SANTA FE

A study of public high school graduates enrolled in New Mexico colleges and universities in the 2005-06 school year found that nearly half of them took remedial courses.

According to the study, 49.3 percent of 7,687 students sampled took remedial courses in math and reading a slight decrease from the previous four years. It was released last month by New Mexico's Office of Education Accountability, and the Higher Education and Public Education departments.

State officials said the decrease is encouraging but the latest figure demonstrates the need for aligning the expectations of high school and college students.

The Public Education Department and the Higher Education Department are partnering to help align high school exit exams and college entrance exams. They also are working to provide more programs that would allow high school students to take college courses and receive dual credit.

"As public school teachers continue to focus on ensuring students are more proficient in math and reading, students will need less remediation and be better prepared to succeed in college," said Peter Winograd, director of the Department of Finance and Administration's Office of Education Accountability.

The report, "Ready for College 2007," found that the average, per high school, of students needing remedial courses ranged from just under 18 percent to nearly 86 percent.

According to the study, the need is highest among American Indian students. Some 71 percent of them took remedial courses in 2006 up from 67 percent in 2000.

Among Hispanic students, 58 percent needed remedial coursework in 2006, compared with 55 in 2000.

Fifty-four percent of black students took remedial courses in 2006 up from 53 percent in 2000.

White students were the only subgroup to decrease from 36 percent in 2000 to 33 percent in 2006.

Information from: Las Cruces Sun-News, http://www.lcsun-news.com