Local High School Graduates Lag CSU Peers

Most San Fernando Valley-area high schools trailed the statewide average in either English or math proficiency among 1998 graduates who enrolled at Cal State University campuses, according to figures released this week.

In an effort officials acknowledge is designed to shame high schools into shape, the CSU office of the chancellor released a statewide list of remediation rates.

Among Valley-area schools, Polytechnic High in Sun Valley fared the worst: of 63 students who enrolled at CSU campuses, 81% had to take remedial math classes and 87% could not do college-level English work. North Hollywood High sent 71 graduates to CSU campuses last fall, 72% of whom had deficient math skills and 68% of whom had to take English remedial classes.

Calls to those schools’ administrative offices were not returned Thursday.

Statewide, 55% of all CSU incoming freshmen in the fall of 1998 had to take remedial math courses and 47% needed to enroll in remedial English after scoring poorly on placement tests.

Chancellor Charles Reed says the CSU system must achieve a 10% remedial rate by 2007.

“I think the numbers are disappointing,” said Robert Collins, Los Angeles Unified School District assistant superintendent of instruction, of the CSU remedial data. Collins said the district was taking steps to lower remediation rates by collaborating with CSU professors.

David Spence, CSU’s executive vice chancellor, agreed, saying, “Our math and English faculty need to develop one-on-one personal-professional relationships with their counterparts in the schools so they can share information about what the schools’ standards are and what the universities’ standards are.”

Magnhild Lien, chair of the math department at Cal State Northridge, said too many high schools were advancing students before they had learned sufficient skills and knowledge to graduate.

“Social promotion is a big problem,” she said. Lien also said the high number of teachers on emergency credentials--25% of all LAUSD teachers are not certified by the state--could be to blame for the poor academic state of many CSU freshmen.

“We have a lot of teachers out there who have a fear of mathematics themselves,” Lien said.

Even administrators at some of the Valley’s most prestigious private schools were disappointed by their students’ performance.

Forty-five graduates from Chaminade College Preparatory Academy went to CSU campuses last fall and only 40% had sufficient college math skills.

“This tells us we have a little bit of work to do here,” Chaminade Principal Gary Murphy said.

Other poorly performing schools included Cleveland High in Reseda, with a 79% math remediation rate and 61% for English. Although Monroe High School in North Hills showed slight improvement over last year, 69% and 77% of its CSU-bound graduates required remedial math and English classes, respectively.

“I’m pleased to see that we are making improvement, but these numbers are obviously not very satisfactory in terms of the statewide averages,” said Thane Opfell, assistant principal at Monroe.

“What you’re seeing there are regularly admitted students,” CSU’s Spence said. “That means these students are in the top third of their class and have an overall ‘B’ GPA in high school.

“They’ve taken at least 15 courses we require including algebra and geometry. . . . They’ve taken the right courses and they’ve gotten Bs,” he added. “But a high percentage of these students don’t pass our placement tests. We’re seeing a disconnect between placement standards and the schools’ evaluation of high school performance.”

But some high school administrators said the figures are misleading, since the remediation statistics only involve students who entered the CSU system.

CSU enrollees from Granada Hills High, one of the Valley’s best-regarded public schools, fared poorly on math placement exams, with 60% needing remediation classes. Principal Kathy Rattay said many of her best students don’t go to CSU schools.

“About 40% of our students go to [University of California] schools, so that doesn’t leave many students to take the Cal State exam,” she said. She wondered whether CSU schools were dipping below their official requirements and enrolling students who had not placed in the top third of their class or achieved a B average.

“If you’re taking students who are struggling in high school, they are not going to make it when they get to college. I’d like to know where these students are coming from,” she said.

“We have the highest pass rates in the district in the UC subject requirement exams,” said Grover Cleveland High Principal Eileen Banta. “The problem with the data is that it doesn’t tell the complete story.”

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Valley Campus Proficiency Rates

Figures show the percentage of each Valley-area high school’s 1998 graduates who enrolled in the Cal State system in the fall and lacked proficiency in either math or English.

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Number of % lacking proficiency in School CSU enrollees Math English Agoura 38 50% 13% Alemany 43 47% 37% Antelope Valley 11 36% 45% Birmingham 34 74% 59% Burbank 27 63% 44% Burroughs 19 58% 53% Calabasas 34 62% 38% Canoga Park 35 46% 54% Canyon 36 47% 50% Chaminade 45 60% 13% Chatsworth 34 53% 53% Cleveland 28 79% 61% Crescenta Valley 39 26% 46% Crespi Carmelite 11 73% 36% El Camino Real 63 27% 40% Faith Baptist 8 50% 13% Francis Polytechnic 63 81% 87% Glendale 33 27% 67% Granada Hills 100 60% 46% Grant 44 57% 64% Hart 36 33% 39% Highland Hall 5 60% 20% Highland 13 69% 54% Holy Family 6 83% 50% Holy Martyrs 10 60% 70% Hoover 37 16% 57% Monroe 39 69% 77% Kennedy 32 41% 41% Littlerock 18 61% 56% L.A. Baptist 17 65% 24% Louisville 18 67% 22% Manoogian 10 70% 50% Montclair Prep 7 86% 57% North Hollywood 71 72% 68% Notre Dame 46 59% 24% Palmdale 18 72% 44% Paraclete 19 32% 16% Providence 19 74% 26% Quartz Hill 16 63% 44% Reseda 30 47% 53% San Fernando 61 54% 87% Saugus 34 18% 24% Sherman Oaks Enriched 14 50% 57% Sherwood Oaks 12 33% 50% St. Genevieve 25 80% 52% Stoneridge Prep 6 100% 83% Sylmar 31 71% 81% Taft 39 49% 64% Valencia 9 33% 33% Van Nuys 44 50% 48% Verdugo Hills 30 80% 77% Village Christian 23 57% 30% STATEWIDE 55% 47%

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Note: Data for all California high schools is available on the Internet at https://www.asd.calstate.edu/performance .

Source: California State University