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- Written by: California Community Colleges
“We are ending remedial education as it has existed for decades,” Board of Governors President Tom Epstein said. “Research shows that students are far more prepared than assessment tests have acknowledged. A student’s high school performance is a much stronger predictor of success in transfer-level courses than standardized placement tests.”
The Monday action establishes requirements for colleges to fully comply with a new state law, Assembly Bill 705 by Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin, D-Thousand Oaks, that effectively eliminates unreliable placement tests to determine students’ math and English skills and whether they are ready for college-level work.
Those placement tests result in more than two-thirds of new students being classified as unprepared for college-level work, with low-income students and students of color disproportionately placed in remedial classes and not completing remedial course sequences.
Assembly Bill 705, which took effect Jan. 1, 2018, mandates that colleges rely on high school coursework, high school grades and high school grade point average – metrics that research shows are far more accurate in assessing a student’s abilities. The bill requires the California Community Colleges system to be compliant by fall of 2019.
Students cannot be placed in remedial classes unless they are highly unlikely to succeed in a transfer-level course and enrolling in the remedial course would improve their likelihood of completing a college-level course within just one year.
In addition, students must be informed of their rights to access transfer-level coursework in English and mathematics. Some colleges began moving toward reform before AB 705 was introduced in 2017.
“The research is overwhelmingly clear in showing how low-income and minority students are significantly more likely to be wrongly placed in remedial classes, creating a chain of events that contribute to stubborn equity gaps,” said Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley. “These changes constitute a major step toward in meeting the commitments and goals set forth in the California Community Colleges Vision for Success.”
Oakley’s comments came before delivering his annual the State of the System report, which details progress toward meeting the Vision for Success goals. The report shows the total number of credentials awarded last year increasing slightly, transfers to University of California and California State University continuing an upward trend, and gains in the number of students who report they became employed in their chosen field of study.
The California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation, composed of 73 districts and 115 colleges serving 2.1 million students per year.
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- Written by: Crystal Quezada
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – With the end of the school year approaching it may be a good idea to start thinking about looking into college.
Julie Colfax, a counselor for various schools in our district, is offering college counseling on Mondays. It is a great way to have an insight on the process to get into college, make a plan and, in addition, gain high school elective credits.
A seafood boil was hosted on Friday, Feb. 22, and Saturday, Feb. 23. This event was a great opportunity for students to gain community service hours, which are required for graduation.
Marco Perez, Hunter Kaher, Kelsielee Kaher and Jose Carrillo attended and helped volunteer at this event. Carlé’s secretary Angie Harris was one of the youth coordinators and helped bring this volunteer opportunity to our school.
Carlé was under review by Amy Blackstone and Carol Holtz, both part of the Western Association for Schools and Colleges, otherwise known as WASC, on Feb. 25 and 26. They observed all our classrooms, collected data and interviewed various stakeholders of our school.
Once this is done they submit their gathered information to the state, which will communicate with our principal and district on feedback and goals. This gives Carlé the accreditation required to make our diploma valid and be recognized as a fully qualified high school diploma and is up to par with California standards.
“Carlé is a really positive place. You can tell students feel safe and secure, and are provided with good education,” said Blackstone.
“The staff is passionate about their students and want to see them succeed. This school has some of the best behaved students I’ve seen,” Holtz said.
Thank you to both woman for such positive feedback! It means a lot to both students and staff of Carlé. Carlé had been awarded the highest accreditation possible a full six-year term.
To show our appreciation for the WASC visit, student Marisa Wynn made special mugs for Amy Blackstone and Carol Holtz. In other news, Sami Strowbridge made aprons for Chef Robert Cabreros and Chef Anne-Marie of Woodland college. A special shout out to Wynn, Strowbridge and the rest of the students in media class for helping us give back to our community.
We also want to thank students Maria Griffith and Emily Nichols for bringing penny wars to our school in order to fund money for the 2019 graduation class. Every cent counts!
Congratulations to Maya Dittemore and Jason Alexander-Fata for being awarded students of the week!
Teacher Alan Siegel nominated Dittemore. “Maya is a phenomenal person, she does work even when she doesn't need the credit, and cares about her community. She sets up the bulletin every morning, and is an admirable person overall.” he said.
Lexi Fredericks nominated Alexander-Fata. “Jason is always working hard despite any distractions. He is always polite and kind with his interactions,” she said.
Crystal Quezada is a student at Carlé Continuation High School.
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- Written by: California Community Colleges
Nearly 40,000 students from 57 community colleges participated in the assessment of basic needs security released by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office and The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice.
“California’s community colleges are the primary driver of upward social and economic mobility for millions of residents,” said California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley. “This new report should serve as a call to action for fixing the state’s outdated financial aid system and expanding need-based assistance for community college students. No student should face hunger or homelessness. California must do better.”
