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Readers React: Why graduation rate is the wrong way to judge a community college

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To the editor: The op-ed article by David L. Kirp points to an abysmal failure of community colleges to succeed within the parameters of the prevailing definition of “success” — graduation rates or how many students continue on to a four-year university.

As a community college teacher, I appreciate all of the problems that Kirp points out. But I feel we should consider augmenting his standard to include the degree of success in the labor market of those who fall short of Kirp’s metrics.

A relevant complementary study on the effectiveness of California’s community college system would be to gauge the degree of success of those not meeting the prevalent standard in the labor market — success that can be attributed to even their limited experience in the community college system.

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As an academic, I feel upset hearing education talked about as mere fodder for the labor market. But as a taxpayer, I understand that success in the labor market is an indication of the effectiveness of our community colleges.

Jack Kaczorowski, Los Angeles

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To the editor: There is a much quicker and more certain path to increasing the fraction of students receiving community college diplomas: Increase the pass rate in individual courses.

I teach math at El Camino Community College, and my pass rate hovers slightly above 50%. This is characteristic of many courses in science, engineering and math, also known as STEM courses — and STEM courses are required for graduation.

There are two ways of reducing this roadblock: Put pressure on individual teachers to pass more students, or ease the STEM course requirement. While these would certainly raise graduation rates, the net effect almost certainly would be counterproductive.

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But I’m guessing there will be a lot of pressure placed on administrators, and through them on individual instructors, to do one or the other.

Jim Stein, Redondo Beach

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To the editor: We needn’t be so concerned about the graduation rates at community colleges.

Many students enter with no degree objective. They take short, non-degree programs (a great feature of community colleges) or even just a course or two to help them achieve career objectives, or even to complement earlier education.

For instance, my master’s in business administration is almost 50 years old, and I recently took a community college class in political science just because I wanted to. In this regard, community colleges could simplify their application and registration procedures for non-degree-oriented students.

Donald J. Loundy, Simi Valley

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