|
Reading remediation best achieved in early years
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Written by Mark Schwenker
|
|
Friday, 16 February 2007
|
Say you’ve finally make it to college. You’re excited from the positive feelings you’re getting from the new environment, as well as from fellow college newbies. You’re bound and ready to learn several new things.
However, there may be some who might think you’re not ready to begin learning new things quite yet. They might say it’s time for you to take some courses you took in high school again. Don’t worry, you’re not alone.
“After synthesizing data from many sources, I estimate that 60 percent of students ages 17 to 20 in two-year colleges, and 30 percent in four-year institutions, need remedial courses,” stated Dr. Michael Kirst, Professor Emeritus of Education and Business Administration at Stanford University in a College Puzzle article.
Remedial courses are classes that students have most likely taken already but haven’t grasped the main concepts or ideas. The rates of needed remedial courses have remained at relatively constant numbers since 1992, except at four-year institutions, rising five percent according to Kirst’s findings.
ACT testing is also a way the readiness of students has been observed.
Only 51 percent of high school graduates observed in ACT testing under the reading category were thought to be ready for college in 2005, according to Kirst.
A report by Newsweek shows that in the fourth grade, reading levels drastically drop off.
Forty percent of kids in grades three and under read every day. When they reach the fourth trade, only twenty-nine percent will pick up a book to read on a daily basis, Newsweek reported from a 2006 survey by Scholastic Inc
“At fourth grade, reading levels drop off,” said Principal Nancy Jacobsen. “Instead of saying that you need to learn to read, we say you need to read to learn at that time.”
Frustration can happen easily if they don’t understand, according to the “Fourth-Grade Slump” article in Newsweek that stated going from reading “Dot on Spot in third grade to reading about the solar system in fourth grade can be difficult for some.”
The problems of reading that occur early on can affect almost every subject. “If you can’t read well, how can you read a chart, a graph or story problem so it impacts almost every single subject area,” said Jacobsen. “I wish there was an easy answer.”
Catching problems on learning progress early on instead of later is what Jacobsen feels is an important way to ensure student success.
“One way to look at it is… how many enter the ninth grade and are in need of remedial?” said Jacobsen. “If we don’t get it then, when are we ever going to get it?”
Another part of post-secondary and colleges remediation rates are due to unclear basic knowledge requirements, according to Kirst. There are the recommended number of English, science, and other courses for admission requirements.
However, it doesn’t say what specific material, such as math principles or science theories should be known by that time.
Furthermore, Kirst’s findings have also found that in some course catalogs for college, some courses that aren’t labeled remedial have material that should have been well learned in high school.
As one applies to a college, there are certain admission standards, such as test scores, grades and rank that play a part into getting accepted, but it is the actual curriculum standards that some believe aren’t clear enough.
“Students can not prepare for college-level work ahead of time, because remedial and college-level standards are not connected to high school expectations,” stated Kirst.
|
