The perecentges of incoming students from each of McHenry County College's high school district who have to take remedial math.
You can see the data above.
But, just to make sure people can use a search engine to find out how well each McHenry County College high school prepares its students who attend McHenry County College in math, I’ll type the results below:
- Harvard – 69%
- Johnsburg – 63%
- Woodstock – 52%
- Richmond-Burton – 51%
- Alden-Hebron 50%
- Marengo – 56%
- McHenry – 47%
- Crystal Lake, Cary-Grove – 47%
- Huntley – 46%
The sign on the wall inside Marengo High School says, "Where learning is value and excellence is the standard.",
Huntley High School does best in preparing McHenry County College students for college math.
“Only” 46% need remedial assistance.
What is going on when the best a high school district can do is 46%?
How did these incoming MCC students get out of high school?
I am sure there is some explanation. Please share it or them in the comment section.
It’s not a total surprise, however, it isn’t a statistic the schools like to shout out as they do if there’s a good bump in reading.
All is beautiful. See the light. Rose colored glasses.
It gets votes for referendums and higher teacher and administrative compensation and benefits.
This data and your analysis is meaningless, since you are only using numbers from a single college. Add to that, you are using data from a community college, where many students attend to raise their grades before they attend a 4-year institution.
What about the other 86% of Huntley High School graduates? Or all the other high schools you listed?
This article is a shameful example of only using the data that supports your point, and purposely misleads the public. It does nothing to actually address the issues.
I am not surprised in the least the For Dee and Alan commented on this article, since she and her cohorts are notorious for this type of misrepresentation of the full story.
I have no data, but history tells me the lower achieving students usually do go to a junior college while all the higher achieving students are off to the big leagues. There are multiple reasons for this phenomenon. Nothing is simple. But let’s not just be talking heads. I am willing to help. email dbrierton@comcast.net if you have a student that needs tutoring to achieve higher scores on the subjects they struggle with.
Come on Jack! This supports completely the reason why all teachers make to much money, have too many benefits, and are otherwise overvalued in society….doesn’t it?
The problem with this article is not inaccurate reporting…more that the statistics involved are incomplete. We are not talking about the statistics of all the graduates from these high schools. For example, Alden-Hebron only had 8 graduates enroll. Of those 8, 4 had to take remedial math which makes the statistic 50%. But what about the other graduates of Alden-Hebron. Where did they go?
According to a recent Sun-Times article, over one third of students entering higher education need remedial help. ” While most four-year private and public universities offer remediation, the bulk of remedial work is done by community colleges, whose doors are open to anyone with a high school diploma or GED.” (Spak, K. 2011) The article is interesting and I believe that it’s crucial our children have the skills needed to enter college or university but that is something that needs to be corrected by more than just teachers. It needs to start with the curriculumn organization. There also needs to be a very clear understanding between colleges, universities, and high schools of what the requirements are.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/5189336-464/college-can-be-a-rude-remedial-awakening.html?print=true
Come on Jack! This supports completely the reason why all teachers make to much money, have too many benefits, and are otherwise overvalued in society….doesn’t it?
The problem with this article is not inaccurate reporting…more that the statistics involved are incomplete. We are not talking about the statistics of all the graduates from these high schools. For example, Alden-Hebron only had 8 graduates enroll. Of those 8, 4 had to take remedial math which makes the statistic 50%. But what about the other graduates of Alden-Hebron. Where did they go?
According to a recent Sun-Times article, over one third of students entering higher education need remedial help. ” While most four-year private and public universities offer remediation, the bulk of remedial work is done by community colleges, whose doors are open to anyone with a high school diploma or GED.” (Spak, K. 2011) The article is interesting and I believe that it’s crucial our children have the skills needed to enter college or university but that is something that needs to be corrected by more than just teachers. It needs to start with the curriculumn organization. There also needs to be a very clear understanding between colleges, universities, and high schools of what the requirements are. The curricula need to all be aligned for the system to be efficient to our students.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/5189336-464/college-can-be-a-rude-remedial-awakening.html?print=true
The data is not meaningless or misleading. The data represents real people who need help, and specifically states the high schools and college involved. Why do these children need remedial math?
A question I have is, what is remedial or developmental math? What is the name of the class at MCC? What’s in that class? Algebra?
If a student states they are preparing for college, why is the student not able to get through the remedial/developmental math in HS?
In my district teachers offer to tutor students for a fee during the school year, before or after school, at the school. The collective bargaining agreement states the number of hours a teacher is required to work, and what hours the teacher is required to be at school.
When a kid gets a C in Math in D158, he/she should be able to get into a local community college without having to take remedial math.
Seen it, know it and watched it happen.
Maybe I have high standards but isn’t a C somewhere in the 60% range which makes it a low grade? (I went to school in Ontario and that was what a C is). To me, I would think that a C would signal that the student did not do well in the course therefore meaning that they need to have the course content reviewed in order to continue their education at a higher level.
To have a grade of C may be enough to allow you to graduate but it may not be enough to allow you to thrive in a HIGHER education classroom. College and university should be more demanding intellectually and require grades or review of materials that reflects that increased demand. There are still students out there who choose to graduate high school but don’t continue on to higher education so for them, just obtaining their GED is enough for them and a C allows them that. For those who want to continue on with their education, they need to work on their skills and become more adept at the skills required for college or university. Maybe a C should not be good enough.
The district sets the standards for the grades or does so at the edict of others in the industry. The district needs to know what it has to reach and teach and needs to be in touch with the local colleges. Social promotion still continues despite the fact it doesn’t work.
No one wants to talk about it. It is what it is.
A “C” in which math class? Algebra?
If you do well in homework yet get D’s on tests, you could in most cases probably get a C in the class.
I would not be an advocate of allowing such students to skip remedial math in college.
Another point. It’s not always, of course, a fault in teaching. There are some students who are simply not motivated or other factors (home problems, relationship problems, substance abuse) that prevent them from getting good grades, yet the enroll in MCC anyways.
I teach in a local high school and spent a day at MCC to find out about their requirements, pre-test, etc. Students that earn a 25 or better on the ACT do not have to take the placement test. Very few 25s or better are going to MCC. I don’t have specific numbers, but I do a lot of work with ACT and college prep and know this. A student with a 23 on the ACT is considered college-ready and 75% of 23s earn a B average in college classes. Unfortunately they may have to take remedial classes at MCC. The placement test was much more difficult than I thought it was going to be, but MCC is not going to change it. The reason? Students that have to take a remedial class to get into Math 101 (for example) have to pay twice as much to get to the same point in their education.