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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Former church camp staff member faces sex abuse charges Emergency services Public meetings for Dec. 8-12, 2014 Eagle Point superintendent invited to White House Medford plans to pack more people inside its borders Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Former church camp staff member faces sex abuse charges Emergency services OSP seizes more than 37 pounds of cocaine in I-5 stop near Ashland Elderly Medford man dies following Friday crash Emergency services Politics and Elections GMO labeling votes recounted under careful watch in Jackson County Kent Bush: First Amendment doesn’t mean what you think it means East Medford's the charm Pot, GMOs unite south Jackson County Buckley again named Ways and Means Committee co-chairman Education Eagle Point superintendent invited to White House Eagle Point secures perimeter of Table Rock Elementary with new fence Medford school administrators get pay boost Students put their hearts into AIDS event Kitzhaber calls for early education spending in budget proposal Environment Bighorn sheep reintroduced along Klamath River Jackson County judge dismisses one Mt. View Paving case Advisory warns of blue-green algae bloom at Lost Creek Lake County calls for local control of federal lands Most dredging banned under new proposed guidelines State News Cover Oregon re-enrollment lags on federal website Bend hospital: Medication error killed patient Lawsuit: Pregnant woman fired for restroom breaks Ante for rulemaking on Oregon pot: nearly $600,000 Oregon Master Gardeners mum on legal pot Nation - World Grand jury won't indict Ferguson cop in shooting Obituaries Edwina Agnes Jenkins Marie B. (Aiken) Cory Davis Stella Demo Geraldine Frances Ritchie Weather Photo Galleries Since You Asked Videos Web Cams Mail Tribune 100 Sports Latest Stories No. 15 SOU men pull upset of No. 10 Concordia No. 1 'Cats take down No. 6 Texas Riley receives warm welcome from Cornhuskers Just like that, Riley era begins at Nebraska Bettendorf leads Ducks into final 16 Varsity 541 College Sports No. 15 SOU men pull upset of No. 10 Concordia No. 1 'Cats take down No. 6 Texas Riley receives warm welcome from Cornhuskers Just like that, Riley era begins at Nebraska Bettendorf leads Ducks into final 16 Pro Sports Aldridge, Lillard lead Blazers past Pacers, 88-82 Murray, Romo lead Cowboys over Bears, 41-28 Woods stumbles to a 77 in his return 76ers avoid worst start in history Cowboys look to bounce back against Bears Community Sports Keeping Fit: Runners need to do more than run to stay in shape RESULTS/STANDINGS LOCAL EVENTS Business Latest Stories Jackson County judge dismisses one Mt. View Paving case Blog: A Time for Tradition SOU business students seek research projects Downtown property owners would fund economic development district in Medford MBA candidates lend their talents to clients for free Real Estate News More sales, but no change in residential housing median price Dear Monty: Violation of HOA rules creates conflict Farmers file suit over GMO crop ban Financial webinars offered for veterans and their families People In Business People in Business, Dec. 3 People in Business, Nov. 18 People in Business, Nov. 8 Transportation Allegiant Air will resume Medford-Phoenix service May 22 Medford airport passenger counts sky high in October Erickson reports third quarter profit Agriculture Southern Oregon wine industry had a robust 2013 Farmers file suit over GMO crop ban Lawsuit seeks to overturn Jackson County's GMO ban or net $4.2 million for farms Latest count shows Measure 92 supporters narrowing deficit Opinion Latest Amy Gehrt: Time to admit there’s a problem with our justice system Our View: Oregon budget should plan for rain Letters to the Editor, Dec. 5 Granlund cartoon: Justice and Eric Garner Kent Bush: Do you want fries with that sermon? Editorials Our View: Oregon budget should plan for rain Our View: Cheers and jeers Our View: Stay flexible on kindergarten hours Our View: Waiting for someone else to step up Our View: What's in a name? Not that much, really Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor, Dec. 5 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 4 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 3 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 2 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 1 Guest Opinions Guest Opinion: It's time Oregon put a price on carbon Guest Opinion: Are we the preferred path to global devastation? Guest Opinion: Fight for the rights of independent voters will continue Guest Opinion: 'Natural' not necessarily better for forest management Guest Opinion: County voters rebuffed judicial appointment process Lifestyle Latest stories Stylish on the Snow Duck stamp increase closer to reality Over hill and dale along I-5 Fishing report: Friday, Dec. 5, 2014 Looking Up: The Man in the Moon looks your way Food Community blog: Merry Christmas 10 Barrel! (Big Brewery vs Small Independent Brewer) Community blog: Lentil cooking water doubles as soup stock 'Amazing' Soup Roxy Ann winemaker has roots in Napa Valley Community blog: Post-holiday soups easy on the budget, waistline Home and Garden Troubleshoot common water boiler problems Dear Monty: Ten helpful home-listing tips Home Help: Luxurious upgrades don’t have to break the bank 9 ways to green your gift wrap Dear Monty: How to find a good real estate attorney Health Dr. Murray Feingold: Say it like you mean it Community blog: Guiltless Holidays Better for our Health HealthStyle: Develop an attitude of gratitude Health Watch: Fuel up on carbs before workouts Health insurance enrollment help available Hiking Biking Faith