New students don't know much about readin', writin', an' 'rithmetic

Almost half of all freshman entering the California State University system lack the basic skills needed to enroll in college-level English and math courses, said CSU trustees at a recent meeting.

Currently, 43 percent of regularly admitted CSU freshman require remedial education in English and 53 percent require remedial assistance in math, according to CSU officials.

These figures do not include those students who are enrolled through special admissions. Chancellor Barry Munitz said he expects the situation to get worse before it gets better.

"It is going to be a long, painful road," Munitz said. "You are going to come here next year [to hear a follow-up report] and you are going to be appalled."

The trustees hope to reduce the number of students needing remedial instruction to 10 percent by the year 2007. Intervention at the elementary and secondary levels is the main focus of the policy.

Elements of the plan include setting new academic standards for Kindergarten through 12th grade, testing students earlier, using CSU students to mentor to these students and strengthening teacher preparation.

"It is going to take a fundamental resolution in the way California undertakes K through12 education," Munitz said. "Tinkering around the edges is not going to help the next generation of Californians."

At the CSU level, first-time entering freshman will now be required to take the EPT and ELM after admission and prior to enrollment, except those qualifying for exemption, according to CSU officials.

Once a student has been tested and it is determined that he or she needs remedial work, the necessary remedial courses must be taken during his or her first semester at the university. If the student does not comply, he or she could be counseled and advised to attend another institution before re-applying to the CSU system.

By 1998, transfer students will be admitted only if they have taken freshman level English and math courses. California State University Long Beach will require all transfer students to have met this criteria by Fall 1997, said President Robert Maxson.

"[The requirement] should eliminate the necessity for any remedial work for transfer students," Maxson said.

Remedial education was the focus of sometimes intense public debate in the Fall of 1995 when trustees proposed that CSU should deny access to those students not prepared to take college level courses in English and math.

After 2 years of research, public comment and review the trustees adopted a plan in January 1996 to gradually reduce the need for remedial education without eliminating it altogether.

One student representative at the meeting was concerned about sending students back to community college if they do not keep their skill level up in remedial courses.

Ralph Pesqueira, trustee responded by saying that academic advising and early intervention will ensure that students have access to the university.

"No student will ever be locked out from any CSU campus," said Pesqueira, who headed the committee on remedial education two years ago. "Even if they are counseled and it is decided that they should go back to community college to better prepare themselves, I am sure that the campus will also add 'as soon as you are ready, come on back, you are welcome.'"

Pesqueira was also concerned about teacher preparation at CSU and the number of students state-wide who had failed the CBEST exam. Passing the exam is a requirement for students seeking a teaching credential.

"What amazed me was that state-wide we had a 43 percent failure rate for those taking the CBEST test for the first time," Pesqueira said. "[It] troubles me that our students, who want to become schoolteachers, who after finishing their first 2 years of college education, would still have trouble with a test that is designed at about a ninth- or tenth-grade level."

CSU is the primary provider of teachers in California, said Chancellor Munitz. "A K through 12 problem is a CSU problem, not only because we are getting their students but because we are sending them our teachers," Munitz said.

"We are going to put the numbers out, admit there is a serious problem and we are going to tackle it," he added. Remedial education costs CSU about $10 million a year which is less than one percent of the CSUÕs budget, said Colleen Bentley-Adler, CSU spokeswoman.