In 2004, following a 10-percent drop in the number of students who needed remedial classes, the California State University governing board was inspired to set an ambitious goal: Have 90 percent of its students prepared in English and math.

The CSU set its deadline for fall of 2007.

In an effort to better coordinate high school and college level standards, the CSU has spent about $5 million on the implementation of the Early Assessment Program.

According the CSU website, the assessment uses standardized testing, from the high-school junior level, to provide high school students with the opportunity to gain exemption from taking remedial courses and placement tests in college.

Learning Skills Department Chair Robby Ching said that three years and millions of dollars later, Sacramento State and the CSU system has not made much improvement.

“Neither-Sac State nor the CSU system will come close to reaching that goal,” Ching said.

Sophomore economics major Doug Evans, who took remedial courses in 2006, said even with the early assessment program and its exam, he was unable to avoid a remedial course at Sacramento State.

“As someone who took the test his junior year, proceeded to take math his senior year and still had to take a remedial math class during his freshman year, I don’t think that the test is working quite as well as everyone had hoped,” Evans said. Ching said the CSU and high school systems have been collaborating to ensure that high school curriculum meets the standards set by the universities.

Learning Skills Mathematic Coordinator Stan Barrick said that most students are upset and surprised that they are required to take remedial classes upon acceptance into the CSU system. “(Most) students that are required to take a year of remedial math (or English) are disturbed that, even though they received good grades in high school, they don’t have (the necessary skills) to compete at the college level,” Barrick said.

Biology major Jessica Hudson, who graduated in the top third of her class with a 3.3 GPA, said that she was shocked to hear that her English Placement and- Entry Level Math test scores were not good enough to- get her into general education classes.

“I was shocked,” Hudson said. “I had always done really well in school?I never imagined that I would get into college and have to take remedial classes.”

Ching said that the average high school GPA for students who require preparatory classes, at Sacramento State, is 3.2.

“These students were in the top third of their high school class?they have every reason to (believe) that they are well prepared for college,” Ching said.

However, after a few weeks in remedial classes most students realize that they have a lot of learning to do before they are completely ready for the-heavy reading and writing demands of most general education courses, Ching said.

According to the Sac State website, a student who is unable to reach proficiency by the end of his or her first year, and is having trouble in other classes, will be advised to attend a community college with the promise of automatic reentry to Sac State.

Ching said that it is important to note that the first year retention rate for those students who require remediation is 76 percent, nearly the same as the 77 percent who do not require remediation.

The Learning Skills program has a significant first year pass rate with only a handful of students actually being redirected to community colleges.

“Eighty-five percent of our students are proficient by the end of their first year,” Ching said. “For the CSU system, as a whole, the rate is 82 percent.”

Ching said that an 85 percent pass rate is quite an accomplishment considering that, for the fall 2006 semester,-32.46 percent of newly admitted freshmen needed preparatory classes in both math and English. She went on to say that 19.93 percent of newly admitted freshmen needed remedial classes in just English and 12.53 percent needed remedial classes in just math.

According to the CSU, website these figures are lower than the current rates of the entire CSU system which stand at 45 percent for English and 37 percent for math, the same as last year.

Ashley Evans can be reached at [email protected]