plan to tighten standards for 2-year degree

[George Sheridan <learn@jps.net>]

http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/education/story/14232884p-15054925c.html

Clash over plan to tighten standards for 2-year degree
By Deepa Ranganathan -- Bee Staff Writer
Published Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Story appeared on Page A1 of The Bee


California's community college system is open to nearly all comers. But it 
may get tougher for students to leave the colleges with a degree in hand.

The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges last year recommended 
raising the minimum English and math requirements for the two-year 
associate degree, the only degree community colleges can award.

The system's governing board won't vote on the proposal until September at 
the earliest. But the idea has already touched off vehement debate among 
faculty and counselors all over the state.

The clash reflects a basic dispute over how community colleges should serve 
a tremendously diverse population, ranging from new immigrants taking a 
course in basic English to students bound for the University of California 
system.

Those who support more stringent requirements say current standards are so 
low that students aren't learning skills they need to carry out everyday 
tasks: choosing a membership plan at a gym or understanding the statistics 
in a newspaper article, for instance.

"The current minimum level is entirely inappropriate, both in terms of job 
skills and in terms of what it means to have a college degree," said Ian 
Walton, a math teacher at Mission College in Santa Clara and president of 
the Academic Senate. The Academic Senate represents the faculty of the 
state's 109 community colleges.

Opponents of the change - most notably counselors, teachers of English 
learners, and vocational teachers - say tougher requirements would make it 
unreasonably difficult for struggling students to get a degree that could 
lead to higher wages.

"You're going to have to take courses which are not only not that relevant 
but actually become a deterrent," said Drew Carlson, an automotive 
technology teacher at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento and president of 
the state's Automotive Teachers Association.

Community colleges have an open-door admissions policy, accepting anyone 
who has a high school diploma or who is older than 18 and "can benefit from 
instruction." The four colleges in the Los Rios Community College District, 
which serves the Sacramento region, enrolled more than 71,000 students last 
fall.

Statewide, the colleges serve more than 2.5 million students with vastly 
varying goals. Some come for two-year associate degrees; others are there 
to complete prerequisites for transfer to four-year colleges. Still others 
simply want a non-degree vocational certificate or a few courses to fill 
gaps in knowledge.

The Academic Senate's recommendation would beef up the statewide minimum 
requirements for the associate degree. Students would have to take the 
equivalent of intermediate algebra and freshman composition.

Currently, the minimum standards for the degree are elementary algebra and 
an English course one level below freshman composition.

The change would apply only to new students and go into effect in fall 2007 
at the earliest, Walton said. Individual colleges would have the choice, as 
they do now, to require courses beyond the statewide minimum.

None of the four colleges in the Los Rios District requires English or math 
courses beyond the statewide minimum.

Barbara Illowsky, a math and statistics professor at De Anza College in 
Cupertino, helped start the push for tougher requirements about seven years 
ago, when her college's financial aid director said students didn't know 
enough math to pick a good aid package. Worse, a local employer told 
Illowsky he preferred to hire out-of-state community college grads because 
they're more likely to have the basic skills to advance.

"That completely cut at my heart," she said. "We're not educating students 
to meet their needs."

Supporters of the change say that in addition to making students more 
competitive, they're trying to invest the associate degree with meaning. 
The current math requirement, for instance, is the rough equivalent of 
Algebra I - a graduation requirement for students in public high schools 
that's often taught in eighth or ninth grade.

"The level we have at the moment is essentially the same as high school 
content standards," said Walton, the Academic Senate president.

At Espresso Metro, a coffee shop near the Sacramento City College campus, 
several students said they thought higher standards were a good idea.

"I think people view the community colleges as kind of second-rate," said 
Lucia Turino, a 25-year-old student who formerly attended UC Santa Cruz. 
"But people who attend community colleges are just as capable as people who 
attend UC."

Some said higher standards might discourage students. "It's another 
hurdle," said Erica Wachs, 21, who wants an associate degree and to counsel 
victims of domestic violence. "I'm already struggling because I have a 
learning disability. I don't see how it helps to make things more difficult."

Students seeking vocational certificates wouldn't have to satisfy the 
tougher requirements, but some argue that placing obstacles in the path to 
an associate degree could strip needy students of the sheen of success that 
a degree confers. Black and Latino students, who pass the currently 
required courses at lower rates than do whites and Asians, might be 
disproportionately affected, opponents add.

"A degree imprints upon social status, and we're going to deny them that," 
said Carlson, the automotive technology instructor.

Jane de Leon, an English professor at American River College, said freshman 
composition isn't relevant for many of her students.

In the advanced course, which is transferable to UC and CSU, students write 
a 10-page academic research paper. The lower-level course that's currently 
required focuses more on business communication, such as short memos and 
letters, she said.

It may take a dauntingly long time for some students, especially English 
learners, to complete the prerequisites for freshman composition, de Leon 
said - a course that "may not have as direct an applicability to the actual 
writing that occurs in the workplace."

In defense of the proposal, Walton said that while it may take some 
students longer to graduate, the system "isn't a good safety net if we say, 
'Come for a few years and we'll give you a degree no matter what you've 
achieved.' "

He added that the Academic Senate would likely draft guidelines to show 
colleges how to help students meet the higher standards. The 
recommendation, he added, would allow students to meet the tougher 
requirements by taking higher-level courses with a practical focus - such 
as technical writing or a geometry course tailored for drafting students.

The Academic Senate's proposal is expected to go before the Board of 
Governors' Consultation Council, an advisory panel, in May.

The full board could vote on the matter in the fall. If approved, the 
proposal must then go to the state's Office of Administrative Law and the 
Department of Finance for analysis before it can become law.

*
STUDENTS BY THE NUMBERS
Fall 2005 enrollment in area community colleges by county:

Placer County

? Sierra College, Rocklin -19,337

El Dorado County

? Lake Tahoe Community College, South Lake Tahoe -3,054

Sacramento County

? American River College, Sacramento -30,870

? Cosumnes River College, Sacramento -11,541

? Folsom Lake College, Folsom -6,506

? Sacramento City College, Sacramento -22,107

Taking the next step
8,916 students from the Los Rios Community College District transferred to 
the UC or CSU systems, received an associate degree or earned a vocational 
certificate during the 2004-2005 academic year

Los Rios includes American River, Cosumnes River, Folsom Lake, and 
Sacramento City Colleges.

About the writer: The Bee's Deepa Ranganathan can be reached at (916) 
321-1962 or dranganathan@sacbee.com.



George Sheridan