Only 38% of San Diego Students get Government Classes to Qualify for College

Written by CA Political News on February 08, 2010, 11:31 AM

The Hurdles to College in San Diego

    voiceofsandiego.com, 2/6/10 

Why do only 38 percent of San Diego Unified students graduate with the classes needed to apply to the California State University and University of California systems? We delved into the issue last fall, talking to counselors and teachers at Lincoln High and other schools about the requirements. Now an outside nonprofit called the Education Trust West has taken a look at San Diego Unified to answer that same question.

The school board will discuss its findings in detail on Tuesday morning, but here are some interesting -- and sometimes troubling -- nuggets from their presentation, now available online:

    * Black and Latino students are significantly less likely than white students to meet the UC/CSU requirements when they graduate. Only 26 percent of black students and 30 percent of Latino students made the bar in 2007-2008, compared to 72 percent of white students.

    * Those numbers were even more dismal for English learners (5 percent) and students with disabilities (6 percent). Part of the problem for English learners is that separate English classes for them don't meet the college requirements. And while it might not seem surprising that students with severe cognitive disabilities might not be eligible, keep in mind that "students with disabilities" includes a wide range of teens that may have less severe impairments such as a learning disability.

    * English, math and science are the most frequent barriers to meeting the requirements, with 57 percent of students failing to meet the English requirements and 57 percent falling short in math.

    * Algebra was a stumbling block in math. If teens struggled with algebra, they rarely went any further in math. Math offerings also differed noticeably from school to school. One school had more than twice the percentage of advanced math classes as another, the report found, though it didn't name names.

    * Researchers wrote that San Diego Unified seems to have only two clear tracks: one to college and one away from it. Teens who start high school not headed to college rarely move into the college track. Students are "'getting by' with academic minimums and no clear pathways," the presentation states.

    * Overall, 64 percent of classes met the UC/CSU requirements. Most foreign language and arts classes met the bar, but only 1 percent of other electives did.