High Hopes Riding on CSU Early Entry Program

Expanding a campaign to better prepare youngsters for college, Cal State University officials Friday invited local educators to join a program designed to sharpen basic skills and gain high school students early entry to the university system.

The program, launched this fall at Santa Paula High by Ventura County’s new Cal State campus, is part of a statewide push to reduce the number of freshmen entering the university system ill-prepared for college-level math and English and in need of remedial training.

CSU officials pitched the Readiness Program to dozens of teachers and administrators gathered Friday at the developing Channel Islands campus in Camarillo, inviting them to participate next fall when the program is offered to every high school in the county.

“I want to make it very clear that we are not going to do remediation work at Channel Islands,” university President Handel Evans told the teachers.

“I think it’s a worthwhile project and I think the more you hear about it the more interested you will become,” he added. “Since we’re all concerned about the quality of my freshman class, I hope you do.”

Although that first class isn’t due until at least 2003, Channel Islands officials hope the readiness campaign will eventually cultivate a source of students for the university as it grows into a full-fledged campus.

They also hope the program demonstrates the university’s commitment to educationally underserved communities--especially predominantly Latino areas such as Santa Paula--that historically have sent few of their sons and daughters to four-year colleges.

“We’re looking for outstanding, exemplary students, and we want every student in Ventura County to have the opportunity to be one of those students,” said Barbara Thorpe, who is in charge of academic planning for the Channel Islands campus.

“You cannot start too soon,” Thorpe said. “This gives those youngsters a head start and faculty an extra incentive to get these students to our front door.”

Drawing on faculty and student tutors from various campuses, the program seeks to test high school juniors early in the school year to see where they need help in math and English. Educators will then work with those students throughout the year to shore up academic weaknesses.

In the spring, the students will be given the CSU basic proficiency exams in both subjects. Those tests are now offered only to seniors who have earned admission to the Cal State system.

Students who pass will be guaranteed admission--as high school juniors--to the Cal State system as long as they meet other requirements, such as prescribed course work and grade-point average.

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Those who don’t pass will receive more help during their senior year, when they will be able to take another crack at the exams.

“As far as I’m concerned, that’s rolling out the red carpet,” said veteran educator Linda Valdez, chairwoman of the English department at Adolfo Camarillo High School. “The whole thing is about keeping your eye on the prize. If students know what’s expected of them and get some help achieving that, the better off they are going to be.”

Cal State officials have long searched for ways to reverse the tide of incoming freshmen washing onto CSU campuses in need of remedial education.

More than half the freshmen who entered the university system last fall were unprepared for college-level math, and 47% lacked the skills to handle college English courses, despite the fact they were among the top one-third of California’s high school graduates.

The Cal State University system requires all entering freshmen to pass basic skills exams in English and math or to show proficiency in those subjects with sufficiently high SAT or Advanced Placement test scores.

Those who fail to prove proficiency are funneled into a remedial program, forcing a delay in their education.

To help reverse that trend, CSU officials chose the Santa Paula district and about half a dozen others throughout the state to test the pilot project. The campaign dovetails with recent efforts at that high school to eliminate lower-level classes and funnel students into college prep courses.

That partnership today will take its most concrete step yet when CSU faculty and teachers at Santa Paula High meet for a daylong workshop.

“I think where we are now is that we recognize there is a problem and it’s a highly complex problem,” said Allison Jones, Cal State’s senior director of academic planning. “We’re not going to see the outcomes of all these efforts for several years, but our expectations are that the students will do better.”

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In coming months, the Santa Paula students will begin taking diagnostic tests to help determine where they need help in English and math.

Eventually, CSU officials hope to reach into Ventura County’s middle schools and elementary schools to offer this same type of early academic guidance.

Ojai math teacher Rene Nakao said she believes the project will eventually pay big dividends, taking the mystery out of the testing process and helping even more students attend college.

“It sounds like a good idea for those students who really want to pursue a four-year school,” said Nakao, chairwoman of the math department at Nordhoff High School.

“The ones we already send to the CSU do well,” she said. “Now we need to target the other kids and get them to buy into the program, so they can get up there too.”

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About This Series

“Birth of a University: Countdown to a Cal State Campus” is an occasional series chronicling the development of a four-year college at the shuttered Camarillo State Hospital complex. This installment focuses on efforts by CSU officials to help local high schools better prepare their students to attend the developing university.