Colorado does an abysmal job of sending its kids on to higher education, so it was especially discouraging to learn last week that so many of those who do attend college aren’t adequately prepared.
Nearly one-third of high school graduates attending a Colorado public college needs remedial work in vital subjects, according to the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. And the statistics are getting worse. Just two years ago, 25 percent of all Colorado kids in state colleges and universities needed remediation. Now that figure has grown to 30 percent.
The CCHE released the figures for each school district and school, hoping to arm parents with more information and shine light on the problems in high schools.
The list of schools graduating kids who need work in either math, reading or writing (or sometimes all three) is surprising. It’s not unlike when the state began breaking down its testing data by ethnicity and gender for K-12. Suddenly it was clear that even high-scoring districts, such as Cherry Creek, were failing minority students.
Parents will be surprised to learn how many suburban high schools in fairly affluent areas are sending almost half their children onto college unprepared. (The list can be found at http://highered.colorado.gov/ findhighschool.asp.)
Last session, a bill was killed in the legislature that would have required most high school students to take a college-prep curriculum. We hope the authors will try again in the upcoming session.
CCHE officials hope the figures and the website, which gives parents information on how to determine whether their child needs remedial work, will encourage more kids to make a college-prep track. Students who are inclined to blow off their senior year in high school should turn it into a remediation year. That way they don’t have to pay college tuition prices for their remedial work.
Identifying the students who may need remedial work early could help reduce the number of students who drop out of college, which is one of the CCHE’s goals.
Reading the report, it’s obvious that Colorado high schools need, among other things, more guidance counselors. But it’s also increasingly clear that Colorado could use a robust debate on whether we should have statewide graduation standards (Massachusetts is the only other state without them) and whether we need to change the way our high schools are structured.
What we’re doing now isn’t working.