ED6562: College Readiness And K-12 Partnerships
College Readiness and K-12 Partnerships
Demetria Jackson
Capella University
ED6562 – Comprehensive Community Colleges
June 14, 2013
Ed Gould
Abstract
College Readiness is knowledge, skills, and attributes a student should possess to be ready to succeed in entry-level college courses. A great amount of students entering college are not ready for college coursework resulting in a high number of dropouts. K-12 Partnerships with community colleges work together to ensure that a curriculum is on the same path. This paper explores the political role in college readiness, K-12 partnerships, financial, ethical, the impact on universities, and community programs to help students become more college ready. …show more content…
College Readiness and K-12 Partnerships
Community Colleges hold the key for many students gaining a higher learning education. According to The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (2011), Education is like a pyramid: each level rests on what came before. Any weakness in a child’s educational development jeopardizes all that follows, and gains made at an early age continue to benefit the child in future years. College readiness is necessary for succeeding in college, along with the motivational efforts from the students, therefore the partnerships with high schools is highly beneficial to the student. Over the years there has been an increased partnership between community colleges and K-12 in efforts to create an alignment with post-secondary schools. The combination of these institutions working together in 2025 will help to tackle the economy creating more jobs for qualified college graduate students. Students search for ways to save money and get a higher learning education. Partnerships created with these programs allow students the chance to have an affordable degree. This paper examines the political perspective, K-12 partnerships, and financial aspect.
Background
College readiness can be defined operationally as the level of preparation a student needs to enroll and succeed without remediation in a credit bearing general education course (Conley, 2007). States are adopting a more challenging curriculum to ensure a smooth transition to college. The desires to go to college start in middle school but strengthen in high school, when students began to think more on careers. Middle and high school are important times to think about college planning, to take the necessary courses. Teachers, Counselors, and Administrative staff are there to help students with their academic progress, and career planning. Schools partnering with colleges design a curriculum for the student to succeed.
College Readiness requires students to have high levels of content knowledge, core academic skills, and non-cognitive skills.
Colleges evaluate student’s coursework to examine whether or not they have been exposed to the coursework to prepare them for college. Grades are used to see if they have mastered the material, it also demonstrated non-cognitive skills to show if students have proper work ethic. Test scores are the most important indicator that expresses college readiness. High Schools have raised academic requirements and more schools offer Advanced Placement courses. Grade point averages (GPA’s) are also an important tool to indicate college readiness and very important for admissions.
According to The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (2011), Education is like a pyramid: each level rests on what came before. Any weakness in a child’s educational development jeopardizes all that follows, and gains made at an early age continue to benefit the child in future years. College readiness is necessary for succeeding in college, along with the motivational efforts from the …show more content…
students.
The Importance of attending college is a simple answer, more opportunities in today’s economy. Obtaining a degree is a goal for many students; unfortunately not all finish their Post- secondary academic career. Over the years changes in the educational and social policy have expanded access to Higher Ed. In the 1970’s federal government began funding grants to provide tuition assistance for low-income students to attend college and expanded student loan programs to help families meet college costs (Noet, Wimberlly 2005). Shifting form an industrial economy to more information and knowledge being used, college was best the route. There is definitely a connection with gaining a college degree and getting better employment opportunities.
Parents expect their children to graduate from college without having the proper knowledge and planning steps to get them there. When they lack this information they depend more on the school for help. The desires to go to college start in middle school but strengthen in high school, when students began to think more on careers. Middle and high school are important times to think about college planning, to take the necessary courses. Teachers, Counselors, and Administrative staff are there to help students with their academic progress, and career planning. Larger schools are sometimes at a disadvantage with preparing their students early on, by the time they are given information about colleges their senior year has started.
