Gatekeepers: On Remedial Classes in the Community College System

Credit: Pasadena City College Facebook

On August 2012, I successfully transferred to the University of Southern California after attending community college for one year. Community college gave me the opportunity to redeem myself academically after what I considered to be a poor academic performance in high school, one that didn't lead me to the steps of my dream college.

My excellent grades brought me here, to the University of Southern California, and now with a younger sister who is in the community college system I am constantly reminded of all of the obstacles presented to students at these schools, particularly first-generation low-income students of color.

One issue in particular, is that of remedial classes. At Pasadena City College (PCC) and Glendale Community College (GCC), for example, students are required to take a placement test for Math and English. At PCC, after taking the ACCUPLACER placement test, you land amongst the Math and English Sequence.

When I took the examination I was placed in "college-level" English and the second to lowest remedial Math course, meaning I would have to take about 4 classes before I could even be eligible to enroll in Calculus. Ideally, this would mean being enrolled in remedial math classes for 4 semesters, but it would still mean taking on approximately 2 years!

This becomes even more difficult given the fact that these classes are so hard to get since so little sections are offered and they are often filled to the brim with students, and students on the waitlist trying to get a seat.

Overall, these remedial courses end up holding students back from whatever goals they are trying to meet, whether it be earning a certificate, completing an AA degree, or transferring.

As such, it is fitting that the significance of these placement tests and remedial classes be brought into question, as they shown signs of keeping students in the community college system unnecessarily.

Let's begin with the fact that the accuracy of placement tests such as ACCUPLACER and COMPASS, is questionable.

A study by the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University found that "ACCUPLACER severely misplaces 33 percent of all students, and COMPASS severely misplaces 27 percent, either by putting students into courses that are too hard, or in courses that are too easy." Additionally, GPA's were found to be more accurate than placement tests, "reducing severe placement errors by about half."

If we know then that placement tests are not the greatest at being accurate, well what can we learn about remedial classes themselves?

According to a study by the Center for Community College Student Engagement, the longer it takes a student to complete remedial courses, the less likely they are to stay in college. Given that about 50% of students who enter 2-year colleges have to take remedial courses, according to Complete College America, this is extremely disappointing, and may indicate that these courses stand as significant roadblocks. This percentage is even higher for African-American students and Latinxs as 67% of African-American students and 58% of Latinx students "require remediation."

Thus, meaning that if we know students who require remediation are less likely to stay in college, how are remedial classes pushing African-American and Latinx students out? Future research on this topic of community college remediation needs to focus specifically on how both the placement tests and remedial classes negatively affect low-income students, students of color, and low-income students of color. As of yet, much of the research on remedial classes does not look at how these populations are affected specifically even though we know, as demonstrated by my previous post, that more African-American and Latinx students enroll in these open-access schools than they do in selective institutions.