My students who are interested in pursuing a higher education usually like the remedial college courses.  I teach ESOL, so I think it is a smaller step and gives them the confidence to begin taking college courses. 

Gail Price <gprice at famlit.org> wrote:    The following article appeared in the September 8 PEN Weekly Newsblast. The figures are pretty impressive. 
  

  Are those of you who work in adult education seeing an increase in the number of students who have high school diplomas, but want to build skills to avoid paying for college remedial classes? Are your adult education programs offering any special classes or services to these students to help prepare them to be successful in college?
  

  

  PAYING DOUBLE
  According to "Paying Double: Inadequate High Schools and Community College Remediation," a new issue brief from the Alliance for Excellent Education, the United States spends over $1.4 billion each year to provide community college remediation education for recent high school graduates who did not acquire the basic skills necessary to succeed in college or at work. The brief, which was produced with support from MetLife Foundation, also finds that the nation loses almost $2.3 billion annually in wages as a result of the significantly reduced earnings potential of students whose need for remedial reading make them more likely to drop out of college without a degree. Therefore, by increasing the number of students graduating from high school prepared to succeed in college, an additional $3.7 billion annually would flow into the nation’s economy. The brief offers no simple solutions but does point out that improving the nation’s high schools could certainly reduce the number
 of students who need remediation in college. It points to "weak curricula, vague standards, and lack of alignment between high school content and the expectations of colleges and employers" as reasons for the need for remediation. It adds that students who take a rigorous high school curriculum are less likely to need remedial courses than students whose course load is less demanding. Finally, it suggests that statewide performance standards for college admission would enable educators to assess student progress toward readiness for college. To view the complete issue brief, which includes a breakdown of state-by-state costs, visit:
  http://www.all4ed.org/publications/remediation.pdf

    Gail J. Price
  Multimedia Specialist
  National Center for Family Literacy
  325 West Main Street, Suite 300
  Louisville, KY 40205
  

  Phone: 502 584-1133, ext. 112
  Fax: 502 584-0172



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