College Readiness - A Review

College readiness is being examined in Texas. They are reviewing students ability to perform on the college level from their level of preparedness in high school. Please see the previous post to gain fuller understanding of the decisions being made by policymakers, educators, and the business community. From the article I want to examine a few key points that I noted when I read it myself.

"Because colleges are not good at gauging what remedial courses students need, some experts say, students fall through the cracks or give up because they are not progressing toward a degree. They cite the numbers who are “underplaced” in remediation because they did not take the placement exam seriously when they got to campus, or they have spent time out of school — and quit out of frustration or boredom.

Others point out that deficiencies in students’ secondary education are often the reason they are in remedial courses."

To fully understand the study that was conducted in Texas I would need to acquire the study itself. Then I can fully analyze the study instead of using a secondary source. However, I have gathered a few questions of my own in regards to the research that was conducted.

I will go through a brief synopsis of the questions I have without going too in depth due to the fact that this is not a paper but a blog. My first question is were all institutions of higher education examined if there were deficiencies towards secondary education in Texas. If so, how were the Historically Black Universities and Colleges (HBCUs) examined? Were they included in the examination of the higher education system in Texas or outside of the system? Within the state of Texas there are nine HBCUs some of which are Paul Quinn College, Prairie View A&M University, and Wiley College to name a few. A constant debate within higher education is in regards to the relevancy of HBCUs? Well, how relevant are the institutions of higher education in Texas if most students are placed in remedial courses and are under placed?

As you can tell, my main focus to this study would be towards the HBCUs within the state and how this study of college readiness impacts state funding towards these institutions. I will add more to this blog as I continue to study the report.

ehs - 8/06/12