GilfordGrok

And again, just like what was seen in Ohio (which I posted about here; the post also talking about Dr. DiMinico's dislike of standardized testing - how appropriate given Saturday's discussion!), secondary education may not be doing the of sufficiently preparing students for college:

Community college drop-outs

Three out of four students who enter California community colleges seeking a degree drop out in frustration, researchers estimate.

Most students are unprepared for college work, reports the Contra Costa Times. The story features an instructor who estimates only a third of his pre-algebra students will make it to algebra, a course they were supposed to have mastered in eighth grade.

One in 10 students at the lowest remedial levels — community colleges sometimes have up to five courses below the lowest college-level course — reaches a college-level course in that subject. The numbers are worse for black and Latino students.

Chaffey College in middle-class Rancho Cucamonga faced the remedial crisis in 1999:

Using a broader definition of underpreparedness than most schools, Chaffey educators determined that 98 percent of their students were unprepared for college work in at least one basic area.

The realization led to the most radical transformation of a community college in the nation. The school began hiring more basic-skills instructors, sometimes delaying the hiring of professors in fields such as biology and sociology.

With tutoring at “success centers,” the college tripled the number of students who transfer to a four-year university.

Aren't kids supposed to be ready for college by the time they are at, er, college?  So now, it seems, CA community colleges are mere extensions of what should have been taught in high school.

(H/T: Joanne Jacobs)