CSU SEEKS TO REDUCE REMEDIAL CLASSES\Revised proposal would phase in tougher requirements.

Byline: Mary Beth Alexander Daily News Staff Writer

High school graduates entering the California State University system would be better prepared for college-level math and English courses under a proposal being considered this week by the CSU Board of Trustees.

Under the proposal, university officials will work with elementary school, community college and other state higher education systems to reduce by 90 percent the number of first-time freshmen needing remedial courses by the year 2007.

"If we achieve that, we will have done something nobody else has done," said Charles Lindhall, CSU associate vice chancellor of academic affairs.

CSU studies show 47 percent of new CSU freshmen lack college-level math skills, and 41 percent need help in English.

The proposal, to be discussed by the trustees Wednesday, sets a series of goals, including two before the ultimate goal in 2007. The first is for a 10 percent reduction in five years in the number of freshmen needing basic math and English courses. Three years later, such courses would be needed by only half the number who took them in the mid-1990s.

The plan is less strict than one introduced last summer, which would have denied admission, starting in 2001, to first-time freshmen who didn't meet basic-skills requirements.

Some opponents of the original plan say they are pleased with the updated version.

"It's realizing the need to better prepare students," said Marc Levine, Cal State Northridge's student body president, who spoke out against the first proposal. "That doesn't happen by eliminating remedial education; it happens by instructing them better."

The CSU subcommittee on remedial education revised the proposal after it held a series of public hearings throughout the state last fall.

About 700 people attended the hearings. Many argued strongly against the plan because they said it would unfairly penalize students, including a large portion of minority students, schooled in poor communities.

"We had to back off what was perceived to be very draconian measures," said Ralph Pesqueira, committee chairman.

An advisory committee will take steps toward meeting the goals as soon as the board accepts he policy, Pesqueira said.

Those steps include forming the partnership with other education systems to define academic standards for high school graduates; reviewing and improving elementary teacher-training programs; providing early assessment of college-bound students; more effectively communicating requirements for entry into the university, and reviewing assessment tests and placement exams.

Trustees agree the plan will require an intensive effort on CSU's part, as well as help from the state's community colleges, the University of California and, most importantly, California's education department.

"I think the devil is in the details," said Trustee William D. Campbell. "I feel we should do everything we can and take all the appropriate steps in trying to educate students better."

CSU officials began looking in 1993 for ways to reverse the dismal trend in which increasing numbers of high school graduates were ill-prepared when entering the university.

Pesqueira said the issue really wasn't new, though. In fact, CSU in the past 20 years had tried repeatedly to improve the preparation of students entering the system by increasing admission requirements.

Pesqueira said admissions standards were raised in the early 1970s, then most recently in 1984, when a second year of algebra was required.

But officials said the problem seemed to get worse after class sizes increased because of budget cuts, and there was an influx of students whose primary language is not English.

Pesqueira said the issue has gained more attention, and that the time is perfect for an aggressive plan.

"The window of opportunity is there. The big difference between this (plan) and the ones in the past, is the mood is there," Pesqueira said.

Ultimately, Pesqueira said, the goal is to remove all need for remedial education classes in CSU schools, which could save the 22-campus system $10 million a year.