Political Perspective
President Obama challenged the nation and American higher education to produce 8 million more college graduates by 2020, listing this as “the single most important step we can take” to ensure the nation succeeds in the 21st century (Templin, 2011). Community colleges were asked to increase the number of associate degrees. Community colleges were given this challenge because of the high enrollment, even with many government budget cuts. Immigrant’s minorities and first generation college goers, reach out to community colleges first. To achieve the best college completion gains community colleges are the greatest opportunity. The key to completing college students graduates have come up with five ways to increasing the number of community college graduates. The nation will not be able to achieve the gains of success without community colleges and the help of the programs for students. Fourteen years have gone by, there had been much success, but things can always stand to be improved.
1. Confront the issues around low student success and make data-driven decisions to improve graduation rates. Achieving the Dream, a national organization is a part of assisting 130 community colleges focusing on students of color and low-income student success. The organization teaches colleges how to develop an institutional change for achievement and graduation. Valencia and El Paso community college have shown outstanding results with graduation rates doubling with the help of this program.
2.
Bring more college-ready students into the system through local school partnerships. If the President’s goals are to be met, they need more college enrollments from underrepresented minorities and first generation college goers. Most of these students will more than likely start at a community college and the majority is not college ready. Pathway is a program were community colleges partners with local school systems to help prepare students to be more college ready. In this particular program college counselors are sent to work at high schools working with seniors assisting on every aspect in entering college successfully. Seniors who are in the Pathway program have dual enrollment with colleges while still being in high school. College ready programs are offered the summer before their first year, which is called bridges. Pathway does not end when students graduate from high school, there is a pathway college retention counselor to help the students have a successful college career. Financial aid, student grants, and work studies are provided for these students so they can attend college full time. The results from the program are very promising. 93% of the 5,000 students in the program are high risk students and 84% have graduated from the program and enrolled in college. The programs main focus shows that working together with the community, does increase graduation rates and have students more college
ready.
3. Increase the number of students receiving financial aid. For many financial aid is the barrier that keeps students away from school, especially one with low income backgrounds. Studies showed that students who were eligible for pell grants did not apply. Community colleges are not fully giving the information in regards to financial aid. Some colleges have started to reach out to the students via email on what they are eligible for.
4. Redesign remedial education. Students entering in colleges taking remedial courses are not successfully moving on to regular college course work. Less than half of students entering community colleges are graduating. For students to successfully graduate changes need to be made on they remediate students, if the President’s needs will be met. The National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT) is working with community colleges in redesigning how developmental studies are taught (Templin,2011). They have teamed up with 38 different community colleges to redesign math programs, focusing more with students on the specific problem they are having.
5. Partner with community-based nonprofits in job training and college completion programs. Goodwill Industries International, the nation’s largest nonprofit job training provider among low-income adults, has launched an initiative called the Community College Career Collaboration project (Templin, 2011). Goodwill is partnering up with American Association of Community Colleges launching 30 pairs of Goodwill-community college pilots to provide job training that seeks to result in employment with family-sustaining wages and a community college credential (Templin, 2011). The program will also target young adults 18-24 who have graduated from high school, but does not attend college to have marketable skills to live a decent living.
College readiness is listed number five of The Top Ten Higher Learning Education State Policy Issues. Policies for higher education vary from state to state; in 2012 boosting college degree was common and maintaining college access. The prevailing theme for state higher education policy in 2013 will likely be improvement in the performance of states’ public higher education systems and institutions, collectively aimed at boosting measures of college affordability, productivity and student success ( AASCU, 2013).
College Readiness will be approached in two ways implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in mathematics and English language arts at the secondary education level, and reform in the delivery of developmental education. Many states have already added common core curriculum, working with the state developers to ensure a smooth transition. This will include teacher preparation programs and curriculum modification. Developmental education (remedial courses) has been frowned upon, were most schools prohibit the courses being taught or discourage them from being taught by discontinuing the funding.
