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Unpossible! Only 21% Of High School Grads Are Prepared For College
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jun 15, 2011
Modified Jun 15, 2011
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Jun 15, 2011
Modified Jun 15, 2011
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It isn't just elementary and middle school students who need lots of remediation, the State Education Department has released a trove of data that paints a disturbing picture of our high school graduates. In New York City just 21 percent of the students who started high school in 2006 graduated last year with test scores which indicate they ready for higher education.
College readiness is determined based on data from community colleges, which have found that "scoring a 75 on the English Regents exam and an 80 on the math Regents roughly predicted that students would get at least a C in college-level courses in the same subjects."
The statistics also underscored the massive racial education gap that currently afflicts our public education system. While 51 percent of white graduates and 56 percent of Asian graduates were deemed college-ready after four years of high school, only 13 percent of black students and 15 percent of Hispanic students were found to be on track.
While many seniors are apparently graduating unready for college, the number of grads has been steadily rising for a decade now. Here in the city 61 percent of the students who started high school in 2006 graduated on time in 2010, up from 59 percent in 2009 and 47 percent in 2005.
When talking about the numbers yesterday Mayor Bloomberg focused on the increasing graduation rate, rather than on the awful college-readiness statistics. “No one could have predicted in their wildest dreams that we would be this successful,” he said. And yet “There’s no question that we have a long way to go.”
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Garth Johnston
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