CALI -Report faults community colleges

[2ndamendsis]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...nes-california

Report faults community colleges
Only 10% of students who intend to get a two-year degree achieve their goals, study finds.

By Richard C. Paddock, Times Staff Writer
November 17, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO — California community colleges are falling short in educating a changing student population that needs greater remedial education and better English skills to join the state workforce, according to a report released Thursday by a policy analysis group.

In particular, the community college system is not doing a good enough job of retaining students who set out to obtain a degree, concluded the report by the San Francisco-based Public Policy Institute of California.

Only 10% of students who intend to get a two-year degree and only 26% of those hoping to transfer to a four-year university achieve their goals, the study found. The success rate of black and Latino students is even lower.

"This is sobering because a primary function of community college is to broaden access to higher education," said Ria Sengupta, lead author of the study. "Unfortunately, the groups that are gaining the least from community college are the same ones that are historically underserved by other higher education systems."

The community college system, with 110 colleges and 2.5 million students, has long prided itself on providing affordable, quality education to any adult Californian who wants to take a class or obtain a college degree.

But educators have begun to question whether those goals are sufficient in an era when California's workforce is increasingly undereducated and has a growing number of Latinos and Asians who speak English as a second language.

Community Colleges Chancellor Marshall "Mark" Drummond welcomed the group's report, which he said highlights problems the system is already attempting to address.

"We have a great front door," he said. "The back door doesn't work so well."

Drummond said part of the problem is that students are not as well prepared for community college as they were a generation ago. When students enroll today, 90% need remedial math and 75% need remedial English and writing.

The community colleges, which accept any Californian over the age of 18, are largely unprepared to deal with the large influx of students who need remedial help before they can begin taking college courses.

"We are set up to deal with the students of the '80s," Drummond said. "The students of 2006 are not like those students. The people who come to us are not that well prepared, and there is a wider diversity."

Nancy Shulock, director of Cal State Sacramento's Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy, said her group is conducting a similar study that shows "some very frightening projections" for the California workforce if the level of education does not improve.

"It's really important that more of the students who enroll in a community college come out with a degree or transfer to a four-year institution," she said.

The study by the Public Policy Institute of California found that half the students who enroll in community college for basic skills courses stay in the system for a year or less.

In addition, black, Latino and Native American students who enroll with the intention of transferring to a four-year school drop out at twice the rate of Asians and Pacific Islanders.

The poor outcome for community college students stems in part from poor preparation in elementary and high schools.
In addition, community colleges are not set up to assist students who need help in designing their program for a two-year degree or transferring to another institution. For every 1,200 students, there is only one counselor, Drummond noted.

"Most people never get to see a counselor because we have so few of them," he said.

Drummond said the community college system adopted a series of measures earlier this year to try to help more students obtain a degree or transfer, but state officials will need to consider more far-reaching steps.

"At the end of the day, there is a major policy question for the state of California," the chancellor said. "Currently, community colleges are not capable of remediating 70 or 80 or 90% of the people who come to us."

richard.paddock@latimes.com

[gingerurp]

Makes sense to me. California public schools just stink. I hate to see community colleges turn into a dumping ground for remediation, but I suspect that's where it's headed. I enjoyed taking college level classes at our local community college while still in high school, and taking interesting courses not offered at my 4 year college.

[swatchick]

If California is like Florida when it comes to education, I can see why there is a problem. My daughter told me that in homes where English is not the first language the kids take a test and if they do poorly they get easier courses. They end up getting higher marks in that than compared to regular classes that the English speakers do. That way they get their high school diploma and can go to college. Having been spoon fed through high school unlike the rest of the kids, they don't have the study habits or true ability to do well.

[PinestrawGuys]

When I grew up out there in the 60's California public schools were the best in the nation!

40 years of massive immigration has destroyed that, too.

So sad...

[sunsetincali]

What else do they expect by catering to these illegals? If they can't
speak English there is no way they're going to be prepared for
college.

[andyt]

Maybe their parents can get them a diploma from the same place they got their Social Security cards.

[MW]

PinestrawGuys wrote:

When I grew up out there in the 60's California public schools were the best in the nation!

40 years of massive immigration has destroyed that, too.

What's really amazing is the fact that our politicians refuse to acknowledge such facts. We have been hitting our elected representatives over the head with tons of facts that point to a correlation between illegal immigration and the degradation of the United States, but they refuse to listen!

[Jean]

When I grew up out there in the 60's California public schools were the best in the nation!

40 years of massive immigration has destroyed that, too.

So sad...

You are so right pine. I've lived in CA since 1956. When I was in school we were top in the nation. Now we're near rock bottom nationally. I wish my kids could have gone to school here when I did. Now the rich people here have their kids in private schools. Didn't hear of private schools when I was young unless you want to include the religious ones.

[andyt]

You are right Jean. When I was a boy I was bounced out of school in Texas, so I went to live with my uncle in Southern Ca. I went to Cerritos Jr. college for a semester before joining the Marines. It was a good school with top notch teachers and facilities and best of all it was free. When I was discharged I got my B.A. and a graduate degre from U.T. but there was never the sense of fun I had at Cerritos. The most popular song then was "I want to Hold Your hand" by the Beatles and I had a crush on a girl who had strait hair like Mary Travers. I never worked up the nerve to talk to her. Sorry to hear they have screwed it up.