State Law makers in the state of Tennessee are doing a study with the Alliance for Education process of transitioning to new English language arts and mathematics standards that will better prepare students to be successful in college and their careers. Students in Tennessee who began college but did not return for a second year received a cumulative $33.5 million in federal grants and a cumulative $221.2 million in state expenditures ( AFEE, 2011). Tennessee is one of the forty five states working on common assessment system aligned with college courses. Congressman Phil Roe, efforts with The Education and Workforce Committee advancing two bills that would reform NCLB: the Student Success Act (H.R. 3989) and the Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teachers Act (H.R. 3990). Together both of the bills will indeed give more control over education back to states and support more effective teachers in the classroom.
K-12 Partnerships
Redefining College Readiness is the main priority in the year of 2025 to get students on track with high schools and colleges. In 2012 two colleges in California figured out the best way to reduce the number of students taking remedial courses is to collaborate with the high schools. A study was done by Long Beach College and the local school district using grades to determine remedial placement, rather than a standardized test. The results showed that students who entered the college based on grades had more transfer rates to four-year colleges. The results ultimately showed that standardized test should be put to an end on determining level placement.
South Texas Colleges took a different approach and implemented dual enrollment for 68 different high schools. Along with Long Beach, California school area in which the college resides has predominately Hispanic students. They have one of the best ties with their schools and colleges. South Texas has dual enrollment programs in place at 68 partnering high schools, with a total of 12,000 students in 2012 (Fain, 2013). They feel that dual enrollment is one the best ways to boost college preparedness, including early scholarship programs and academic camps. Dual enrollment is the most extensive and perhaps the most appealing to students and their families, as the college waives tuition for the participants.
K-12 Partnerships will soon be forced to work along-side each other in every state, due to Common Core Standards. Common core standards are clear reasoning to what students are expected to learn, and what their parents should be enforcing with them at home. Students who are not college ready when they graduate will be recommended to work with a tutor. According to The Common Core on Campus 2013, proponents believe better preparation between K-12 will cut remediation rates, increase college retention rates, and shorten the path to a college degree to a highs school graduate. Real results will be shown when students who start in elementary and up are taught with the Common Core Standards.
Financial Trends/ Impact
Over the years, community college funding has been marked by shifting proportions coming from tuition, local taxes, and state revenues (Brawer, 2008). States base their funding off enrollment and certain programs that are offered at the college. With diminishing fiscal resources in the year 2025 The American Association of Community Colleges has a list of goals to help colleges improve:
The commission called on colleges to:
Increase completion rates by 50 percent by 2020 while preserving access and narrowing achievement gaps associate with race, gender and income.
Reduce by half the number of students who enter college unprepared for college level work and doubling the number of students who successfully complete developmental courses.
Close the country’s skills gap by ensuring that career and technical education prepares students for current and future jobs.
Refocus the community college mission to meet 21st Century education and workforce needs.
Boost collaboration among and colleges and with partners in philanthropy, government and the private sector to boost support for community colleges.
Create new financial incentives for both students and colleges, and improve public support of the colleges.
Implement policies and practices that promote rigor, transparency and accountability for results in community colleges.
Many students graduate from high school not prepared to meet the academic challenges in college course work. Colleges are diligently working with K-12 to help put remedial courses completely to an end. This has ultimately resulted in increased drop-out rates for both high school and college students. Schools have adopted programs in attempts to completely end remedial courses.
Billions of dollars are being used to fund the remedial courses at colleges all over the United States. Estimates from a decade ago suggest public colleges spent $1 billion per year on
Remediation $172 million per biennium in Texas alone; and some even argue that the costs are higher (Steinberg, 1998). Many states have cut funding for remediation programs because of cost. Schools are evaluating whether if remediation programs are even effective. Evidence will always remained mixed because students who are non- remediated students are less successful.
