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>>> "Ganges, Tendaji" <[log in to unmask]> 3/24/2006 10:57 AM >>> People - California has just released a report entitled CALIFORNIA EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY REPORT: ROADBLOCKS TO COLLEGE. It's a powerful condemnation of the state of access and opportunity in California, particularly for students of color and those from low income communities. It is useful data that depicts the counterproductive and destructive impact of Ward Connerly's American Civil Rights Initiative and Proposition 209. I found the thumbnail notice of this report on the Chronicle of Higher Education News Blog. I've pasted in below the brief Executive Summary. For those who wish to access the full report, the URL for the full 21-page report is: http://idea.gseis.ucla.edu/publications/eor06/fullreport/pdf/EOR-2006. pdf <http://idea.gseis.ucla.edu/publications/eor06/fullreport/pdf/EOR-2006 .pdf> I'm not suggesting that most people will want or need to delve into the level of detail of the full report. But what IS important here is that there is such compelling evidence of the extreme and critical unmet needs of people of color and all students from low income circumstances. A question that might be posed to Wardell Connerly and his partners is what are they doing to address these severe needs...IF, as they say, they so very committed to equality and access?! The report is also a significant piece that we can use to convince Michigan legislators, educators, and anyone else who needs further evidence of the potential impact of the MCRI Constitutional Amendment, which I believe is now officially known as Proposition 06-2. Tendaji ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Voice & Voice Mail: 810-762-3365 Facsimile: 810-762-3190 Email: [log in to unmask] ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ California Students Face Roadblocks to College, Report Says <http://chronicle.com/news/article/152/california-students-face-roadbl ocks-to-college-report-says> Fewer than half of California's college-ready high-school graduates enroll as freshmen at four-year public colleges, and only about one-eighth of the students who entered a California high school in the fall of 2000 matriculated at one of the campuses of the University of California or California State University Systems after graduating, according to a report <http://www.ucla-idea.org> released today by researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles's Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access and at the University of California system's All Campus Consortium on Research for Diversity. California students face significant roadblocks to college, the report says. Among them are short supplies of high-school counselors, of high-school teachers who are properly trained for college-preparatory courses, and of college-preparatory courses themselves. The report provides statewide data, such as information about each high school's graduation and college-enrollment rates, and breakdowns of information by legislative districts. Posted on Wed Mar 22, 02:04 PM | Permalink <http://chronicle.com/news/article/152/california-students-face-roadbl ocks-to-college-report-says> | Comment <http://chronicle.com/news/article/152/california-students-face-roadbl ocks-to-college-report-says#comment> Source: Chronicle of Higher Education News Blog Date Site Visited: 032406 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ UCLA/IDEA & UC/ACCORD CALIFORNIA EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY REPORT: ROADBLOCKS TO COLLEGE Californians expect public schools to help all young people meet high academic standards, graduate from high school, and prepare for college. The demand for college preparation has grown dramatically in the past decades, and now, nine of every ten U.S. high school students intend to pursue postsecondary education.1 To monitor the quality of the state's public schools, California's public needs information about whether or not students are meeting these goals. It also needs to know if schools have the capacity to help students meet them. Are the necessary conditions in place for all students to be successful? Are there roadblocks in the way? The 2006 California Educational Opportunity Report provides new analyses of data about how well California's K-12 public schools are preparing students for college, and it compares California's schools with schools across the nation. For the first time, policymakers and parents can look across the state and see, for every high school, the relationships among California's educational infrastructure, rates of high school completion, and enrollment in the state's four-year colleges and universities. The results of these analyses are sobering: California students face significant roadblocks on their pathway to college. These roadblocks help explain why California sends fewer students to four-year colleges than most other states in the country. * A lack of counselors, teachers with adequate training, and college preparatory curriculum block the pathway to college for most California public school students. o California's high school counselors are responsible for more students than high school counselors in any other state. o California's high school teachers are responsible for more students than high school teachers in any other state, and more than a quarter of California high schools routinely assign improperly trained teachers to college prep courses. o More than one-half of California high schools offer too few college preparatory classes for all students to complete the college preparatory curriculum. * The roadblocks to college loom larger for students living in low-income communities of color. Every California community feels the effect of the state's educational crisis, but all communities don't suffer equally. Schools with high concentrations of students of color, many of whom are poor and learning the English language, report the highest rates of unqualified teachers and shortages of college preparatory courses in the state. These students are not given a fair and equal opportunity to learn. * The roadblocks to college have a common root cause: our state's failure to invest the necessary resources in education. California's per capita income is among the highest in the country, yet it has one of the lowest levels of educational spending. Adjusting for regional cost differences, California ranks 43rd among the states in education spending per student. The shortage of counselors, teachers, and college preparatory courses is a direct reflection of too few dollars going into the state's educational system. Schools with too few counselors, appropriately trained teachers, and college preparatory courses have a very poor record of success. UC/ACCORDALL CAMPUS CONSORTIUM ON RESEARCH FOR DIVERSITYINSTITUTE FOR DEMOCRACY, EDUCATION, AND ACCESSUC/ACCORDALL CAMPUS CONSORTIUM ON RESEARCH FOR DIVERSITY This report can be accessed online at http://www.EdOpp.org For further information, contact John Rogers, Associate Director, UCLA/IDEA phone: (310) 206-8725, fax: (310) 206-8770 [log in to unmask]