CEDAR FALLS - Justin Minard thought he was taking the classes he needed to prepare himself for college.

As a senior he took some of the hardest classes his high school offered, but when he entered Wartburg College in Waverly as a freshman last fall, he was shocked by just how little his high school education had helped him out.

"When I got to college English, all we did was write. In high school, we read novels and wrote papers about your opinion on it. There was no critical thinking involved," said Minard, a Minnesota native. He spent the first couple of months taking his written papers for help from the staff at Pathways, Wartburg's resource center for academic advising, supplemental instruction and career advising.

Dan Conrad, director of secondary education in Cedar Falls, said about 85 percent of his students attend college and most do well "from a grades standpoint."

"That being said, we still have students who aren't going on to college and some who aren't prepared for it when they do," he said. "I would like to see us do a better job of working with the postsecondary institutions to develop curriculum that will prepare our students. We have to learn to be a K-14 or K-16 education system"

A recent report by the Iowa City-based American College Test college entrance program, "Crisis at the Core," said most of America's high school students are just like Minard, unprepared for college or work when they graduate from high school.

"We made virtually no progress in the last 10 years helping them to become ready," the report continues. "And from everything we've seen, it's not going to get better anytime soon."

Another new ACT report, "Reading Between the Lines," said only 51 percent of last year's high school graduates who took the exam had the reading skills they needed to succeed in college or job-training programs. That is the lowest percentage of prepared students in more than a decade.

TyAnn Lindell, assistant dean for academic affairs at Wartburg, said part of the problem is students aren't reading as they once did.

"We do informal surveys in a class I teach and some students haven't read a whole book in three or four years," she said.

The decisions a high school student is forced to make about his or her senior-year class schedule can haunt them for decades in the form of student loans. Students who are unsure of their majors or have to repeat courses in college to prepare them for later coursework likely will take additional semesters or longer to graduate, which for most, means additional student loans.

Minard, who hopes to be a certified public accountant, needs 150 credit hours to qualify for the CPA exam. He will be taking a full college course load and summer classes to ensure his graduation in four years.

Had he learned the appropriate writing and math skills in high school, though, he would have had two extra slots on his college schedule and could have possibly forgone one summer of classes or taken a "regular" course load for at least a couple of semesters. Minard has worked it out to graduate on time, but many students aren't that lucky.

According to a study released in February by the Iowa Board of Regents, the average student who enrolled in one of the three universities in 1999 took about 4.5 years to earn their degree.

Some of the extra time can be caused by changing majors or graduating with a double major or minor. But, Phil Patton, registrar for the University of Northern Iowa, said part of the problem can also be attributed to students who find themselves in beginner's writing and math courses because they aren't prepared for college-level courses. Those classes, which aren't required of everyone, can take up time slots that could be used on major courses or needed electives.

"Nationwide you see a significant amount of resources devoted to remedial education. We don't see as much of it here, but we will see students who have to take lower level courses to prepare for courses they need for their major," Patton said.

The reasons why high school students are unprepared for college may be a little harder to quantify. Some students, such as Cedar Falls senior Josh Schindel, admit they take easier classes, which allows them to better enjoy their senior year. Others may take classes that will solidify a top grade-point average or class rank to ensure them easy access to one of the three state schools and the opportunity to apply for academic-achievement-based scholarships. Though Schindel knows he probably didn't make the best decisions about his senior classload, which includes two hours of release and a jewelry class, his regrets are coming too late.

"I don't think I am prepared," he said. "I probably should have taken physics A (instead of physics B). I should probably be reading more, too."

Picking apart the problem

High school and college administrators see the problem every day, but admit there are no clear-cut solutions.

Pam Pfitzenmaier, administrator for the division of pre-K-12 education for the Iowa Department of Education, said the state last year made a move in the right direction. Legislation passed last year recommended all state districts implement new graduation standards that would require students to complete core curriculum classes before earning their diploma. The core curriculum is defined as four years of English and three years each in science, math and social studies. Any student planning to attend an Iowa Board of Regents-governed university is already expected to complete those core classes for admission to the school. Currently all Iowa high schools are allowed to set their own graduation requirements and very few live up to the state university standards.

Patton said Iowa is the only state in the nation where the core curriculum is not a requirement, only a recommendation.

"Sen. (Mike) Gronstal said we've been resting on our laurels, and he's right. We talk about how great our education system is in Iowa, and it is, but if you look around, other places are passing us by," Patton said. "I don't think that's where Iowans want to be."

Educators know simply requiring students to take an additional year of English, math and science won't solve the problem. They also are asking the state to develop a list of skills and knowledge each student should have upon graduating.

"Whether the skills are taught in algebra, geometry, a tech class or English would be up to the district," Pfitzenmaier said. "We are just putting out there the skills students should have."

Cedar Falls senior Jenna Rohwedder is one of the ambitious seniors who go above and beyond the graduation requirements set forth by her school. This year Rohwedder is taking advantage of two release periods, but when she is in school, she is working hard in classes such as Advanced Placement composition and great books, while classmates such as Schindel admit to taking easier classes this year to enjoy more of his senior year.