An article titled “13th grade: Adding Up the Cost of Remedial College Courses” examines how taxpayers in Florida pay a price for remedial education. Over the past seven years the remedial education cost in Florida increased from 118 million to 168 million. College funding declined at the same time cause a need for the public aid. The dropout rate of Florida’s 2010 graduating class cost the state $132 million in lost income and $19 million in lost federal taxes, according to an American Institute for Research estimates (Torres, Wedell, 2012). Remedial courses cost students and schools and money, the need for remedial courses make it less likely for students to complete their studies (Torres, Wedell 2012).
Conclusion
Research shows that young adults with college degrees earn about 40 percent more than those with some college and around two-thirds more than people with a high school diploma (Torres, Wedell, 2012). Students should be informed that postsecondary education is required for many careers in today’s service, information, and technology based labor market. In the past a high school diploma was often sufficient preparation for most entry-level jobs. I chose this particular issue, because while being a freshman in college taking math and English, there were many students who didn't do so well because of their high school background. The school I attended did have remedial courses, but the hours were not counted for anything. I know that ACT scores have a lot to do with schools placing you in those remedial courses, but they do give students the option to test out of the class. Having students come into college not college ready has a good and bad side. Students are either encouraged to do better, or discouraged, thinking college is not for them and drop out. College graduates are more like to be employed and live a decent living.
Reference
Association of State Colleges and Universites. April 2013. Retrieved: April 26, 2013. http://www.aascu.org/policy/publications/policy-matters/topten2013.pdf Brawer, Cohen. 2008. The American Community College. Jossey-Bass
Conley, D. T. (2007). Redefining college readiness, Volume 3. Eugene, OR: Educational Policy Improvement Center.
Council for Advancement and Support for Education. 2012. Community Colleges and Businesses Take Partnerships. http://www.case.org/Publications_and_Products/February2012/Community_College_and_Business_Partnerships_Take_Root.html
Templin, R. (2011). America’s Community Colleges: The Key to the College Completion Challenge? American Council Education. http://www.acenet.edu/the-presidency/columns-and-features/Pages/America%E2%80%99s-Community-Colleges-The-Key-to-the-College-Completion-Challenge.aspx
Demetria Jackson
Capella University
ED6562 – Comprehensive Community Colleges
June 14, 2013
Ed Gould
Abstract
College Readiness is knowledge, skills, and attributes a student should possess to be ready to succeed in entry-level college courses. A great amount of students entering college are not ready for college coursework resulting in a high number of dropouts. K-12 Partnerships with community colleges work together to ensure that a curriculum is on the same path. This paper explores the political role in college readiness, K-12 partnerships, financial, ethical, the impact on universities, and community programs to help students become more college ready. …show more content…
College Readiness and K-12 Partnerships
Community Colleges hold the key for many students gaining a higher learning education. According to The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (2011), Education is like a pyramid: each level rests on what came before. Any weakness in a child’s educational development jeopardizes all that follows, and gains made at an early age continue to benefit the child in future years. College readiness is necessary for succeeding in college, along with the motivational efforts from the students, therefore the partnerships with high schools is highly beneficial to the student. Over the years there has been an increased partnership between community colleges and K-12 in efforts to create an alignment with post-secondary schools. The combination of these institutions working together in 2025 will help to tackle the economy creating more jobs for qualified college graduate students. Students search for ways to save money and get a higher learning education. Partnerships created with these programs allow students the chance to have an affordable degree. This paper examines the political perspective, K-12 partnerships, and financial aspect.
Background
College readiness can be defined operationally as the level of preparation a student needs to enroll and succeed without remediation in a credit bearing general education course (Conley, 2007). States are adopting a more challenging curriculum to ensure a smooth transition to college. The desires to go to college start in middle school but strengthen in high school, when students began to think more on careers. Middle and high school are important times to think about college planning, to take the necessary courses. Teachers, Counselors, and Administrative staff are there to help students with their academic progress, and career planning. Schools partnering with colleges design a curriculum for the student to succeed.
College Readiness requires students to have high levels of content knowledge, core academic skills, and non-cognitive skills.
