MINORITY SCHOLARS RISING TO TOP UNIVERSITY ELIGIBILITY RATES SOAR FOR BLACKS, HISPANICS.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO - Latino and African-American students have made gains in meeting requirements to attend California's public colleges and universities, but still lag behind Asians and whites, according to a study released Wednesday.

Education officials said the state and local school districts have made more efforts in recent years to reach out to minority students and encourage them to meet the requirements for college, while teachers have changed some methods to fit minority students better.

``There are still inequities we have to deal with, but overall this is very good news,'' said Adrian Griffin, one of the researchers in the study of how many members of public high schools' Class of 2003 met the course and testing requirements to get into the University of California and California State University systems.

The study by the California Postsecondary Education Commission found that the rate of African-Americans who could meet University of California admission requirements more than doubled in seven years, while the Latino rate increased by 70 percent. Whites and Asians also gained, but by smaller proportions.

The report was issued as the California State University trustees decided on Wednesday to increase student fees by 14 percent as part of a budget deal with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

A University of California regents subcommittee deadlocked on the potential fee increase, which will be taken up by the full board today.

Since the previous similar study - on the Class of 1996 - the percentage of all students who are eligible for UC increased to 14.4 percent, up from 11.1 percent. The eligibility rate for the CSU system stayed virtually flat, dipping just slightly to 28.8 percent from 29.6 percent.

The goal in the state's master plan for higher education, crafted in 1960, is that UC select its students from the top 12.5 percent of public high school graduates and CSU select its freshman class from the top 33.3 percent.

A study of eligibility evaluates how well schools are preparing students to go to college, not how many will actually be admitted. Because of budget cuts, for the first time this year, the UC system is falling short of its goal of offering spots to all qualified high school seniors, even as higher-education tuition increases sharply.

The CSU trustees, meeting Wednesday in Long Beach, voted 10-1 in favor of a 14 percent student fee increase, leaving resident undergraduates paying more than $2,300 a year starting this fall, with nonresidents facing a 20 percent hike, bringing their cost to $10,170 a year.

The eligibility study was conducted by the admissions staff for the UC and CSU systems, evaluating 16,000 transcripts from students at 48 California schools representing the state's demographic variety.

Officials said there are several steps they have to pursue to continue closing the minority gap.

``Clearly better information is needed,'' said Murray Haberman, acting executive director of the California Postsecondary Education Commission. ``More students need to be informed as to what the requirements are. That starts very early on, well in advance of high school. Some would argue in elementary school or middle school is when students need to be advised.''

The Los Angeles Unified School District has been trying to boost teachers' understanding of how minority students learn and how to make the classroom environment more culturally relevant, said Deputy Superintendent Merle Price.

For example, instead of starting an English class with an analysis of Shakespeare's works, a teacher could use rap lyrics to introduce concepts such as metaphors and analogies, then use those concepts to study Shakespeare later in the class.

Or, rather than beginning a science class with a lesson on the ecosystem of the tundra, a teacher could start with an urban environment, discussing animals such as squirrels and coyotes, before moving on to an explanation of the tundra.

Previously, Price said, the school district's culture fostered a belief that minority students who were behind their white counterparts simply had problems learning and would never catch up.

``We turned that around to say these kids are highly capable,'' Price said. ``It's our issue to find the instructional practice, the pedagogy, the lessons and the things familiar to kids that we can build upon and they can (use to) achieve at the same level as Asian and white kids, and we're doing that.''

Today, an outside contractor will present a report to the school board on how well the district is implementing its African-American learner initiative and what it can do better. Among the report's recommendations, Price said, will be establishing better communication with parents and doing more to show teachers how to make teaching culturally relevant.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Harrison Sheppard, [phone]

harrison.sheppard(at)dailynews.com

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MAKING THE GRADE

Source: California Postsecondary Education Commission

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