More
than 60 percent of first-year students at Dayton, Ohio's Wright State University aren't ready for college-level
reading, writing, or math. Starting in fall 2012, Wright State will send most
"developmental education" students to nearby Clark
State Community College or Sinclair
Community College.
Ohio
will stop funding most remedial university classes by 2014. Statewide, that
will affect more than a third of first-year students.
More
than a dozen states have restricted funding for remedial education at four-year
institutions. Oklahoma and Nevada deny state funding to remediation at
four-year institutions, says Bruce Vandal, who directs the Getting Past Go initiative at the Education
Commission of the States.
Colorado
and South Carolina moved remediation to the community colleges several years
ago. Louisiana requires all students who score below a 19 on the ACT to start
in the community colleges and complete remediation before transferring to a
university. Tennessee passed legislation in 2010 to move all remedial
coursework to community colleges.
"There
is no data either way to indicate whether this is at all effective at
increasing student success or saving money," Vandal says.
The
policy will hit hardest at low-income and minority students and graduates of
low-performing high schools, critics charge. Disadvantaged students are the
most likely to be assigned to remedial classes.
Pushing
"developmental education to community colleges may contribute to a higher
education caste system where upper income students go to universities and lower
income students go to community colleges," says Hunter R. Boylan, an Appalachian State University higher education
professor who directs the National Center for
Developmental Education. It could become "the 21st century version
of 'separate but equal,'" Boylan warns.
Those
who start at community college may never make it to the university.
Only
one quarter of community college students who take at least one remedial course
earn a certificate or degree, according to Complete
College America. By contrast, 38 percent of remedial students at
four-year institutions complete a degree.
There's
no reason to think universities are better than community colleges at teaching
basic skills, says Boylan. However, universities have more funding than
community colleges. Universities can integrate developmental education with
counseling, academic advising, tutoring, and other support services that help
students succeed.
In
addition, universities typically have "a higher proportion of better
prepared students than community colleges and it is possible that being
surrounded by better students has a positive impact on the performance of
weaker students," says Boylan.
While
universities are sending unprepared students to community colleges, some
community colleges are sending unprepared students to adult education or
community-based programs.
Starting
in fall 2012, Pima Community College in
Tucson, Ariz., will restrict admission to high school graduates or GED holders
with at least seventh-grade proficiency in reading, writing, and math.
"Students who test below this level have little
chance of succeeding in a college environment, wrote Roy Flores, the
college president, in the Arizona Daily Star. Only 5 percent of Pima's remedial
students advance to college-level work.
In
Michigan, Jackson Community College's
leaders decided in 2010 that they would no longer admit students who test below a seventh-grade level, reports the
Lansing State Journal.
"We
have the data. They're not successful, no matter how much we try to help
them," said Cindy Allen, Jackson Community College's executive director of
community relations.
Elsewhere
in Michigan, Kalamazoo Valley, Lansing, and Washtenaw
community colleges also are referring would-be students with
below-middle-school skills to alternative programs.
No comments:
Post a Comment