|
Cliff Buchan
News Editor
The numbers don’t lie and the results are not being ignored, Forest Lake High School Principal Steve Massey says.
The most recent data from the Minnesota State College System and the University of Minnesota tells the story in black and white. A large number of students who enter the state college system need remedial courses in math and reading.
And Forest Lake students are not immune to the trend.
“There is a concern there,” Massey said, reviewing the report from MnSCU which this spring released data on graduates who entered state colleges in 2006.
Of the 232 Forest Lake students who enrolled at a state institution in 2006, 111 or 48 percent were required to complete a remedial or developmental course. Of the 111, 97 were required to take a remedial course in math.
Thirty-seven took a remedial reading course and 39 took a remedial writing course.
On a statewide basis in 2006, 9136 of the 26,142 graduates who enrolled in a state-sponsored college were required to take a remedial course. Of that total, 7202 needed extra help in math.
It is the same trend that has dogged public schools for the past five years.
It is a trend that has not gone unnoticed in Forest Lake, the principal says. And it is a trend that is being addressed, Massey adds.
The results
Massey and the high school staff believe the need for remedial college classwork by Forest Lake graduates will decline once students and parents fully accept the importance of preparing for college and new graduation requirements take effect.
A new modified block class schedule that will replace the current four-period day this fall is also expected to expand student opportunities and enable the school to continue its push for “rigor and relevance” in the curriculum, Massey said.
Massey believes the old graduation standards are partly to blame for the poor performance. In the past, a high school senior could complete the required 1.5 credits of math to graduate by taking some algebra and consumer math, and slide by without taking higher levels of algebra, calculus, geometry or trigonometry.
But not any longer, he says.
Chemestry B students Breanne Mordorski, left, and Jessica Leatherman, with guidance from teacher Cynthia Riesgraf, right, conduct an experiment with hydrocloric acid and magnesium to make hydrogen gas which is collected at the top of the tube. The class at the high school is designed for college-bound students and offers labs that provide Advanced Placement course credit.
(Photo By Cliff Buchan
Under new standards for graduation, students in grades 9-12 are required to complete 3 math credits that include algebra one, geometry and algebra two with options for higher levels such as calculus and trigonometry.
The former standard of three credits for language arts (reading and writing) is now four credits, meaning more emphasis in this area, Massey says.
Along with local graduation credit requirements, sophomores are required to pass the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment II writing test as sophomores and the MCA II math test as juniors in order to graduate.
“This is a K-12 issue as there is a need for higher standards at all the lower grade levels,” Massey said.
Under the old system and the four-period day, students could slide through with a minimal number of math courses. It may be the easy way, he says, but not the right way for any student interested in attending college.
And getting students ready for college, be it a one-year, two-year or four-year program, remains the school’s goal, he said. “We need to be a college prep school,” he said.
The move away from the four-period day will also help, he adds. Under the current system, a student could go a full year of class time without a math class, but under the modified block there should be a continuous stream of class offerings to avoid that problem, Massey said.
Steps taken
Massey said the need to improve the academic foundation for high school students is a constant for the staff.
It is also a process that must have the support and backing of students and parents.
“We know what it takes to be ready for college,” Massey says. “Kids and parents need to have the same understanding.”
Communicating that message to students and parents is never ending, Massey adds.
Slowly, he believes, students and parents are getting the message. He says the school is winning the battle of changing the mind-set that students are less inclined to follow the “path of least resistance” in their academic program.
Changes in graduation requirements and standards are also pushing kids to be better prepared. And through the school’s curriculum, more “rigor and relevance” is plugged in and students, through work with deans and teachers during weekly home room sessions, are more inclined to think seriously about their future and what they will need while in high school, he said.
A big plus, Massey says, has been the ongoing refinement and expansion of Advanced Placement and College in the Schools credit offerings. The school now has 28 AP and CIS classes offered in math, English, science and social studies. The number has grown by about one-third over the past five years.
“That’s substantial,” Massey says. “College readiness is the goal.”
The principal also remains optimistic that the high school will be selected for a $200,000 grant funded by the Bush Foundation through the University of Minnesota College of Readiness program. If selected, the district will receive staff funding to assist in the effort to work with students in the areas of college readiness.
More to story
Massey believes there is more to the story than the raw MnSCU numbers reveal. While improvements are a must, he says the school’s entire picture is not as bad with a full review.
For students who responded to the 2006 Forest Lake survey, a total of 361 said they were going on to some form of college. That’s 129 more than the 232 who entered a state college.
Most of the 129 students probably entered a private college, he said. It is not known how many, if any, of the 129 needed remedial programs, Massey said.
“The private schools are more competitive and more selective,” he said.
Massey, however, understands that a large segment of students will enroll in the state college system. His goal is to address the remedial needs that students are facing.
At Century College in White Bear Lake, for example, 53 of the 81 Forest Lake students who enrolled there in 2006 were required to enroll in remedial courses after taking the school’s entrance exam.
The overall cost for the student’s education and the increase in time before the youth enters the labor force is “enormous,” Massey adds.
What will happen in 2007? Based on a survey of Forest Lake seniors a year ago, 92 percent of those who responded or 434 students, said they would enter college.
Their status in terms of a need for remedial help is for now a fact for a future MnSCU report.
Based on the past efforts and the positive steps, Massey remains optimistic that the push for “rigor and relevance” will pay off.
“Hopefully the trend will reverse,” he says.
|
