REGENTS REPORT

South Dakota Higher Education: Good Investment. Great Future.   NO. 81, 09/22/97

High School Feedback Report

High School Graduates’ Performance is Improving

An important factor affecting the quality of programs and the level of performance in the public university system is student preparedness for college-level work. The Board of Regents, working with the Department of Education and Cultural Affairs, developed the High School Feedback Report that provides important data to secondary educators about the performance of their graduates in the state’s public universities. The purpose of the Feedback Report is to help educators decrease the number of under-prepared students and to improve educational opportunity. The latter is achieved by encouraging the delivery of dual-credit and Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Both of these course types, in different ways, allow high school students to earn college credit while in high school. This can save money and time.

Student Preparation

Some high schools offer opportunities that help students improve their preparation, such as dual-credit and AP courses. Dual credit courses allow students to enroll in college courses at their high school and receive both high school and college credit. Advanced Placement (AP) courses are advanced level courses that prepare students to take a subject exam – if their scores are high enough they can earn college credit. Students who benefit from these opportunities are better prepared for college, as the Feedback Report shows.

Remedial courses are designed to compensate for deficiencies in student preparation and to help students succeed in their program of study. However, these courses do not apply toward the completion of a degree. Courses that do count toward a degree are called "degree credit courses".

The percentage of students requiring remedial education is down, as the graph above shows. This means that students are better prepared for their future educational and professional careers and universities are able to utilize more effectively their resources for improving educational opportunities.

First-time Students in Remedial Courses

The unduplicated total of first-time students enrolled in English and mathematics remedial courses is down 2.6% from the two previous years. However, English remedial enrollments experienced an increase of 0.1%.

High School and Student Performance

The Feedback Report shows that high schools have improved their preparation of students. More students are completing the basic core curriculum, covering the natural and social sciences, mathematics, and English. This boosts student performance. We can see this improvement in decreased remedial enrollment (above) and increased ACT scores, as shown in the graph to the right.

The number of high schools that see their graduates enrolled in remedial education has also declined. The graph below shows that the number of high schools with none of their graduates in remedial courses has increased 8%. No high school has more than 50% of its graduates in remedial courses, an improvement of 7% since last year.

E-mail us at: info@bor.state.sd.us

Conclusion

The universities will continue to work with high school educators to improve educational performance and opportunity. The Feedback Report shows improvements in the state’s high schools. It is important that educators, students, and policymakers set the bar higher for continued improvements.