Dear Commons Community,

The NY Times editorial today draws attention to the fact that  many high school graduates are not ready to do college-level work.  I have commented on this issue several times on this blog.  It is a sad commentary that students [and their parents] are under the impression that because they have a high school diploma, they are ready for college.  The editorial uses the programs at CUNY as good examples of the need for serious investment in remediation to give these students a chance.  The long term solution involves the” need to strengthen the curriculum, build a more robust teacher training program and add programs so that more students can reach the college-readiness goal.”  This rightfully goes beyond simple, quick-fix measures of teaching to tests and using credit recovery to move students through to high school graduation.  We here at CUNY also need to be vigilant that we not be coerce by city or state governing officials to lower  our standards and to move these students through the higher education system.

Tony