Texas aims to close students' skill gap

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Please don't shoot me, somebody else gave this article its title.

Carol

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Texas aims to close students' skill gap

One high school teacher said the proposed standards are so high that graduates
should get a Ph.D. with their diplomas. A university professor said, however,
that students should master the proposed set of skills by the eighth grade.

By Matthew Tresaugue

AUSTIN â?? For the first time, Texas is making elaborate plans to reduce the
embarrassingly high number of freshmen who arrive at the state's colleges and
universities needing remedial work.

A 104-page proposal, which is scheduled to come before the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board next month, outlines what students should learn before
enrolling at one of the state's public universities. Those who do not meet the
standards will be directed to community colleges, where they can get extra help
at a lower cost to themselves and the state.

As it stands, more than half the entering freshmen at Texas colleges and
universities need remedial classes, which don't count toward a degree. Educators
are optimistic the collaborative effort ultimately will ensure more students earn
bachelor's degrees, and in less time.

"This would be the Texas equivalent of putting a man on the moon," said Raymund
Paredes, the state's higher education commissioner.

The dismaying lack of preparation prompted the state Legislature to order the new
standards during a special session in 2006. Since then, teams of high school
teachers, university professors and education experts have worked to draft the
sweeping proposal, which defines necessary skills to do college-level work in
English, math, science and the social sciences.

Still, the plan has exposed fissures over how much high school graduates should
be expected to know, based on comments submitted to the coordinating board.

Divided expectations
One high school teacher said the proposed standards are so high that graduates
should get a Ph.D. with their diplomas. A university professor said, however,
that students should master the proposed set of skills by the eighth grade.

Some educators explained the divide as one of expectations. For years, the
nation's high schools pushed most students toward graduation, not college. Though
state law requires students to take certain classes to graduate, the requirements
don't necessarily prepare them for higher education.

"Being college-eligible doesn't mean you're college-ready," said Paula Roe,
scholarship programs coordinator for Project GRAD, a nonprofit school reform
group that works with about 5,000 Houston students.

She considers the proposed standards "a good beginning" toward preparing more
students for college.

"We've lost sight of what is acceptable," Paredes said. "Readiness is about
rigor. You can require schools to teach Faulkner and Hemingway, but the question
is: What do you expect students to say about those works?"

What they should know
Under the proposed standards, students would be expected to understand such
subjects as quadratic equations, the laws of thermodynamics and the effects of an
author's choice of style and words.

The proposal does not specify whether the standards are meant to prepare students
for a community college or a research institution. Paredes said he wants students
prepared to attend a mid-level member of the Association of American
Universities, the prestigious clique of 62 schools that includes Rice University,
Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin.

"If we did that," Paredes said, "every student in Texas would be prepared to
succeed."

In anticipation of the new standards, Texas Southern University is taking steps
to increase the number of students transferring from community colleges. TSU has
a long-standing commitment to accept anyone who wants to pursue higher education,
but roughly 70 percent of first-time freshmen arrive without the skills needed to
do college-level work. More than half do not make it to their sophomore year.

Once the college readiness plan clears the coordinating board, the state Board of
Education will consider corresponding changes in the curriculum, working backward
from 12th grade to kindergarten. Those talks could lead to big debates.

Brock Gregg, director of governmental relations for the Association of Texas
Professional Educators, said teachers are concerned that the state will prescribe
a one-size-fits-all curriculum. "Teachers want students to have multiple pathways
to college," he said. "They want access to courses that allow them to show the
required skills in a different way."

  â?? By Matthew Tresaugue
  Houston Chronicle
  2007-12-20


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