New college admissions criteria for Louisiana students
March 11th, 2008
Toward the overall goal of more students graduating from Louisiana universities — and doing so at a faster rate — the newly approved college admissions criteria are a positive step forward .. reports The Times – Shreveport – Bossier City, LA.
Too many underprepared students assigned to too many remedial courses or struggling in initial courses end up contributing to dismal college graduation rates. The return on investment, for both the Louisiana student and the taxpayer, wouldn’t garner anyone’s star rating.
Congratulations to the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for adopting its “Core 4″ high school curriculum and to the Louisiana Board of Regents for aligning with BESE to strengthen admissions requirements for all Louisiana public four-year universities.
The new criteria mean that in order to qualify for public college admission, Louisiana high school graduates in 2012 and thereafter must complete a core of courses that includes 19 units, a 1.5-unit increase. That includes four units of the “Core 4″: English, mathematics, science and social studies. The Regents upped the total number of math and science credits, added a unit of approved social science and allowed the option of two units of specially designed speech courses, which could be used in place of the current foreign language requirement. The board also banished the half-unit computer literacy requirement, a useful move that acknowledges the now-pervasive presence of computers in our society.
There has been concern about additional math requirements exacerbating dropout rates for students who aren’t college bound, giving urgency to those advocating dual tracks as part of a high school redesign.>> Read more
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