Today, Governor Jerry Brown announced the signing of AB 705, which changes the way that community college students are placed in remedial courses at all 114 of California’s Community Colleges.
“Recent studies have shown that too many of California’s students are being placed in remedial courses when they don’t need to be,” said Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin. “This bill will use the best of multiple measures to help place students in courses, which will save students time and money while they are attending community colleges. I’m glad that Governor Brown agrees that California needs this legislation.”
Assembly Bill 705 determines that high school transcripts as well as placement tests will be used when deciding which courses students should be placed in. For students who are placed into developmental courses, colleges may provide additional support to ensure that they complete courses used for transfer or toward a degree within one year.
A recent PPIC study found that 80% of students entering Community College enroll in at least on remedial level course in English, math, or both. A majority of these students are minority students who, because of long sequences of remedial courses, tend to have a higher dropout rates than those who place into transfer-level courses. In fact, developmental courses are considered to be one of the largest impediments to student success in California’s community colleges because of the added time needed to complete these courses, increased cost to students, and psychological effect of not feeling challenged by the coursework.
Multiple measures programs have been implemented in other states with great success. There have been multiple studies, including some locally that have shown lower success rates for students that were placed in remedial English or math courses.
Earlier this year, AB 705 passed through the Assembly (79-0) and the Senate (40-0).