CSU remediation report reveals scope, progress toward proficiency goals

Kristi Garrett
The State Hornet
Published November 18, 1999

Almost 70 percent of first-time freshmen admitted to CSU in 1998 needed help reaching college entrance standards in English and math, CSU trustees learned at Wednesday's meeting of the board in Long Beach.

Fall 1998 was the first time an attempt was made to test all incoming freshmen for proficiency in English and math. After testing 99 percent of the 28,327 freshmen admitted, 19,237 students — 67.9 percent — needed remedial education, according to a report by the chancellor's office.

Chancellor Charles Reed directed campuses in January 1996 to limit remediation to the first year of enrollment, and to advise students not making adequate progress they would be disenrolled from the university until they complete the required academic groundwork.

The report of the first full-year results of campus remediation efforts showed that 79 percent of students needing remediation succeeded in reaching college standards within a year. That left 3,997 students still needing assistance by fall 1999, about a third of whom were allowed to re-enroll on a case-by-case basis. The rest were disenrolled or withdrew voluntarily.

Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer David Spence saw the results as an encouraging sign that remediation within a year is possible when students know what to expect.

"Most of this change — as with any great change — comes with hard work and clear expectations."

Spence acknowledged that the significance of a 79 percent proficiency rate is unknown, since this is the first year remediation has been tracked. He did say more will be needed to reach the goal of 10 percent of freshmen needing remediation by 2007.

Making sure students understand the policy clearly will be crucial, Spence said. He noted that one campus includes a warning to students enrolled in remedial courses: "Don't even think about dropping this course."

More specific diagnostic tools to target deficiencies might allow students to catch up without spending a full semester in a remedial class, and more effort should be made to get students into remediation the summer before their freshman year, Spence said.

Delaine Eastin, whose position as state Superintendent of Public Instruction makes her a trustee, attended the session. She indicated CSU may be feeling the effects of having prepared too few teachers for California schools.

"This is a statewide and national crisis. If we don't have the teachers to teach the students, they won't be prepared," Eastin said.

The CSU system, which prepares 60 percent of the state's teachers, is addressing the link between inadequate teacher preparation and the need for remediation.

"We're taking steps to improve not just the quantity of teachers needed, but also the quality of the teachers produced," said Ken Swisher, a spokesman for the chancellor. "If the quality of teachers isn't as high as it could be, that means in most cases student education is not as good as it could be."

Trustees were generally pleased to hear Spence's report that 94 percent of 1998 freshmen were fully proficient when enrolling for fall 1999. The calculation was based on 21,114 of 22,412 returning students reaching proficiency.

"This report brings me a great deal of joy," said Trustee Ralph Pesqueira. "This proves that by maintaining the straight course, we've been able to get students to recognize how important education is to their lives."

Spence said freshmen returned this year at a higher rate than in previous years. Of the original 28,327 admitted in 1998, 22,412 enrolled for fall 1999, a rate of 79 percent, compared with rough estimates of 52 to 65 percent in previous years.