Among the survey’s results:
• A combined 52 percent of students said they either couldn’t afford to eat balanced meals or worried whether their food would run out before having money to buy more.
• Forty-one percent of respondents reported that they skipped meals or ate smaller portions for financial reasons, and 12 percent said they had not eaten for an entire day during the previous month because they did not have enough money.
• Sixty percent of survey respondents said that in the previous year they had experienced housing insecurity, which includes an array of challenges that include an inability to pay rent or utilities, not having a place to stay or needing to move frequently.
• Homelessness, defined as not having a stable place to live, affected 19 percent of survey respondents. The majority temporarily stayed with a relative or friend or couch surfed.
• Thirty-two percent of students said they experienced a rent or mortgage increase that was difficult to meet, 28-percent could not pay the full cost of utilities and 28 percent could not meet their full rent or mortgage obligations.
• Overall, 7 in 10 students responding to the survey experienced food insecurity or housing insecurity or homelessness during the previous year.
“Students across California Community Colleges want degrees. This report demonstrates the importance of improving the distribution of need-based aid and creating supplementary supports, especially for students who cannot access aid,” said Sara Goldrick-Rab, founder, Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice.
The study’s authors drew a strong correlation between food and housing challenges and academic success. For example, students having trouble affording a meal had grades at a C or below at higher rates than students who did not experience food insecurity.
The #RealCollege Survey highlights the need for financial aid reform at the community college level. California’s community colleges offer among the least expensive tuition rates in the country at $46 per unit, but a student living independently must pay more than $20,000 annually when housing, transportation, textbooks and personal items are taken into account. A California community college student receiving the maximum amount of aid possible today still faces a deficit of more than $6,000 each year. And inequities in the current system mean community college students, who comprise about two-thirds of the state’s undergraduates, receive just 7 percent of Cal Grant funds.
Oakley and others say solutions include Senate Bill 291, introduced in February by state Sen. Connie M. Levya, D-Chino, which would establish a California Community College Student Financial Aid program that would base aid on the total cost of attendance, including housing, transportation and textbooks.
The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice is a Philadelphia-based nonprofit research center founded in 2013 that began as the Wisconsin HOPE Lab. Its studies have drawn a sharper public focus on how the rising costs of basic needs such as food and housing are making it more difficult for college students to concentrate on school.
The California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation, composed of 73 districts and 115 colleges serving 2.1 million students per year.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
SB 126 will ensure that, as public schools, all charter schools are responsible stewards of the public funds they receive.
The measure specifically ensures that charter school governing boards observe the same open meeting, conflict-of-interest, and disclosure laws as traditional public schools.
“For far too long, charter schools in California have been held to lower accountability and transparency standards than traditional public schools,” Sen. Leyva said. “By codifying the Attorney General’s recent advisory opinion related to charter schools, SB 126 will ensure that all publicly funded schools – including charter schools – guarantee fair and open access to information. This measure also empowers parents to keep school leaders responsive and accountable. I thank Governor Newsom for his signature of SB 126 today, as well as his continued leadership in supporting public education in California. SB 126 is a historic win for students, parents, schools and communities.”
Under the Ralph M. Brown Act and the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, all meetings of a state body or a legislative body of a local agency must be open and public, with everyone being allowed to attend. The California Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to make their records publicly available. Government Code Section 1090 prohibits public officials from being financially interested in any contract made by them in their official capacity, or by any body or board of which they are members.
“The passage of SB 126 is long overdue. It is a good government bill that will ensure that schools are learning centers, not profit centers. Transparency requirements and common ethical practices will now apply to all public dollars that go to public schools. I thank the Governor for taking leadership on this bill and look forward to working with him on additional charter reform leading to student success and taxpayer accountability,” noted Assemblymember O’Donnell.
There has been a longstanding debate over whether charter school board members are subject to the same open meeting, public disclosure, and conflict-of-interest requirements that school district board members already comply with under state law. The California Office of the Attorney General recently published an advisory opinion stating that good government laws apply to charter school governing boards.
While the attorney general’s opinion greatly influences the debate about whether or not these laws apply to charter school governing boards, the opinion is not legally binding on courts, agencies, or individuals. SB 126 will codify the attorney general’s opinion and settle how these laws apply to charter schools.
Taking effect on Jan. 1, 2020, SB 126 was supported by the American Civil Liberties Union of California, American Federation Of State, County And Municipal Employees, Council 57, Association Of California School Administrators, California Association of School Business Officials, California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, California Federation of Teachers, California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, California NAACP, California School Boards Association, California State PTA, California Teachers Association, Kern County Superintendent Of Schools, League of Women Voters of California, Public Advocates Inc., Riverside County Office of Education, San Diego Unified School District, San Francisco Unified School District, School Employers Association Of California, Service Employees International Union California and Small School Districts Association.