Approximately 98 percent of the students entering Gavilan College in the fall of 2012 tested into remedial classes in at least one area, mirroring a statewide trend that has school officials concerned.
“I know it’s high. I didn’t realize it was that high,” said Gavilan school board trustee Jonathan Brusco.
He added that it’s important to note that not all students take the test, and the statistic (provided by Randy Brown, Gavilan’s director of Institutional Research) refers only to the entering class of students and not all the students at the school.
“The number is kind of awful but it kind of gets the point across as to why it needs immediate attention,” Brusco said.
A concerning number of Community College students in California are testing into remedial classes, which means they are still taking high school level courses in the first years of their post-secondary education.
Officials like Brusco are working to bridge the divide so more graduating seniors are ready for classes that could be transferred towards a degree, certificate or credit at a four year university.
“We have to serve the students that come to college whether they are prepared for transfer level classes or not,” Brusco explained.
While junior colleges are required to offer classes that serve students at whatever academic level they are at, the ideal scenario is for students to take classes that count towards their desired degrees and certificates. If they do so from the beginning, they are more likely to finish college, Brusco said.
Of the Gavilan college students taking classes for unit credit (tracked from 2006 to 2012), approximately 63 percent completed a degree, certificate or transfer within six years, while only 35 percent of those who entered college taking remedial classes achieved the same goal, according to the California Community College Success Scorecard for Gavilan College.
“We’ve got professors that have doctorates in things and they are actually teaching remedial classes,” said Brusco with a small laugh. “We don’t want to do that to professors.”
Part of the movement to open communication between local school districts and Gavilan is a product of the Student Success Act of 2012. Designed by California State senators Alan Lowenthal and Carol Liu, the goal is to help more students achieve degrees, certificates or transfers to a four-year university.
As chair of a newly formed Gavilan Community College District Ad Hoc Committee on School District Collaboration, Brusco has taken the Student Success Act a step further and is working to bolster dialogue between Gavilan and the school districts it has close ties with, including the Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Hollister, and Aromas-San Juan school districts.
“What we’re trying to do is create better partnerships with our K-12 feeder schools,” said Kathleen Rose, Gavilan College’s executive vice president and chief instructional officer, who has been an active participant in the meetings.
“It’s important for me to be a part of the community dialogue for how students are placed in the system and succeed in the system, particularly as they come from the K-12 schools,” she added.
Committee meetings began in July, met a second time in September and opened to include K-12 school districts in October when four trustees from the MHUSD and GUSD boards of education joined the meetings.
Among the discussed changes are: an earlier entrance exam test date during the senior year of high school; potential entrance exam test prep courses or tutoring; and making college-ready students a priority at the community college and K-12 school district levels.
The committee has also discussed allowing community college-bound students to test out of remedial classes while they are still in high school, instead of waiting to take the test during summer break. This allows seniors to take exams while their high school lessons are still fresh in mind, instead of waiting until August, explains Brusco.
“One of the simplest ways to avoid remediation is to make sure kids are scoring higher on the tests,” he noted.
The high numbers of students in remedial classes aren’t specific to Gavilan. The trend is occurring throughout the state of California.
“Our goal – our primary goal – has to be one offering students a better path to graduation,” said Lowenthal in a September 2012 press release about the Student Success Act from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. “It is unacceptable that more than 50 percent of community college graduates are not graduating or transferring within six years. This bill is the first step toward a refocused community college system that is rededicated to student success and achievement.”
An additional incentive of the Student Success Act will go into place starting next fall, when students who go to their community college orientation; take placement exams; and develop an academic course of study with school advisors will be rewarded with early registration.
“The research shows that if they declare a course of study earlier in their academic plan of study, they are more likely to succeed,” said Paul Feist, vice chancellor for Communications of California Community Colleges.
At Gavilan, statistics show most college students taking remedial classes don’t move into college level classes right away, if at all.
Of college students taking classes for credit from 2006 to 2012, approximately 29 percent of those who took a remedial math class and 34 percent of those who took a remedial English class went on to take a college level course in the same subject within the study’s six year time period.
Regardless of how the schools tackle the issue, data from the California Community College Success Scorecard for Gavilan shows a direct correlation between getting students into college level classes right away and seeing the students graduate.
“We have students at Gavilan that are there for four-plus years before they graduate and that’s a long time. A lot of life changes by the time you are 22,” said Brusco, referring to the age of the average college student who is four years out of high school.
