Two years ago, Beni Kimuene was surprised to find himself struggling to pass half of his courses.
He had not developed any study habits at Carnahan High School in ºüÀêÊÓƵ because they hadn’t been necessary. Preparing for tests was as easy as reading the textbook. Kimuene graduated with a 3.4 grade-point average.
Once at ºüÀêÊÓƵ Community College, it didn’t take long for Kimuene to realize that he wasn’t in high school anymore.
“When you graduate high school, it feels like you can take on the world,†he said. “Going into college, academically, it’s a real smack in the face with reality.â€
Kimuene’s struggle to adjust speaks to one of the nagging problems facing higher education here and across the nation — one grounded in broad deficiencies in K-12 schools.
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More than a third of Missouri high school graduates who attend the state’s public colleges and universities are deemed unprepared as freshmen. To catch up, they enroll in remedial classes, earning no college credits in the process and delaying the quest for a diploma.
One estimate suggests that 1.7 million students nationwide need such remediation, at a collective cost of $7 billion.
“It is a huge national problem,†said Bruce Vandal, vice president of Complete College America, a national nonprofit group. “There is a significant percentage of students who will apply and be placed in remedial and think, ‘Wow, maybe I’m not college material.’â€
Preliminary data shows a slight uptick in the percent of high school graduates who require remediation at a Missouri public college or university. The total was 36.2 percent for 2013 graduates, after small decreases during the previous four years.
Illinois does not release matching data, but one 2012 national report estimates that nearly 20,000 community college students in the state needed remedial help.
And the crisis is far worse for graduates of struggling high schools.
More than two-thirds of Kimuene’s fellow 2012 Carnahan graduates found themselves having to take remedial courses in math, reading or English skills before they could register for regular college courses at Missouri public campuses, according to data from the state department of higher education.
Among Missouri high schools that fare worst in preparing students for college, most are in the ºüÀêÊÓƵ area. At Beaumont, Normandy, Hazelwood East, Vashon and Riverview Gardens, more than 75 percent of 2013 graduates who went to state schools needed remedial courses.
At Sumner High in ºüÀêÊÓƵ, each of the 18 graduates in 2013 who went to a public college in Missouri needed extra help when they got there.
But that’s not to say the problem is limited to urban areas.
At Wright City High, 94 percent of 2013 graduates enrolled in Missouri public colleges and universities needed remedial classes.
It’s a problem even at elite public high schools in affluent ºüÀêÊÓƵ suburbs, where more than 15 percent of 2013 graduates who landed at the state’s public universities needed extra help. At Brentwood High, that rate was 44 percent; at Parkway North and Rockwood Summit, it was 34 percent. Clayton had 32 percent, and Lindbergh had 31 percent. The only high school in the region with a rate lower than 20 percent was Metro High in ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
To be fair, those figures don’t account for the large numbers of graduates of those high schools who attend private universities and out-of-state schools. And the numbers are magnified at smaller schools such as Brentwood, where its highest-performing students often head out of state or to private schools on scholarships.
Even so, the numbers show that even the best high schools are failing many of their college-bound students.
RUDE AWAKENING
Data show that even when students complete the extra courses, their likelihood of finishing a four-year degree is slim nationwide. Nearly two-thirds fail to earn a bachelor’s degree in six years, according to a 2012 study by Complete College America.
If students leave high school thinking they are college ready and then find themselves placed in a remedial course, some may stop there, Vandal said.
They think, “‘I don’t belong here,’†he said.
In Kimuene’s first semester at ºüÀêÊÓƵ Community College at Meramec, he needed a remedial math class, elementary algebra. After that, he had to take another, intermediate algebra, before he could finally take the college algebra course.
“I thought of myself as cocky, and I ended up getting a C in the class,†he said. “And I failed my first English class. Academically, two out of my four classes were terrible.â€
That kind of rude awakening, many say, is endemic of a system that too often allows students to progress through school without mastering core subjects.
College is a kind of reckoning, with a host of measures determining whether a student is prepared for college-level courses.
Such decisions are typically based on SAT or ACT scores, high school grades, high school end-of-course exams or a college’s own placement tests.
