In The Texas Tribune's story Educators Taking New Approach to College Readiness, Jody Serrano discusses the Texas school boards' intentions for increasing the high school to college transition rate and readiness. Serrano investigates the issues in unprepared students, siting that the curriculum at the high school level does not match a college level expectation. This could lead to additional expenses for students who take more “remedial preparation classes” so they can adjust to the work load, classes which they still have to pay full tuition on even though they don’t count towards their degrees. In order to correct this, Harrison Keller, “vice provost for higher education policy and research at the University of Texas at Austin”, has developed a program called OnRamps, which offers incoming college freshman classes access to college level assignment and assessments along with tips and tricks for preparing for their transition.
I chose to highlight this article because it addresses serious concerns about Texas education both on the high school and collegiate levels. Texas high schools rank in the bottom quarter of the nation, and the studies referenced in this article illustrate why this is a major problem.
