CAROL’S SUMMARY:
The data on remedial courses in college is startling. According to the Associated Press article below:
• Nationwide, about a third of first-year students in 2007-08 had taken at least one remedial course, according to the U.S. Department of Education. At public two-year colleges, that number rises to about 42 percent.
• In a 2007 ACT National Curriculum Survey of college professors, 65 percent said their states poorly prepare students for college-level coursework.
• The Alliance for Excellent Education estimates the nation loses $3.7 billion a year because students are not learning basic needed skills, including $1.4 billion to provide remedial education for students who have recently completed high school.
High schools today teach a broad understanding of a wide range of subjects, but college requires more specific skills and knowledge. Also, the recent focus on higher education has pushed academically weak students into college when they would otherwise prefer vocational training. “We’re telling kids you’ll be a third-class citizen if you don’t go to college,” said Marty Nemko, an education policy consultant and author. “And colleges are taking kids who in previous generations would not have gone to college.”
Properly preparing college-bound students, while giving students options such as apprenticeship programs similar to those offered in Finland, Japan and Germany would create a stronger workforce and ultimately strengthen the US economy. LifeBound’s books are designed to make cross-curricular connections with the courses students are already studying so that they connect their learning in class to their lives and other courses. Our new book, LEADERSHIP FOR TEENAGERS: From Antiquity to the 21st Century, exemplifies this strategy while helping students build the practical skills they need to make a difference in school, their community and the world as a whole.
ARTICLE:
Nation has high college remedial education rate
By CHRISTINE ARMARIO
Associated Press
May 11, 2010
DAVIE, Fla. — Professor Derron Bowen teaches high school math to college students, patiently chalking equations on the board on basic arithmetic topics such as the speed of a driver on a a 20-hour trip.
Bowen’s class at Broward College in South Florida is for students who didn’t score high enough on an entrance test to get into college-level math. In all, about two-thirds of students entering the community college need to take at least one remedial course in math, English or reading.
Nationwide, about a third of first-year students in 2007-08 had taken at least one remedial course, according to the U.S. Department of Education. At public two-year colleges, that number rises to about 42 percent.
Education observers worry that the vast numbers of students coming to college unprepared will pose a major roadblock to President Barack Obama’s goal for the United States to once again lead the world in college degrees.
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