STATE'S SCHOOLS GET MIXED GRADES.

Byline: Erik Nelson Staff Writer

California's public schools get a C- in preparing students for college, according to a report card being issued today by a national research group.

``Measuring Up 2000,'' from the San Jose-based National Center For Public Policy, also gave California an A grade for the affordability of its colleges. The state's poorest families need to put out only 4 percent of their income for community college, while Eastern educational bastions Massachusetts and New York make those families fork over 19 percent and 33 percent, respectively.

``When you have it at a lesser cost, it allows students more opportunities to experiment, to find things that they are really good at,'' said Mike Cornner, spokesman for Pierce College in Woodland Hills. That means the students find careers that are more satisfying, and thus more stable, he said, adding that such stability benefits the state economy in the end.

The state also scored a B+ in higher education's civic and economic benefits.

But the study, which uses 1998 data, found California high school students ill prepared for college. Only 20 percent of students took an upper-level science course and 36 percent took one upper-level math course.

``My immediate reaction is that such figures don't really surprise me,'' said Philip Rusche, dean of the College of Education at California State University, Northridge. ``Math and science and English, and probably other areas as well, across the nation need more attention. We need more students taking more course work in those areas, more sophisticated course work in those areas and a higher level of course work in those areas.''

Cornner noted evidence of the state's struggling preparation in the fact that only about 10 percent of Pierce's - and probably other community colleges' - entering students are proficient enough to take English 101.

But the reaction from the state Education Department was less philosophical.

``What this study does not take into account are recent enhancements over the past two years,'' said Doug Stone, spokesman for Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin.

In those years, the state has imposed a number of requirements on schools, such as standardized tests with financial incentives for improving them, a new high school exit exam and a requirement that middle school students take algebra.

He noted the study shows that 81 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds have a high school diploma or its equivalency.

``It's not where we want our young adults to be, but it's not as bad as some other parts of the country, either,'' Stone said.

Indeed, neighboring Oregon and four other states also rated a C- for preparing its high school students for college. Eleven of the 50 states scored lower than a C-, with Alabama and Louisiana scoring F's.

Local educators said the statewide results were predictable, but pointed to many recent improvements in learning programs.

``In some ways, it's not surprising, but I would be curious to see how our own LAUSD data would compare,'' said May Nae Lew, director of instructional services for the Los Angeles Unified School District's Northeast Valley local district.

For one thing, the district's scores on college preparatory advanced placement courses ``is generally higher than statewide,'' she said.

California also scored a B+ for participation, tied for ninth place with Massachusetts, with 38 percent of its 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled in college, compared with 43 percent in first-place North Dakota. The study used several measures in each category, such as using the rate of high school students enrolling in college within four years of graduation (43 percent in California) and the percentage of working-age adults enrolled in college part time (4.3 percent in California).

The report card gave the state a C in completion, noting that only 13 of 100 undergraduate students will actually earn a certificate or degree, compared with 20 nationwide.

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Box: REPORT CARD

SOURCE: The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education