Three out of four Gilroy high school graduates aren’t qualified
to attend California state universities, and even fewer actually
end up attending those schools, district data revealed.
Three out of four Gilroy high school graduates aren’t qualified to attend California state universities, and even fewer actually end up attending those schools, district data revealed.
Only 26.8 percent of Gilroy graduates completed all the courses necessary for entry into the University of California and California State University systems, compared to 50.1 percent of county graduates and 32.8 percent of graduates across the state, according to district data. In addition, only 16 percent of students demonstrated college readiness in English on standardized assessments taken in 11th grade, and 13 percent demonstrated college readiness in math.
“Our numbers are low. They’re very low,” said trustee Rhoda Bress as she pored over the data at a recent board meeting.
Her fellow trustees and Superintendent Deborah Flores agreed, vowing to focus on improving the district’s “dismal” college-going rate.
The number of students attending college after graduation is “way too low,” Flores said.
“When I came to the district, it was a surprise to me,” she told board members.
Of the 480 Gilroy High School graduates in 2009, 247 attended community colleges, 77 attended state universities, 34 attended private or out of state schools, and eight went into the armed forces, according to a list provided by former GHS Academic Coordinator Marah Kuwada.
Emphasizing that they didn’t intend to belittle community colleges, trustees said they hoped more students would apply to state universities, private and out-of-state schools.
“I think community colleges are great,” said trustee Fred Tovar, a director of student affairs and assistant director of admissions at Stanford University. “But I think we need to get away from always pushing community colleges toward students.”
Yet, a gap exists between the requirements to graduate with a high school diploma and the prerequisites for admission into four-year state colleges. Only 26.8 percent of students completed those prerequisites, commonly referred to as “A through G” requirements or course work, by graduation, according to district data.
“I completely agree that not enough kids meeting the A through G requirements is absolutely a problem,” trustee Denise Apuzzo said.
Trustees discussed restructuring the high school counseling departments to place more of a focus on college admissions, inviting more private and out-of-state schools to college fairs, increasing a recently implemented community service graduation requirement to further improve students’ chances of getting into college, encouraging more parent involvement in the process, and aligning graduation requirements with college entry requirements. For now, they asked district staff to further analyze the data and come back with more specific numbers.
Several trustees rejected the Flores’ suggestion of hiring an outside firm to track graduates’ post-high school progress, saying it wouldn’t serve the purpose of getting more students to college.
And although trustees and district administrators have considered aligning college entrance criteria with graduation mandates, that vision isn’t in the district’s immediate future.
“I will always be for high rigor,” said Christopher High School Principal John Perales. “But it’s not fair for us to throw them into (a class they’re not prepared for) and say sink or swim.”
But if school officials set the bar high, students will strive to reach it, Perales said.
“I’m not naive enough to think that every kid is going to college,” he said. “But why not prepare them and let them decide. The vision has to be that they go to college. We’re going to push really hard.”
Student trustee Mark Foley, who is in the middle of the college application process, said that high-achieving students “are hung out to dry” in terms of their college options.
“Gilroy High School does not in any way encourage students to go to private college,” Apuzzo echoed at the meeting. “College night focuses on Gavilan, CSUs and UCs.”
Bress said she’d like to see the school board and district put the same effort into boosting the college-going rate as they poured into curtailing the dropout rate. The district slashed its dropout rate by nearly 7 percent in 2008, reducing it from 19.9 to 13.1 percent. Meanwhile, county and state dropout rates stagnated at about 15.5 percent and 20.5 percent, respectively.
Bress and Apuzzo credited this reduction to the district’s Advanced Path program, which serves 111 students this year, according to enrollment data, and caters to students at risk of dropping out or who have already dropped out. Though Bress said she’s proud of the district’s efforts to provide safety nets for those likely to drop out, “we want to get that number down to zero.”
“When the board pays attention to a specific issue, we see that it can make a difference,” she said. “I want to see that same spotlight focused on college admissions rates.”
Like trustees, Perales said he hopes his graduates will look beyond California community colleges for their post-college years.
“We seem to be so rooted in local colleges,” he said. “Why not attend college in Europe or Canada. I want students to see what’s out there. I want them to think big and see themselves at Harvard, NYU or Columbia.”
And not every student has to go to Stanford, Bress pointed out. But many solid private schools for which Gilroy students are qualified aren’t even on their radar, she said.
“We’re not giving our students the whole picture,” she said.
Social and cultural issues often prevent students from straying too far from home, Perales said.
“I hear parents saying they don’t want their students to go that far,” he said. “I think there are also cultural issues that turn off girls from heading far away.”
Financial constraints also limit students, said Apuzzo, who works at Gavilan as a department assistant and internship coordinator for the college’s science, technology, engineering and math education program.
“I don’t have as much of an issue with students going to a two-year school,” she said. “Lots of kids at Gav are there for economic reasons. We don’t know what they’re doing when they leave Gav and there are so many things you can do even with a two-year degree.”
