percent of remedial students said that their high school prepared them extremely well for college.” (Diploma to Nowhere)
The financial cost can run into the thousands of dollars per student. The average remedial student takes at least two remedial courses at about $1800 to $2200 per student. This also sets the students back at least a semester, sometimes a full year, in on-time graduation. The worst part is, not only does the student have to pay the college for remediation; the taxpayers already paid the high school to teach the same course work. It’s like paying the roofing company a second time to fix the same leak in your roof.
Students not only spend extra money and lose academic momentum; they also face feelings of frustration. The “Diploma to Nowhere” study states students “feel frustrated that they weren’t prepared for university-level work. According to our poll of remedial students, almost all of the students believed they were ready for college, and after learning that they needed remediation, they expressed anger, surprise, and embarrassment.” (Diploma to Nowhere) Remedial reading students struggle the most: if a student cannot read well and understand the content they cannot perform well in college.
Lest you believe this cannot happen in Virginia: Eric Paris, who earned a 3.8 high school GPA tells an AP reporter that his freshman year at Virginia Tech is much harder than he expected. Not only are the academics much more challenging, but he must manage his own time. “It’s all on my own.” In class, “it’s up to me if I want to sit on Facebook or pay attention.” He wishes he had taken more challenging high school classes but thought a high GPA was more important.” (Justin Pope, AP Copyright 2008)
Our high schools need to improve graduation standards and instruction. Students should be remediated in high school, not college. High school curriculum should also teach time management and effective study skills. High school programs should be aligned with college material. And parents should encourage students to take the most rigorous classes available in their high school. Studies show that students taking Advanced Placement classes and passing the tests were significantly less likely to need remediation.
A few schools systems are recognizing the problem and have begun to require exams, improve standards, and strengthen accountability. But, to date, it has not been enough to fix the problem. Our country needs its own strong pool of college-educated graduates to provide a strong economy. Students need the algebra, literature, and science to succeed in any career, not just college. To echo the study: “Our country cannot afford a high school diploma that shows little and does nothing.” (Diploma to Nowhere)
Note to parents: a high GPA in standard or advanced classes will not necessarily prepare your student for college level work. In Virginia, the high school level advanced Chemistry class for which your student passed the SOL, does not prepare your student to take anything but the lowest level Chemistry class in college, and sometimes not even that. A high GPA does look good on the application, it does allow them a better class rank, but a high GPA without challenging curriculum will not prepare your student to do well in college.
http://www.edin08.com/uploadedFiles/Issues/Issues_Pages/DiplomaToNowhere.pdf
