Hello holgerb-ga,
The state of secondary education in the US is continually examined by
a variety of government agencies, professional organizations, test
vendors and other interested parties. I found that there is lots of
information available to answer both your questions about how many
entering college students take remedial classes and the possible
explanations why they need to do so.
I?m including a sampling of articles and reports to give you a
starting point. If you need additional information the sites I?ve
provided offer lots of additional resources to help you with
continuing your research.
Best wishes for your project.
~ czh ~
http://measuringup.highereducation.org/nationalpicture.cfm
http://measuringup.highereducation.org/docs/nationalreport_2004.pdf
http://measuringup.highereducation.org/database.cfm
http://measuringup.highereducation.org/docs/2004/Preparation04.xls
National Report of Measuring Up 2004
http://measuringup.highereducation.org/nationalpressdir.cfm?myyear=2004
September 15, 2004
Higher Education Progress Stalled Despite High School Improvements;
Students, Families Lose Ground on College Affordability
Measuring Up 2004 is the third in a series of biennial analyses issued
by the independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan National Center for Public
Policy and Higher Education, based in San Jose, California. Like the
earlier reports, this one measures the nation's and each state's
performance in providing education and training beyond high school.
"The good news is that more high school graduates have taken the
courses that prepare them to get to college and succeed," said James
B. Hunt Jr., former governor of North Carolina and chair of the
National Center's Board of Directors. "We see big gains in high school
preparation over the last decade, but the bad news is that these
improvements have not been reflected in significantly higher college
enrollment or completion rates."
***** This report should be helpful in answering your question as to
?why there are so many students that don't have the necessary skills
to start college level courses?? There are excellent tables and
statistics for state and national performance levels as well as charts
of multi-year trends.
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http://www.magnapubs.com/products/1205RR.html?s=gh&p=MEOSEZ
Most College-Bound Students Underprepared, Studies Say
Several research reports have emerged this fall that highlight the
underpreparedness of most college-bound students.
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http://www.stanford.edu/group/bridgeproject/betrayingthecollegedream.pdf
"Betraying the College Dream: How Disconnected K-12 and Postsecondary
Education Systems Undermine Student Aspirations," the final policy
report from the Bridge Project.
***** This is a 72-page report with an enormous amount of information
about performance levels of students entering college.
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http://www.act.org/index.html
ACT is an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides more
than a hundred assessment, research, information, and program
management services in the broad areas of education and workforce
development.
http://www.act.org/path/policy/education/collegereadiness.html
http://www.act.org/news/releases/2005/8-17-05.html
Average National ACT Score Unchanged in 2005; Students Graduate from
High School Ready or Not
***** This is one of the major testing organizations for college
admissions. The site offers a wealth of information about current and
historical statistics on college readiness.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/17/education/17scores.html?ex=1281931200&en=0a9bc970f6ca4b42&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
August 17, 2005
Many Going to College Are Not Ready, Report Says
Only about half of this year's high school graduates have the reading
skills they need to succeed in college, and even fewer are prepared
for college-level science and math courses, according to a yearly
report from ACT, which produces one of the nation's leading college
admissions tests.
The report, based on scores of the 2005 high school graduates who took
the exam, some 1.2 million students in all, also found that fewer than
one in four met the college-readiness benchmarks in all four subjects
tested: reading comprehension, English, math and science.
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http://www2.jsonline.com/news/state/oct03/175339.asp
Many college freshmen must play catch-up
Remedial instruction thrives as some students lag
In 1999-2000, 35.5% of all first- and second-year undergraduate
students reported taking some sort of remedial college course,
according to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics,
an arm of the U.S. Department of Education. And, for nearly
three-fourths of those students, one of those classes was math, the
study found.
***** This is a detailed article that addresses the problem of
remedial classes for college students. It offers lots of statistics
from a variety of sources.
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http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind06/c1/c1s5.htm
Remedial Education for Entering College Freshmen
In fall 2000, 76% of all degree-granting 2- and 4-year institutions
offered at least one remedial reading, writing, or mathematics course
(Parsad and Lewis 2003).[50] At these institutions, 28% of freshmen
enrolled in at least one remedial reading, writing, or mathematics
course (figure 1-32 ). Freshmen appeared to need more remediation in
mathematics than in the other two subjects: 22% undertook remediation
in mathematics, compared with 14% in writing and 11% in reading.
Freshmen at public 2-year institutions that offered remedial courses
were especially likely to receive remedial help: 42% of freshmen at
these institutions, compared with 12%?24% of their peers at other
types of institutions, enrolled in a remedial course in fall 2000.
***** This site offers a large collection of resources that might be
helpful for your research.
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http://nces.ed.gov/
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), located within
the U.S. Department of Education and the Institute of Education
Sciences, is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing
data related to education.
***** This site offers a huge collection of resources including
statistics on your area of interest.
-------------------------------------------------
http://nces.ed.gov/Surveys/peqis/publications/
Postsecondary Education Quick Information System (PEQIS)
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/peqis/publications/2004010/
Remedial Education at Degree-Granting Postsecondary Institutions in Fall 2000
NCES Number: 2004010 Release Date: November 25,2003
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SEARCH STRATEGY
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college freshmen remedial reading OR math
underprepared for college-level work
college freshmen remedial work
College Remedial Work |
