Getting an Education in College Success
A disturbing number of freshmen arrive at college unprepared for college work. The latest Department of Education data say 28% of entering freshmen in 2000 took at least one remedial reading, writing or math course. At community colleges, 42% did.
The good news is that community colleges are reasonably good at remedial education; without such courses, students wouldn't get what they need to make it in today's workplace. Now some forward-thinking colleges are trying prevention, rather than cures. Pursuing old programs with new fervor as well as new initiatives, the colleges are reaching into high schools and even middle schools.
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capital@wsj.comThroughout New York City, the City University of New York's College Now program aims at high-school students in the middle of the pack, as opposed to the Advanced Placement or the special-ed crowd. "If they need to improve reading, writing or math skills, we have a series of courses that are developmental" -- education-speak for remedial -- "before or after the school day in a high-school building," says Rachelle Goldsmith of CUNY's Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, which pioneered the program.
Outside Washington, D.C., the Montgomery County community college and public school system are jointly running an after-school program -- Salto al Futuro, or Leap to the Future -- for 120 Hispanic students at Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, Md. One goal: Students should pass the college's placement test by the end of 11th grade to avoid remedial classes.
At Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, the state-funded 21st Century Scholars program offers tutoring, mentoring, courses and college visits to low-income middle-school students who pledge to avoid drugs, alcohol and crime, and to maintain a 2.0 grade-point average through high school. The lure: Free tuition at a state college.
In Oregon, Portland Community College offers high-school diplomas on campus for 16- to 20-year-olds who have dropped out, or are about to. With backing of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Gateway to College program is now spreading.
"A lot of those students are quite capable academically. It's the social and emotional aspects of high school that aren't serving them well," says Charlene Nunley, president of Montgomery College, which has a Gateway school on its campus.
In southern California, with federal GEAR UP funds, state colleges and the Santa Ana school system are jointly making middle-school English and math courses more rigorous. They also bring parents to the University of California at Irvine campus for three-day visits to "strengthen their understanding of the pre-collegiate process."
The best of these programs respond to an unintended consequence of the message that any kid in America can go to college -- particularly to a low-cost, open-to-all community college. "Lured by the prospect of easy success, students forfeit the opportunity to benefit from high school and they settle for easy curricula and undemanding classes," Northwestern University sociologist James Rosenbaum has written. "They know that open-door policies will allow them admission, but they aren't aware of their poor chances of getting degrees. ... High-school students seem to be promised easy access to college for little effort." And then, all too often, they fail at college.
That is beginning to change. "The goal is not to get them into college, but to be successful in college," says John Garvey, associate dean of collaborative programs at CUNY. A comparison of 5,000 College Now alumni with 10,500 comparable high-school graduates who weren't in the program found that, of those who went to college, 82% of the College Now group finished the first year, compared to 72% of the others.
For too long, colleges snarled at high schools for not doing a better job preparing students (true). And high schools snarled back, complaining that the colleges weren't clear about what they expected (true) -- and didn't appreciate how the demands on high schools have changed as the majority of their students, not just a talented fifth, aim for college (true).
Ms. Nunley of Montgomery College recalls the first meeting, about a decade ago, between her college and the local school system: "They said, 'Why are you putting out those bad data about our kids,' and we said, 'Why aren't you preparing our kids better.' " The tension lingers, of course, but there's now an institutionalized, county-funded formal partnership with a bevy of programs. Jerry Weast, county superintendent of schools, says the college helps K-12 teachers get "a better level of understanding of what kids need to make it in college."
None of these efforts will pay off quickly; nor will they eliminate the need for community college remedial classes. But the change in college attitudes and the proliferation of programs to demand more of typical high-school students -- and help them meet those higher expectations -- are hopeful signs.
