EDITORIALS

Bit by bit by little bit

Going in the right direction, but still . . .

— YOU’RE ILL. Have been for a while. This morning you take your temperature and it’s a degree lower than yesterday’s 103. And you feel like you could maybe drink a glass of juice. You’re getting better.

But you’re still ill.

You’re out of shape. Have been for a while. Today on the treadmill you’re able to walk a quarter of a mile. At a slow pace. When you first joined the gym after the holidays, your New Year’s resolution to get in shape seemed impossible. You could only walk a few dozen paces before you tired out. Now you’re up to a quarter-mile. You’re getting better.

But you’re still out of shape.

You smoke cigarettes. Have for a while. You’re trying to get off the coffin nails, but it’s hard. You used to smoke two packs a day. Now you’re down to one. By spring you hope to be down to a half-pack. You’re doing better.

But you’re still a smoker.

That’s the feeling some of us had when we read the story in the paper late last month about the remediation rate at Arkansas’ colleges. The number of students in this state who started college last year unprepared for the work has dropped from 2011. And it’s not the first year that’s happened. There has been a steady decline in the number of those who need remedial courses over the years. Last year, the number of kids needing some extra attention dropped to the lowest it’s been since memory runneth not to the contrary.

But still, nearly half of all those entering college still need those remediation courses. Improvement is being made, sure. But the state’s public K-12 education system is an awful long way from where it needs to be. In this regard, the state is up to a quarter of a mile on the ol’ treadmill. But still out of shape.

“Only” 47.8 percent of students who started college in the fall of last year needed remedial courses, according to the latest figures. But that’s still forty seven-point-eight percent.

Yes, 47.8 percent of high schoolers graduate but can’t get a 19 on one of the three main parts of the ACT test. Which means they have to take noncredit courses in college before they can dip into the regular curriculum.

Those remedial courses don’t count toward graduation, but at least they cost the same as the ones for credit.

We don’t want to rain on anybody’s parade. The state is improving in this regard. But let’s not start planning any ticker-tape parades, either.

CALVIN JOHNSON is the interim chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, the school with the highest percentage of students assigned to remedial classes. Even though some say it shouldn’t be the college’s job to teach things the students should have learned in high school, he accepts that responsibility. (Somebody has to.) To quote the chancellor:

“It’s a challenge for us, but that’s our mission, and we feel good when we are able to get those students on track.”

Bless you, Calvin Johnson. Bless you, and bless all the college faculty across the state. Especially those who are helping struggling kids.

But teaching remedial classes really shouldn’t be a college’s job. And wouldn’t be if the K-12 schools were doing their job, and the kids theirs.

If you agree that it’s unacceptable that nearly half of those entering college in Arkansas aren’t ready for it, then consider this: That 47.8 percent only includes those who want to go to college in the first place. What about all those kids who graduate from high school with no thought of college? What if their ACT scores were added up, too? That could be a whole lot of kids that a whole lot of schools are failing.

Somebody remind us again why the status quo in K-12 schools is just fine, and that the state shouldn’t take chances with charter schools, vouchers, teacher testing, competition and a simpler, more transparent way to grade schools and school districts.

On second thought, don’t remind us. We’re still trying to keep this editorial positive.

After all, the state is making progress in remediation.

Decimal point by decimal point.

Editorial, Pages 10 on 02/11/2013

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