Religion news: Pope aims to expedite sex abuse rulings Religion news: Seattle-based mega-church dissolves Religion Briefs 'Walk the talk' Religion briefs Milestones and Achievements Hire 'em and pray for snow Madi-Stiles A New Song Rogers-Horn New Arrivals Columnist for a Day Rogue Healthy Aging Tempo Latest stories Ooblies Artisan Waffle Sandwiches Bedford Falls comes to life at Randall SOU presents all-percussion concert Soroptimist holiday home tour features four houses this weekend Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhiits by regional artists Theater Bedford Falls comes to life at Randall Camelot presents 'Fiddler on the Roof' OCT's holiday show is a wonderful play New 'Alice' has some for kids ... and adults 'It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play' opens at Oregon Cabaret Theatre Music SOU presents all-percussion concert Shae Johnson releases 'Can You Feel the Music' Jeff Kloetzel releases 'Long Time Coming' A new guitar slinger in town Peter Chianca: Top 40 songs even a dad could love Community Events Soroptimist holiday home tour features four houses this weekend Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhiits by regional artists 2014 Providence Festival of Trees A grand illumination at the Commons Lighting up memories Dining Ooblies Artisan Waffle Sandwiches Brunch at Loft Brasserie The Bohemian Club Thanksgiving comes early at Taprock Word of Mouth: Brunch at Brothers' Restaurant Tempo Videos Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Blogs TV Listings Movie Listings Oregon Outdoors Oregon Healthy Living Magazines & Special Sections NEWS NOW Medford plans to pack more people inside its borders ... Bighorn sheep reintroduced along Klamath River ... OSP seizes more than 37 pounds of cocaine in I-5 stop near Ashland ... Medford plans to pack more people inside its borders ... Bighorn sheep reintroduced along Klamath River ... OSP seizes more than 37 pounds of cocaine in I-5 stop near Ashland ... EDUCATION Half of Oregon's community college enrollees need remedial classes By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Nov. 2, 2014 @ 12:01 am Updated Nov 2, 2014 at 5:55 PM By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Nov. 2, 2014 @ 12:01 am Updated Nov 2, 2014 at 5:55 PM --> College readiness benchmarks Percentage of 2014 high school graduates meeting ACT benchmarks ;English;Reading;Math;Science;All subjects Oregon;67;49... » Read more X College readiness benchmarks Percentage of 2014 high school graduates meeting ACT benchmarks ;English;Reading;Math;Science;All subjects Oregon;67;49;47;40;30 U.S.;64;44;43;37;26 Note: The ACT college readiness benchmarks represent the level of achievement required for a student to have a 50 percent chance of getting a B or higher or about a 75 percent chance of getting a C or higher in credited, freshman college classes. Thirty-six percent of Oregon's 2014 high school graduates took the ACT college readiness assessment. » Social News About two years ago, Earl Hills, 37, was taking SK8 — now Math 20 — at Rogue Community College and learning to calculate eighth-grade equations. But Thursday morning in the college’s tutoring center, Hills was studying derivatives for a calculus lab assignment in Math 251. “I had to take six or seven (remedial courses) to get to where I am right now,” Hills said. Hills graduated from a local high school in 1997. When he took his placement test at RCC in 2012, he was assigned to the lowest-level classes in math, reading and writing. “I didn’t mind starting at the bottom because I wanted to learn the fundamentals and the stuff I’d forgotten,” he said. Hills took several semesters of remedial or developmental education classes — below the 100 level — before he was prepared for college-level coursework that would count toward the Associate of Science degree he hopes to get from Southern Oregon University. Hills is one of many students to endure this educational limbo. More than half of Oregon high school graduates enrolling in an Oregon community college have to take remedial classes that may not count toward their degree or be covered by financial aid but are necessary to prepare them for college-level classes. Between 2004 and 2011, 76 percent of Southern Oregon high school graduates who enrolled at RCC placed in at least one remedial class, said RCC spokesman Grant Walker, citing a Regional Education Laboratory Northwest study. “And that number has remained pretty steady over the last five years,” Walker said. The disparity between what students are required to know when they graduate from high school and what they need to know to be successful in college has caught the attention of educators and lawmakers, who are working toward a solution, said Oregon Department of Education spokeswoman Crystal Greene. “Basically, the standards in K-12 schools aren't aligned with college and career readiness, so kids are graduating not ready for college-level classes or even a career,” Greene said. In recent years, Oregon has increased its graduation requirements, adopted the more rigorous Common Core standards and encouraged students to take Advanced Placement classes and maintain full class loads through their senior year in hopes of improving student outcomes, Greene said. Since 2013, a statewide work group has been meeting to examine current educational policies and practices in Oregon and form recommendations of ways to ensure student success in college. Called the Developmental Education Redesign Work Group, it will present its findings to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission and the Oregon Community College Presidents’ Council. Earlier this year as part of the work group, Michelle Hodara, a senior researcher