Rohwedder said the thought of a "senior slough year" never really crossed her mind.

"I took classes I knew would push me … people thought I was crazy," she said. "Everybody said 'It's your senior year, your last year of school.' But, if I took the easy classes then there was the possibility I would forget how to study."

About the core

Conrad plans to ask the Board of Education to approve curriculum changes that would require every Cedar Falls graduate to complete the state's recommended core curriculum to graduate. But the request also will mean the district has to look at the number of teachers available to instruct each class and if the total number of credits required needs to be increased to encourage students to continue with elective courses.

Problems with space and resources in Cedar Falls likely will be minimized because about 80 percent of the district's graduates already complete the core curriculum even though it's not required. However, districts with fewer students who are already completing these courses could see the need to hire more teachers and add additional sections of certain classes.

But, the solution isn't as simple as changing the number of course hours a senior must complete to graduate, Conrad said.

"Just requiring another year is not the intent, you have to take a look at the rigor of the classes they are adding," he said.

In Cedar Falls, students have the option of taking two or three levels of many courses in math, science and English. The tracked options give high-achieving students the opportunity to learn the material at a faster pace, while students who struggle with a certain subject can take a lower level class and still succeed.

"The rigor in these classes is not the same. We have to take a look at these classes and instead of watering down the curriculum, let's keep the expectations high and extend how long they have to complete the course," Conrad said. "Time has always been a constant. We need to find out how time can be flexible but the curriculum stays constant. It's tough to visualize what the system would look like, but we have to start having these discussions."

A recent report released by the Department of Education, "The Toolbox Revisited: Paths to Degree Completion From High School Through College," said the "academic intensity" of a student's high-school courses played a larger role in earning a post-secondary degree than their grades and scores on standardized tests.

Russell Clark, the career technical education coordinator for the Waterloo school district, said many students are taking advantage of the district's partnership with Hawkeye Community College.

"The rigor in those classes is different because it is a college-level course. And, many of these classes will include pieces of the core curriculum. Students are going to have to have good math or writing skills to do well," he said.

The programs, such as EMC2 and a health care curriculum, also allow students to see the relevance in the work they are doing.

"In order for knowledge to be meaningful, it has to be relevant to the student," Clark said. "As you broaden the experience of a student, you give them more knowledge about career options. You allow them to explore and determine their interests."

But in order for rigor and relevance to be maintained, students also must build positive relationships with those in the school and community. Conrad said this final piece of the puzzle includes everything from concerned teachers, administrators and parents to offering a safe environment for students to learn.

Hurdles ahead

Many answers are out there, but administrators know it will be tough to implement some of the potential solutions. They must tread lightly when discussing age-old schoolyard traditions such as open campus or release policies.

Students also will be leery of any changes that could affect their grade-point average or class rank. For years upperclassmen have protected those indicators, sometimes taking easier courses, to guarantee acceptance into one of the three state colleges and to ensure eligibility for certain academic scholarships. The three Regent universities are required by law to accept any student in the top half of his or her class at an approved Iowa high school who has completed the university's core curriculum requirement.

Patton said even changing that entrance admittance policy could alleviate some of the problems associated with students taking easier courses to guarantee their spot in the top 50 percent.

"Rank and GPA are no longer predictors of success. When it takes over a 3.0 to be in the top half … the average grade is a B+, there has to be inflated grades somewhere," Patton said. "And the question is whether those grades are based on what was learned or what was tried. If I am given two or three chances to take a test or five or six chances to write a paper, of course I am going to do well."

Very few decisions in education come easy. Some will say a weighted grade system, which affords a higher grade-point average to certain classes, will encourage students to take more difficult classes. In Iowa City, administrators voted last year to eliminate the class rank system that the Regent universities use to determine who is automatically accepted to the school.

"We didn't see how it helped serve our kids … and it also caused some undue competition," said Lane Plugge, superintendent of the Iowa City school district.

Dennis Hendrickson, UNI's associate director of enrollment services, said the practice of eliminating class rank is still new in Iowa, but it hasn't stopped students from those schools from applying to Regents universities. Hendrickson said the first thing he does when he learns a school or district is eliminating class rank is to run a historical report to determine what the average median grade point is of students from that district.

"You have to go with the information you do have. We just have to put more emphasis on course selection and ACT or SAT scores," he said. "It's just like working with the home-schooled students, you go with the information you can get your hands on."

Districts across the state will continue to try new theories and programs, looking for the combination that works to serve the most students in the most effective way. But, until the day the perfect formula can be concocted, Patton said parents shouldn't get overly worried.

"There is definitely room for improvement, but I don't want people to think this is all doom and gloom," Patton said. "A lot of students are coming out of high school very well prepared and masterful of their education. … We do a pretty good job in this state, the system is not broken, but it can be improved and it needs to be improved if we are going to compete in today's world and tomorrow's future."

Contact Emily Christensen at (319) 291-1520 or emily.christesen@wcfcourier.com.