Ohio’s colleges and universities establish remediation-free standards

COLUMBUS — Ohio’s public colleges and universities recently issued uniform statewide standards for students to be considered remediation-free for college-level English, writing, math and science.

Approximately 41 percent of all public high school students entering a public college or university in the state are currently taking at least one remedial course in English or math.

Effort

The report comes as part of the state’s effort to reduce the number of college- and career-bound students who need non-credit-bearing remedial courses before they can begin their credit-bearing work.

“We currently have too many students graduating from Ohio high schools who are not ready to enter the work place or be successful in non-remedial college coursework,” said Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Jim Petro.

“These uniform standards will help make it clear to students, parents and educators exactly what is needed to be considered remediation-free at any Ohio public college and university.”

The remediation-free standards and thresholds are not intended to replace college and university admissions policies; any admitted student who has earned remediation-free status in a subject will be eligible to enroll in a college credit-bearing course in that subject.

Placement tests

However, colleges and universities may still require placement examinations to determine the entering course that provides a student the best opportunity to succeed in his/her program of study.

Recent data (2010 and 2011) shows that 41 percent of Ohio public high school students moving directly into Ohio’s public colleges and universities were required to take remedial courses upon arriving on university and college campuses.

Remedial course work for Ohio high school graduates is a problem that persists across rural, urban, suburban, high-poverty and low-poverty school districts. Even some of Ohio’s highest-rated school districts still face double-digit remediation rates for their graduates.

“We have to do a better job of preparing our student for post-secondary education and career training,” said Michael Sawyers,acting superintendent of public instruction.

“Too many students are graduating from high school with too few options. Students need to be prepared to succeed at the next level whether that be college or career training. Establishing a uniform and clear target for Ohio’s high school students, parents, educators and administrators will help deal with this.”