Colleges evaluate student’s coursework to examine whether or not they have been exposed to the coursework to prepare them for college. Grades are used to see if they have mastered the material, it also demonstrated non-cognitive skills to show if students have proper work ethic. Test scores are the most important indicator that expresses college readiness. High Schools have raised academic requirements and more schools offer Advanced Placement courses. Grade point averages (GPA’s) are also an important tool to indicate college readiness and very important for admissions.
According to The American Association of State Colleges and Universities (2011), Education is like a pyramid: each level rests on what came before. Any weakness in a child’s educational development jeopardizes all that follows, and gains made at an early age continue to benefit the child in future years. College readiness is necessary for succeeding in college, along with the motivational efforts from the …show more content…
students.
The Importance of attending college is a simple answer, more opportunities in today’s economy. Obtaining a degree is a goal for many students; unfortunately not all finish their Post- secondary academic career. Over the years changes in the educational and social policy have expanded access to Higher Ed. In the 1970’s federal government began funding grants to provide tuition assistance for low-income students to attend college and expanded student loan programs to help families meet college costs (Noet, Wimberlly 2005). Shifting form an industrial economy to more information and knowledge being used, college was best the route. There is definitely a connection with gaining a college degree and getting better employment opportunities.
Parents expect their children to graduate from college without having the proper knowledge and planning steps to get them there. When they lack this information they depend more on the school for help. The desires to go to college start in middle school but strengthen in high school, when students began to think more on careers. Middle and high school are important times to think about college planning, to take the necessary courses. Teachers, Counselors, and Administrative staff are there to help students with their academic progress, and career planning. Larger schools are sometimes at a disadvantage with preparing their students early on, by the time they are given information about colleges their senior year has started.
Political Perspective
President Obama challenged the nation and American higher education to produce 8 million more college graduates by 2020, listing this as “the single most important step we can take” to ensure the nation succeeds in the 21st century (Templin, 2011). Community colleges were asked to increase the number of associate degrees. Community colleges were given this challenge because of the high enrollment, even with many government budget cuts. Immigrant’s minorities and first generation college goers, reach out to community colleges first. To achieve the best college completion gains community colleges are the greatest opportunity. The key to completing college students graduates have come up with five ways to increasing the number of community college graduates. The nation will not be able to achieve the gains of success without community colleges and the help of the programs for students. Fourteen years have gone by, there had been much success, but things can always stand to be improved.
1. Confront the issues around low student success and make data-driven decisions to improve graduation rates. Achieving the Dream, a national organization is a part of assisting 130 community colleges focusing on students of color and low-income student success. The organization teaches colleges how to develop an institutional change for achievement and graduation. Valencia and El Paso community college have shown outstanding results with graduation rates doubling with the help of this program.
2.
Bring more college-ready students into the system through local school partnerships. If the President’s goals are to be met, they need more college enrollments from underrepresented minorities and first generation college goers. Most of these students will more than likely start at a community college and the majority is not college ready. Pathway is a program were community colleges partners with local school systems to help prepare students to be more college ready. In this particular program college counselors are sent to work at high schools working with seniors assisting on every aspect in entering college successfully. Seniors who are in the Pathway program have dual enrollment with colleges while still being in high school. College ready programs are offered the summer before their first year, which is called bridges. Pathway does not end when students graduate from high school, there is a pathway college retention counselor to help the students have a successful college career. Financial aid, student grants, and work studies are provided for these students so they can attend college full time. The results from the program are very promising. 93% of the 5,000 students in the program are high risk students and 84% have graduated from the program and enrolled in college. The programs main focus shows that working together with the community, does increase graduation rates and have students more college
ready.
3. Increase the number of students receiving financial aid. For many financial aid is the barrier that keeps students away from school, especially one with low income backgrounds. Studies showed that students who were eligible for pell grants did not apply. Community colleges are not fully giving the information in regards to financial aid. Some colleges have started to reach out to the students via email on what they are eligible for.
