Student success rates at the Alamo Colleges are substandard in comparison to other Texas community colleges.

According to Chancellor Bruce Leslie, Palo Alto’s four-year completion/transfer rate, taken from 2003 student cohort data, is 4.6 percent, and the four Alamo Colleges that existed at the time-Northeast Lakeview College was added in 2008-have a collective average of 5 percent.

This compares to 13.4 percent at El Paso Community College and 22.4 percent on average at the five Lone Star Colleges in The Woodlands, Texas. Theorized contributing factors to this education dilemma vary. Many students and teachers believe that too much emphasis is being placed on passing standardized tests, like the TAKS test, rather than focusing on preparation for higher education.

Palo Alto sophomore and Radiology Major Scott Clark said, "…I think that public schools are not funded enough, so they take the cheapest way out and pass off teaching the TAKS as giving us the right education…"

This lack of early preparation means that about half of all students who enroll in the Alamo Colleges are required to take at least one developmental college course.

When asked about the issue of focusing on standardized testing rather than higher education, Texas State Representative Joaquin Castro said, "What happened over the years is that in our quest for adequacy, we seem to abandon the quest for excellence."

Other students, like Nursing Major Heather Garcia, believe that students don’t have the support needed to prepare for college. Garcia thinks that public schools can do a lot more to help students, but if they don’t have a strong support system from their families, it doesn’t matter.

Seniors of 2010 will be the last graduating class required to only take three years of math and science. Students will now be required to take all core subject classes for all four years of their high school career.

Educators hope that this change will give students time to target particular academic weaknesses and strengthen them in time for college enrollment. Those who test poorly on placement exams are required to take remedial courses. While these developmental classes cost just as much as college-credit classes and require just as much time and effort, they do not count toward graduation.

Castro recognizes students’ frustration. "…There is this work/school tug of war going on for a lot of people, and oftentimes people get frustrated with school because they’re not getting credit," said Castro.

According to Castro, what community colleges should be doing is "working with our high schools to administer the Accuplacer Test to juniors or early seniors to figure out who needs developmental education/remediation…" Then, high schools can educate those students "so that by the time they get to college they can start taking college-level courses."

In the "Plan for Improving Student Academic Success and Completion" presentation by Dr. Kris Clark, former Vice Chancellor for Academic Success, she suggests three main issues that need to be focused on: graduation awareness, developmental education, and retention/completion.

Efforts for the graduation awareness issue include a "pro-graduation/pro-transfer campaign" in which letters and e-mails about graduation are sent to students completing 30, 40 or 50 credit hours.

This would raise the awareness of graduation to students and let them know what they need to do and whom to contact to graduate.

For information on graduation requirements or a degree audit, contact the Records and Registration Office at (210) 486-3700, or stop by the Applied Technology Building, Room 204.

Retention, successfully graduating with an Associate’s degree or transferring to a four-year university, is also a main issue for the Alamo Colleges.

Coordinator of Learning Labs at Palo Alto, Thomas Murguia, said, "Students do have trouble transitioning from high school to college. College-level work demands more time and effort, which many students don’t seem to realize. Also, class attendance is essential at the college level. It’s easy to fall behind in work if you miss just one or two classes."

More information on tutoring services available at Palo Alto may be found at http://www.alamo.edu/pac/htm/current/services.htm and under the Study Resource Labs section.

Faculty and staff of the Alamo Colleges recognize this educational dilemma and are collaborating across colleges to address the contributing factors to students’ low success rates and low retention.

More will be done to pinpoint problems and figure out how to best address this situation.

If you have any ideas you would like to share, contact Quality Enhancement Plan Chairs Dr. Mary-Ellen Jacobs at (210) 486-3247 and Dr. Mike Flores at (210) 486-3930.

"… In our quest for adequacy, we seem to abandon the quest for excellence."

~ Texas State Rep. Joaquin Castro