Report reveals wide gap in college achievement

[SoCalDem]

Broad disparity is seen for low-income and minority students
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/12/04/ST2009120400305.html?sid=ST2009120400305
William Kirwan, chancellor of the University of Maryland system. (James M.
By Daniel de Vise
Friday, December 4, 2009

A new report, billed as one of the most comprehensive studies to date of how low-income and minority students fare in college, shows a wide gap in graduation rates at public four-year colleges nationwide and "alarming" disparities in success at community colleges.

The analysis, released Thursday, found that about 45 percent of low-income and underrepresented minority students entering as freshmen in 1999 had received bachelor's degrees six years later at the colleges studied, compared with 57 percent of other students.

Fewer than one-third of all freshmen entering two-year institutions nationwide attained completion -- either through a certificate, an associate's degree or transfer to a four-year college -- within four years, according to the research. The success rate was lower, 24 percent, for underrepresented minorities, identified as blacks, Latinos and Native Americans; it was higher, 38 percent, for other students.

Only 7 percent of minority students who entered community colleges received bachelor's degrees within 10 years.

The report provides a statistical starting point for 24 public higher-education systems that pledged two years ago to halve the achievement gap in college access and completion by 2015. Together, the systems represent two-fifths of all undergraduate students in four-year public colleges.

snip

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Part of it is reading skills.

Their background in school may lack the reading comprehension necessary to complete a college curriculum.

Also, their background in school may be missing a base liberal arts background such as literature, any of the sciences, history, etc. and that adds to the frustration of a college curriculum which delves into the basic education.

How can a student lacking these skills be expected to "catch up" while taking advanced courses in a mere four years?

[Igel]

5. Part is not being prepared.

So many things matter.

Prior achievement. When I had severely dysfluent readers in a class with a very fluent reader, prior achievement was obvious. But it's also less obvious--when a grad student I knew felt ill at ease because his background didn't include lots of music lessons, foreign travel, etc., etc., it was bad; but when it also meant he had trouble interacting with faculty and colleagues, it was tragic.

Support services. Schools may have remedial courses, lots of tutors available and tutoring centers, programs to have students help students. Or not. My dysfluent readers, at a very good 4-year liberal arts school, had *no* recourse for remedial help--and the university was pissed at my asking.

How the curriculum is pitched. My elem. diff. eq. class at a mediocre 4-year state college was rather different from the same course at a regionally prominent engineering institute. My Arabic course at the previously mentioned 4-year liberal arts school was intense, and when compared to another student's course elsewhere was exceptionally brutal.

Grading practices. I was expecting a final for the previously mentioned Arabic course. We also had a 5-10 minute oral presentation, not bad for first term Arabic. Otherwise good students cracked.

These all work together in weird ways and combine with culture. Low educational achievement and low SES (meaning cultural mismatch between middle/upper class students) go hand in hand. The thing is, while I've seen that kind of mismatch for white students (with bad results), I've seen it far more often for minority students. I've seen *foreign* students have an easier time than white or minority kids born and raised in the US.

I've seen students at the low end of the achievement curve admitted to college and do badly--but, by and large, if they're white it's because they simply got in through dumb luck; if they were minorities, they often got bonus on their admission numbers (let's not discount dumb luck for them, as well). But most of them haven't beaten the odds--past achievement is important, and hard work can only overcome so much.

Then there are funding issues, sometimes substantive and sometimes based on ignorance. If you don't know there are grants available, you don't get them, after all.

[blogslut]

2. Money

changes everything.

[Barack_America]

3. Yes and no.

This is a bit of an old article, but I thought you might enjoy reading it. It's the only thing that ever made me think about going into business and making money.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/education/2007TheBelmont112TwentyYearsLater.html

[blogslut]

4. Thank you for the link

That was an informative article.

[surrealAmerican]

6. It's well known that low-income students are more likely ...

... to drop out for financial reasons. They are more likely to need a full time job to support themselves. Some sort of stipend for living expenses might help improve their graduation rate.