4. Redesign remedial education. Students entering in colleges taking remedial courses are not successfully moving on to regular college course work. Less than half of students entering community colleges are graduating. For students to successfully graduate changes need to be made on they remediate students, if the President’s needs will be met. The National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT) is working with community colleges in redesigning how developmental studies are taught (Templin,2011). They have teamed up with 38 different community colleges to redesign math programs, focusing more with students on the specific problem they are having.
5. Partner with community-based nonprofits in job training and college completion programs. Goodwill Industries International, the nation’s largest nonprofit job training provider among low-income adults, has launched an initiative called the Community College Career Collaboration project (Templin, 2011). Goodwill is partnering up with American Association of Community Colleges launching 30 pairs of Goodwill-community college pilots to provide job training that seeks to result in employment with family-sustaining wages and a community college credential (Templin, 2011). The program will also target young adults 18-24 who have graduated from high school, but does not attend college to have marketable skills to live a decent living.
College readiness is listed number five of The Top Ten Higher Learning Education State Policy Issues. Policies for higher education vary from state to state; in 2012 boosting college degree was common and maintaining college access. The prevailing theme for state higher education policy in 2013 will likely be improvement in the performance of states’ public higher education systems and institutions, collectively aimed at boosting measures of college affordability, productivity and student success ( AASCU, 2013).
College Readiness will be approached in two ways implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in mathematics and English language arts at the secondary education level, and reform in the delivery of developmental education. Many states have already added common core curriculum, working with the state developers to ensure a smooth transition. This will include teacher preparation programs and curriculum modification. Developmental education (remedial courses) has been frowned upon, were most schools prohibit the courses being taught or discourage them from being taught by discontinuing the funding.
State Law makers in the state of Tennessee are doing a study with the Alliance for Education process of transitioning to new English language arts and mathematics standards that will better prepare students to be successful in college and their careers. Students in Tennessee who began college but did not return for a second year received a cumulative $33.5 million in federal grants and a cumulative $221.2 million in state expenditures ( AFEE, 2011). Tennessee is one of the forty five states working on common assessment system aligned with college courses. Congressman Phil Roe, efforts with The Education and Workforce Committee advancing two bills that would reform NCLB: the Student Success Act (H.R. 3989) and the Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teachers Act (H.R. 3990). Together both of the bills will indeed give more control over education back to states and support more effective teachers in the classroom.
K-12 Partnerships
Redefining College Readiness is the main priority in the year of 2025 to get students on track with high schools and colleges. In 2012 two colleges in California figured out the best way to reduce the number of students taking remedial courses is to collaborate with the high schools. A study was done by Long Beach College and the local school district using grades to determine remedial placement, rather than a standardized test. The results showed that students who entered the college based on grades had more transfer rates to four-year colleges. The results ultimately showed that standardized test should be put to an end on determining level placement.
South Texas Colleges took a different approach and implemented dual enrollment for 68 different high schools. Along with Long Beach, California school area in which the college resides has predominately Hispanic students. They have one of the best ties with their schools and colleges. South Texas has dual enrollment programs in place at 68 partnering high schools, with a total of 12,000 students in 2012 (Fain, 2013). They feel that dual enrollment is one the best ways to boost college preparedness, including early scholarship programs and academic camps. Dual enrollment is the most extensive and perhaps the most appealing to students and their families, as the college waives tuition for the participants.
K-12 Partnerships will soon be forced to work along-side each other in every state, due to Common Core Standards. Common core standards are clear reasoning to what students are expected to learn, and what their parents should be enforcing with them at home. Students who are not college ready when they graduate will be recommended to work with a tutor. According to The Common Core on Campus 2013, proponents believe better preparation between K-12 will cut remediation rates, increase college retention rates, and shorten the path to a college degree to a highs school graduate. Real results will be shown when students who start in elementary and up are taught with the Common Core Standards.