Critics of these measures say too many students wind up in remedial courses.
Vandal said instead of placing students in remedial courses, colleges should give students extra support to complete the college-level classes. “There are actually many, many students who are placed in remediation who could be successful in college-level courses,†he said.
Some local school administrators wonder whether their capable high school graduates are being counseled into remedial courses — particularly at community colleges, where such courses are common and even encouraged.
Beth Johnston, a spokeswoman for Lindbergh schools, said some students may simply feel more comfortable taking the courses.
“Even though they’re really good students, they might make a decision because they don’t want to be worried about if math will be too hard,†she said.
But setting aside that debate, experts agree that the best approach to addressing the problem of college remediation is to focus on preparation in high school and earlier.
LOOKING FOR SOLUTIONS
Proponents of the Common Core standards, which have been controversial in Missouri and elsewhere, say they are designed to better prepare children for college and careers and to reduce the likelihood that students will waste time and money on postsecondary remediation.
Others say those standards are of little use if struggling students are allowed to advance to the next grade without mastering the one below.
Missouri auditors slammed ºüÀêÊÓƵ Public Schools last year, citing the district for promoting failing students to the next grade. According to the audit, 750 third- and fourth-graders were identified in May 2011 as “at-risk†for reading failure in state exams. Of that group, only two were later held back a grade.
The problem of advancing unprepared students to the next grade isn’t limited to ºüÀêÊÓƵ schools. Statewide, the vast majority of students who fail state standardized exams move forward each year.
Since the auditors’ findings, ºüÀêÊÓƵ schools officials say they have adopted several new policies. Danielle Harris, an administrator who is leading much of the effort, said the changes include conducting reading assessments for first- through eighth-graders three times a year. That information is used to develop academic plans for improvement that continue through high school.
At Bayless High School, teachers and counselors are trying to prevent remediation by working through the challenges of poverty and a large percentage of students who speak English as a second language.
“It will make a huge difference for them if they are able to start in college-level classes when they get to college,†said Suzanne Richardson, Bayless’ director of secondary counseling, a new position.
The district also is seeking to introduce students to the rigor of college courses earlier.
Bayless has nearly tripled the number of courses students can take for dual credit in high school and college. It is incorporating college placement tests in the school year, timing them so the information is fresh. The district has added extra algebra classes for students who are college bound but struggle in math. They hope to layer in another next year so students can earn credit for taking a remedial college course while in high school.
Even so, the school has a long way to go. About 60 percent of 2013 Bayless graduates who went to Missouri’s public colleges needed remediation. That represented a slight improvement over the prior year.
The 2012 report by Complete College America said one key to addressing the problem lies in giving students the right kind of tests early in high school to determine if they are on track to cut it in college. If not, those students should get extra help.
That approach is being tested in California, North Carolina, Ohio and Oklahoma. Tennessee goes one step further, targeting high school juniors to take college remediation classes while they are still in high school.
FILLING THE GAP
Until high schools improve college readiness, the campuses that enroll their graduates will need to fill the gaps.
Those needs are most pronounced at community colleges and other universities that accept all or nearly all applicants. Nationwide, 51.7 percent of students at two-year community colleges enrolled in remediation, according to the Complete College America report.
Kimuene credits the TRIO Student Support Services program at the Meramec campus with setting him on track. A friend dragged him to a meeting, and a professor he admired talked him into giving it a chance.
The federal program supports first-generation or low-income students, and those with disabilities. It offers a private tutoring center, along with workshops that help students with financial aid, applying for scholarships, gaining leadership experience and deciding on a career path.
“I think that once students realize what they’re working toward, it’s easy to get through it semester by semester,†program director Sanela Mesic said.
About 70 percent of the students in TRIO are in at least one remedial class.
Kimuene now has a solid B average and is a TRIO tutor.
Remedial classes could add a year or more to college programs for many students. However, Kimuene will have to take only one extra semester. He will graduate this summer with plans to transfer to a four-year college to major in film production and business.
“We all have dreams, but you never have a clear vision of what your dreams are going to be until you take that first step,†he said. “I decided that I didn’t want to be another face in the crowd. I wanted to succeed. One way or another, I’m reaching for the top.â€