Many high school students who’ve aced an Advanced Placement course and earned a high GPA figure they’re ready for college.
Too often they’re not as ready as they — or their parents — think.
A recent Tribune analysis of newly public data showed that even after leaving top high schools with strong grades, many students from the state’s public schools struggle to earn a B average as freshmen at the state’s universities and community colleges.
The analysis by reporters Diane Rado, Jodi S. Cohen and Joe Germuskashowed that more than 90,000 students who graduated high school from 2006 to 2008 had an average GPA of 3.08 — a solid B. In their freshman year of college, though, their average GPA plummeted to 2.52 — a C+.
More eye-opening stats:
* Public school graduates at 10 of the state’s 11 four-year universities averaged less than a 3.0 GPA their freshman year.
* Only 29 of more than 600 public high schools in Illinois produced graduates who earned at least a 3.0 GPA at the state’s public colleges and universities.
That should stir some sharp questions at school board meetings. So should this: There were wide disparities in how students fared at college, even between high schools with students that earned similar average GPAs.
The verdict from Chancellor Rita Cheng of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale: “More and more students seem to be less prepared for college; particularly math and English skills are not where we would like them to be.”
Why the slide in GPA for so many students? Several possible reasons: There’s rampant grade inflation in high schools. College classes — and grading — are tougher than high school. Kids away from home for the first time may be tempted to party rather than study.
Let’s stipulate that college courses are tougher. Kids can bounce back in later years to earn higher grades, if they adopt better study habits. Let’s also note that the data didn’t include kids attending private Illinois colleges. (It will for most of those schools by 2013, according to the Illinois Board of Higher Education.)
None of that, however, changes a basic conclusion suggested not only by this data but by many studies and experts: Too many kids come to college ill-prepared. Many wind up in remedial classes, learning what they should have learned in high school. That’s frustrating for the students and takes a terrible toll: Students in remedial classes are far more likely to drop out.
High school grads need a solid foundation of math, science, English and reading in high school, geared to better prepare them for college courses.
That’s the thrust behind “common core” academic standards set to roll out in Illinois and across the country over the next few years.
These standards are designed to boost student performance by stressing comprehension and critical thinking over rote memorization. A recent national survey of college instructors by the Oregon-based Educational Policy Improvement Center showed strong support for the standards. We’re with them.
Illinois schools are supposed to roll out curriculum that hews to the new standards by the 2013-14 school year. But Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard recently announced CPS would launch that curriculum in some schools starting this year. Smart move.
“Much is to be done in terms of changing the culture of this city so that people have higher expectations,” Brizard said.
We hope other high school districts follow the CPS lead.
These standards spell out for teachers, students and parents what kids need to know before they graduate. That’s about setting and meeting high expectations.
Over time, that also should cut down on those gasps of dismay in too many Illinois homes when the first college report card arrives.