Financial Trends/ Impact
Over the years, community college funding has been marked by shifting proportions coming from tuition, local taxes, and state revenues (Brawer, 2008). States base their funding off enrollment and certain programs that are offered at the college. With diminishing fiscal resources in the year 2025 The American Association of Community Colleges has a list of goals to help colleges improve:
The commission called on colleges to:
Increase completion rates by 50 percent by 2020 while preserving access and narrowing achievement gaps associate with race, gender and income.
Reduce by half the number of students who enter college unprepared for college level work and doubling the number of students who successfully complete developmental courses.
Close the country’s skills gap by ensuring that career and technical education prepares students for current and future jobs.
Refocus the community college mission to meet 21st Century education and workforce needs.
Boost collaboration among and colleges and with partners in philanthropy, government and the private sector to boost support for community colleges.
Create new financial incentives for both students and colleges, and improve public support of the colleges.
Implement policies and practices that promote rigor, transparency and accountability for results in community colleges.
Many students graduate from high school not prepared to meet the academic challenges in college course work. Colleges are diligently working with K-12 to help put remedial courses completely to an end. This has ultimately resulted in increased drop-out rates for both high school and college students. Schools have adopted programs in attempts to completely end remedial courses.
Billions of dollars are being used to fund the remedial courses at colleges all over the United States. Estimates from a decade ago suggest public colleges spent $1 billion per year on
Remediation $172 million per biennium in Texas alone; and some even argue that the costs are higher (Steinberg, 1998). Many states have cut funding for remediation programs because of cost. Schools are evaluating whether if remediation programs are even effective. Evidence will always remained mixed because students who are non- remediated students are less successful.
An article titled “13th grade: Adding Up the Cost of Remedial College Courses” examines how taxpayers in Florida pay a price for remedial education. Over the past seven years the remedial education cost in Florida increased from 118 million to 168 million. College funding declined at the same time cause a need for the public aid. The dropout rate of Florida’s 2010 graduating class cost the state $132 million in lost income and $19 million in lost federal taxes, according to an American Institute for Research estimates (Torres, Wedell, 2012). Remedial courses cost students and schools and money, the need for remedial courses make it less likely for students to complete their studies (Torres, Wedell 2012).
Conclusion
Research shows that young adults with college degrees earn about 40 percent more than those with some college and around two-thirds more than people with a high school diploma (Torres, Wedell, 2012). Students should be informed that postsecondary education is required for many careers in today’s service, information, and technology based labor market. In the past a high school diploma was often sufficient preparation for most entry-level jobs. I chose this particular issue, because while being a freshman in college taking math and English, there were many students who didn't do so well because of their high school background. The school I attended did have remedial courses, but the hours were not counted for anything. I know that ACT scores have a lot to do with schools placing you in those remedial courses, but they do give students the option to test out of the class. Having students come into college not college ready has a good and bad side. Students are either encouraged to do better, or discouraged, thinking college is not for them and drop out. College graduates are more like to be employed and live a decent living.
Reference
Association of State Colleges and Universites. April 2013. Retrieved: April 26, 2013. http://www.aascu.org/policy/publications/policy-matters/topten2013.pdf Brawer, Cohen. 2008. The American Community College. Jossey-Bass
Conley, D. T. (2007). Redefining college readiness, Volume 3. Eugene, OR: Educational Policy Improvement Center.
Council for Advancement and Support for Education. 2012. Community Colleges and Businesses Take Partnerships. http://www.case.org/Publications_and_Products/February2012/Community_College_and_Business_Partnerships_Take_Root.html
Templin, R. (2011). America’s Community Colleges: The Key to the College Completion Challenge? American Council Education. http://www.acenet.edu/the-presidency/columns-and-features/Pages/America%E2%80%99s-Community-Colleges-The-Key-to-the-College-Completion-Challenge.aspx