大学倾情投入预科教育
目前很多大学新生不具备接受大学教育的条件。美国教育部最新的统计数据显示，2000年28%的入学新生需要至少上一门阅读、写作或数学的补习课。在社区大学，这个比例高达42%。
幸好社区大学在补习教育方面做的还不错；如果没有这些课程，学生们根本无法获得胜任如今工作所需要的知识和技能。现在一些有远见的大学不再亡羊补牢，而是努力防患于未然。大学以新的热情和积极性走进高中、甚至是中学开展原有的项目。
纽约城市大学(City University of New York, 简称CUNY)的College Now项目针对全纽约市高中生的中间群体，与跳级或特殊教育项目的针对群体恰好相反。布鲁克林区CUNY的Kingsborough社区大学的拉凯拉?戈德斯密斯(Rachelle Goldsmith)说：“如果他们需要提高阅读、写作或数学能力，在高中校园内每天上学前或放学后我们都开办一系列促进这些技能发展的课程──从教育角度来讲，就是补习课程。”Kingsborough社区大学率先引入了College Now项目。
在哥伦比亚特区以外，蒙哥马利县社区大学和公共教育系统联手为120名西班牙学生在马里兰州Silver Spring的肯尼迪高中组织了一个课外项目──飞向未来(Leap to the Future)。项目的目标只有一个：所有学生应该在11年级毕业时通过大学的分班考试，以避免入学后参加补习课程。
在印地安那大学－印地安纳波利斯普渡大学(Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis)，州政府资助的21世纪奖学金项目(21st Century Scholars)为来自低收入家庭的中学生提供学习辅导、心理指导、培训课程并组织大学参观活动。参加这个项目的学生必须保证远离毒品、酒精和犯罪，高中期间的平均绩点(GPA)维持在2.0。诱人之处：州立大学学费全免。
俄勒冈州波特兰社区大学为16-20岁左右、已经或即将辍学的学生提供在校高中文凭教育。在比尔&梅林达?盖茨基金(Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)的支持下，这个称之为“大学之门”(Gateway to College)的项目不断扩展。
蒙哥马利县社区大学的校长查伦?农利(Charlene Nunley)说：“很多学生具备很强的学术能力。但学校在社会以及情感方面对他们支持不够。”该校也开展了“大学之门”项目。
在南加利福尼亚，通过联邦项目GEAR UP的支持，州立大学和圣安娜学校系统共同努力使中学的英语和数学课程更加严格。他们还邀请学生家长参加为期3天的加利福尼亚大学(University of California)欧文校区的参观，旨在“加强家长对大学预科教育的理解。”
预科项目最好的一点就是对“所有的美国孩子都能上大学──低成本的社区大学更是敞开怀抱欢迎所有学生”这个观念无意间造成的后果作出了回应。西北大学(Northwestern University)的社会学家詹姆斯?罗森鲍姆(James Rosenbaum)写道：“很多学生都被轻而易举就可以成功这种前景所诱惑，错失了从高中学习中获益的机会。学生们满足于容易的科目和要求较低的课程。他们知道大学的开放政策会让他们顺利入学，却没有意识到他们获得学位的机会是多么渺茫……高中生似乎得到了他们可以毫不费力进入大学的承诺。”但是，多数时候他们在大学的表现都不尽人意。
这种情况已经开始发生变化了。CUNY合作项目的副院长约翰?加维(John Garvey)说：“我们的目标不光是让他们进入大学，而是让他们成功完成大学学业。”从参加College Now项目的5,000名学生和未参加此项目的10,500名学生进行比较的结果发现，在所有上大学的学生中，College Now那一组有82%的学生成功地完成了第一年的学习，而对比组只有72%的学生做到这一点。
很长时间以来，大学总是责怪高中学校没有做好升学工作（这是事实）。而高中学校在抱怨，大学没有清晰的入学标准（这也是事实）；进入大学已不光是优秀学生的目标，也是绝大多数学生的愿望，高中学校正在顺应这些变化，而大学对此却无动于衷（这也是事实）。
蒙哥马利县社区大学的农利回忆起约10年前，大学和当地高中举行的第一次会议：“他们说‘你们什么要把学生的负面数据公布出来，’我们反问道，‘你们为什么不把预科教育做得更好一些。’”当然，这种紧张关系持续了一段时间；但现在双方之间已建立了规范的、正式的伙伴关系，并共同运行很多县政府出资的合作项目。县学校主管杰里?维斯特(Jerry Weast)说，大学在努力帮助K-12教师对“学生升入大学需具备的条件有更高层次的理解。”
这些努力不会很快就见成效，也不会消除对社区大学补习课程的需求。但是大学方面态度的变化，以及帮助学生达到更高标准成为合格高中生的各种项目不断增多，都是令人鼓舞的迹象。