with Education Northwest, conducted research on developmental education participation and the outcomes of Oregon high school graduates in Oregon community colleges. According to Hodara’s research, 64 percent of Oregon high school students who graduated between spring 2005 and spring 2011 and entered an Oregon community college between fall 2005 and spring 2012 enrolled in developmental classes, with most students needing math remediation. Of the Oregon graduates who started in a community college between 2005 and 2008, only 17 percent — about 12,018 students — were ready for college-level math. Nearly 10 percent started in Math 95; about 30 percent started in Math 60, 65 or 70; and 18 percent in Math 10 or 20. Of the students who started in Math 10 or 20, only 3 percent had earned a certification, 4 percent had earned an associate degree and 5 percent had earned a four-year degree by 2012. “The lower students start in developmental education, the less likely they are to persist," according to Hodara. Remedial classes, although credited at RCC, won’t transfer to a degree at a four-year university but are necessary to make progress toward that degree, said Kirk Gibson, RCC’s vice president of instruction. However, those credits do count toward requirements for some technical programs offered through RCC, Gibson said. In recent years, RCC has made an effort to reduce the number of remedial classes in each subject so students complete the sequences sooner and can move on to general education classes. “Research is very clear that the longer a student is in developmental ed, the less likely the student is to get out of it,” Gibson said. The college also has been working closely with its K-12 partners at the state and local levels to better define outcomes and expectations, and “hopefully, make students more successful at all levels,” Gibson said. “The expectations are different at the high school level than in college,” he said. “For example, you can take algebra over a year in high school, whereas here it’s taught in a quarter.” Fewer remedial classes are offered at the university level. SOU offers three math classes below the 100 level. All three are available for credit but do not count toward the 180 credits needed to graduate, said SOU spokesman Ryan Brown. However, there has been a slight downward trend in those classes at the university level in recent years, with 115 students in remedial math class in fall 2011, 106 in fall 2012, 75 in 2013 and 80 this fall, Brown said. Bob Kieran, director of institutional research for the Oregon University System, said some students may not need to take remedial classes but do it to get a higher GPA, while a small percentage of students may place in a lower-level class but convince a faculty member that they can pass a college-level class. “The thing colleges have to wrestle with is either lowering admission requirements and letting you in, or maintaining their high standards and cutting you off,” Kieran said. Out of the class of 2012, 68 South Medford High School students and 83 North Medford High School students started at an Oregon public university during the 2012-13 academic year. Of those students, 15 from South and three from North took remedial classes, according to OUS’s freshmen profile. Kieran said the ironic thing is that kids seem to be graduating from high school with better grades and GPAs, while their SAT scores have remained relatively flat. Nearly half — about 47.9 percent — of the students in Oregon’s class of 2014 took the SAT exam, offered through the College Board. Of those students, 47.8 percent met the SAT college and career readiness benchmark score of 1550 out 2400 possible points. The benchmark is associated with a 65 percent probability of obtaining a B- or higher in a freshman college class. During the 2013-14 school year, 196 North Medford and 164 South Medford students took the SATs, averaging a score of 1473 and 1452, respectively. A smaller percentage — about 36 percent — of the students in Oregon’s class of 2014 took the ACT exam. Of those students, 67 percent met college-readiness benchmarks in English, 49 percent in reading, 47 percent in math, 40 percent in science and 30 percent in all four subjects. So far, about 70 students from North and South Medford high schools have taken the ACTs this year. “What kids accomplish in high school now compared to 10 years ago, the expectation and the level of rigor has gone up exponentially,” said South Medford Assistant Principal Donnie Frazier. “I don’t buy that fewer and fewer kids are prepared for college. We are helping kids get into college and have more post-secondary options than ever before,” he added. In 2013, 32 percent of Medford School District high school students enrolled in a four-year college and 22 percent enrolled in a two-year college within a year of graduating. Tabbitha Kukert, 22, didn't graduate from high school but got her GED in 2012. Her classes this fall, her first semester at RCC, include Math 20, Reading 30 and Writing 20. “It’s what I got on my placement,” she said. Kukert has to take one more remedial reading class and several more remedial math classes to get to college classes. From there she hopes to earn a bachelor’s degree in medical imaging technology. “I wasn't disappointed with what I got,” she said. “I skipped school. I got the classes that I know I need.” Reach reporter Teresa Thomas at 541-776-4497 or [email protected]. Follow her at www.twitter.com/teresathomas_mt. By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Teresa Thomas Mail Tribune Posted Nov. 2, 2014 @ 12:01 am Updated Nov 2, 2014 at 5:55 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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