THOUSANDS of high school graduates in Massachusetts are wasting time in college, taking remedial courses to learn material that they should already know. Despite years of education reform, the state's public schools still have to do more to prepare students for college.
A new report by state education officials sizes up the problem. Of 19,000 students who graduated from public high school in 2005 and went on to a state college or university, 37 percent took at least one remedial course in their first college semester, the report found.
In addition, more than half of Hispanic, African-American, and low-income students take remedial classes, as do more than half of students with learning disabilities and half with limited English. And the report says that students in remedial courses are more likely to drop out of college.
One solution is for school districts to require high school students to take four years of math. Research from the US Department of Education shows that students who take more math in high school are more likely to finish four-year colleges.
The state does have MassCore, a rigorous high school curriculum that calls for students to take four years of math and English as well as three years of social studies and science and two years of a foreign language. But this curriculum is only recommended - not required.
MassCore is popular. When state education officials surveyed 79 high schools, they found that 71.5 percent of the school's 2006 graduates had completed MassCore, with its tougher requirements. But only 46.3 percent of urban high school graduates had. By contrast, Michigan law requires high school students to take four years of math.
It will take a sturdy pipeline to prepare students for success. Children in preschool programs need effective help to deal with behavioral and emotional problems that can hinder them in grade school.
In the K-12 years, students need teachers - especially math teachers - who know and love their subjects and can apply the most effective teaching methods.
Massachusetts high schools have to convince students that they can't just pass the 10th-grade MCAS and coast for the next two years. Patricia Plummer, chancellor of the Department of Higher Education, wants the state to spend just under $1 million to have 11th-graders take a college placement test, so they can see where they stand and what courses they should take.
It's a smart idea. Students who needed to could catch up while they were still in high school.
Instead of making up for lost time, students should be on an educational fast track.
