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Remediation newest of 3 R's

Study: Third of state's high school grads need help in college

Sara Burnett and Nancy Mitchell, Rocky Mountain News

Published December 14, 2005 at midnight

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Nearly one-third of Colorado high school graduates who enrolled in public in-state colleges last year needed remedial classes in math, writing or reading, according to a study released Tuesday by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.

CCHE Executive Director Rick O'Donnell said the data show an "expectation gap" between the state's high schools and colleges and a clear need for rigorous statewide high school graduation requirements, an effort the commission tried unsuccessfully to push through the legislature last year.

"Either higher education is expecting too much . . . or our K-12 schools are expecting so little, it's a scandal," O'Donnell said.

Of the 28,268 students who went from Colorado high schools to Colorado public colleges in fall 2004 - the most recent year for which data are available - 8,366, or 30 percent, needed remediation.

That's up from 28 percent the previous year.

The numbers are particularly troubling, O'Donnell said, because they include only students who went straight from high school to college. High school graduates who took time off before college are not included.

"This probably understates the problem," he said.

There also are costs to taxpayers.

The CCHE estimates that providing the remedial classes cost the state nearly $11 million last year.

The study also found that minority students needed remediation at a higher rate than white students, and women needed help more often than men.

Jefferson County Public Schools, the state's largest school district, is home to the high schools at the top - and bottom - of the remediation ranking.

More than 70 percent of graduates of Jefferson County Open School, an "options school" focused on hands-on learning, required remedial help when they arrived at a Colorado college or university.

In contrast, just 1 percent of graduates at Jeffco's D'Evelyn Jr./Sr. High School needed any remediation.

D'Evelyn Principal Mark Hartshorne said the school's graduation requirements are tougher than the district's. That's possible because D'Evelyn, like the Open School, is an options school that students must apply to attend.

So while Jeffco doesn't require foreign language study to graduate, D'Evelyn students take three years of it.

"Some people think we only accept kids based on test scores, (but) that's not true," Hartshorne said. "We have a random lottery (selection process). Do we have some really, really bright kids here? Absolutely. We also have quite a number of kids who are just plain kids like everybody else."

His school's success supports, he believes, the argument for raising high school graduation requirements, whether in the district or across the state. If D'Evelyn students representing 54 Jeffco elementary schools can do the work, why not others?

"I really think, for the very large majority of students, whatever bar you set, they can achieve at that level," he said.

Colorado is one of just three states that does not have statewide high school graduation requirements, according to Achieve Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that helps states raise academic standards.

Instead, local school boards set the requirements, resulting in differences across Colorado's 178 school districts.

So the CCHE, in an attempt to toughen graduation requirements, approved admissions standards in 2003 for the state's colleges and universities. They go into effect in fall 2008, meaning current high school sophomores will be the first to face the standards, which are higher than many district graduation requirements.

At East High School in Denver, counselor Jeff Lathrop said he encourages students to achieve the CCHE admissions standards - and not settle for Denver's lower requirements in math and science.

"That's not to say all of our kids will go to CU," he said, "but we want all of our kids to have these minimum standards, so when they go to college, they have choices."

Lathrop said he's happy that Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet is talking about increasing the district's graduation requirements. So is Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Cindy Stevenson.

The report shows 50 percent of Denver high school graduates require at least one remedial class. In Jeffco, the figure is 31 percent.

"We're in an era where the kids do need a stronger academic background," Stevenson said. "We're really looking at that . . . We want all of our kids to meet the CCHE requirements."

One issue, however, is having enough teachers to offer more core academic classes.

"I would like all of our kids to be able to take 24 credit hours over four years of high school," she said. "We don't staff our high schools at that level. That's something we need to look at seriously."

Some high schools and colleges already are partnering to reduce the remediation problem.

Community College of Denver now offers testing, study labs and classes at three Denver high schools - Abraham Lincoln, Emily Griffith and CEC Middle College - to help students get the college preparation they need.

CCD President Christine Johnson said the effort is about a year old.

"We were finding it was just a bigger and bigger problem," she said, "and I said, 'We've got to go earlier and help the students before they get to us if we're going to turn this around.' "

Students are flagged for remediation based on their scores on the ACT or SAT college entrance exams. For example, if a student scores below 19 out of a possible 36 points in the math section of the ACT, he or she would be considered in need of remediation.

The student would then take another test, called the Accuplacer, to determine how much help is needed. Lincoln Principal Scott Mendelsberg gives that test to his students in grades nine and 10.

"I want them to understand what level it is they need to achieve," he said. "It's unacceptable for high school kids to graduate, sometimes with good grades, and have to take remedial classes - and that happens all over the state of Colorado."

For students, the remedial classes can be difficult in more ways than one. They must pay the tuition and take time for the classes, and the courses don't count for credit.

Sean Cowart, a May 2005 graduate from Heritage High School in Littleton, was placed in two remedial classes - math and English - this fall at CCD.

He missed the cutoff for remediation on the Accuplacer by single points in each subject.

"I was kind of disappointed," he said. "I didn't think remedial classes were necessary."

But he said his remedial English class helped him pass his two other college classes in history and cultural studies.

His parents, who are footing his college expenses, "think it will get me ready for what's to come in the normal college classes," Cowart said. "They think I should just do my best and try to get it done so I can move on."

Who needs remediation?

Incoming college students are flagged as needing remediation based on their scores on the ACT or SAT college entrance exams.

The cutoffs - or the scores students must earn to avoid remediation - are:

Subject ACT(out of 39) SAT(out of 800)

• Math 19 460

• Reading 17 430

• Writing 18 440

Schools with high remediation rates

Colorado high schools with the highest percentage of graduates requiring remedial classes in state-funded colleges and universities in 2004:

Large schools   Percent

• John F. Kennedy (Denver)   48.1

• South (Pueblo City)   44.4

• Arvada (Jefferson County)   41.7

• Thornton (Adams 12)   40.9

• Rangeview (Aurora)   40.3

Medium schools   Percent

• West (Denver)   67.0

• Abraham Lincoln (Denver)   66.2

• La Junta (East Otero)   64.4

• Sierra (Harrison)   63.8

• Adams City (Adams 14)   63.2

Small schools   Percent

• Jefferson County Open (Jefferson County)   72.4

• Jefferson (Jefferson County)   65.3

• Colorado's Finest Alternative (Englewood)   63.0

• Las Animas (Las Animas)   60.0

• Crowley County (Crowley County)   55.6

Schools with low remediation rates

Colorado high schools with the lowest percentage of graduates requiring remedial classes in state-funded colleges and universities in 2004:

Large schools   Percent

• Fairview (Boulder Valley)   9.9

• Arapahoe (Littleton)   10.1

• Lewis-Palmer (Lewis-Palmer)   14.9

• Cherry Creek (Cherry Creek)   15.0

• Cheyenne Mountain (Cheyenne Mountain)   15.9

Medium schools   Percent

• D'Evelyn Senior (Jefferson County)   1.4

• Glenwood Springs (Roaring Fork)   13.9

• Platte Canyon (Platte Canyon)   17.3

• Summit (Summit)   20.0

• Greeley Central (Greeley)   21.4

Small schools   Percent

• Battle Mountain (Eagle County)   7.5

• Middle Park (East Grand)   17.8

• Strasburg (Strasburg)   18.8

• Hotchkiss (Delta County)   19.4

• Estes Park (Park)   20.5

• More online: Compare remediation rates for Colorado high schools and districts at highered.colorado.gov/findhighschool.asp

Source: Colorado Commission On Higher Education; School size above was determined by number of students who enrolled in Colorado public colleges