The California State University System plans to require students who need developmental education to enroll in a summer Early Start program to get them ready for fall. Reportedly the system is overwhelmed with students who are not prepared for college-level work, and budget cuts have eliminated or cut back many traditional DE classes.
Faculty leaders are skeptical that a brief "intervention" will get the job done, according to an article in the Contra Costa Times, by Matt Krupnick.
The dilemma in California may sound familiar to Texans. Some two-year colleges here have conducted Early Start programs for years, reporting good results. Obviously success depends upon the level of student proficiency and the degree to which they are able to participate fully in a summer program. The article says students in California are allowed to participate in Early Start online. Many educators believe that online education and DE are a bad fit, however.
It's clear the policy change in California is related to the financial situation. It's also hard to separate what students actually need from what policy makers think they can afford. Some Texas lawmakers have suggested in recent legislative sessions that universities should not offer developmental education at all. In fact many selective universities already contract with community colleges for DE courses.
In California, "The remedial numbers are staggering, given that the Cal State system admits only freshmen who graduated in the top one-third of their high-school class," the article reports.
A quote from a practitioner:
"I'm not at all optimistic that it's going to help," said Sally Murphy, a communications professor who directs general education at Cal State East Bay, where 73 percent of this year's freshmen were not ready for college math. Nearly 60 percent were not prepared for college English.
"A 15-hour intervention is just not enough intervention when it comes to skills that should have been developed over 12 years," Murphy said.
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