Cal State University poised to drop plan for tougher math admissions requirement
California State University leaders said in a letter Thursday that they hope the changes in admissions policy they’ve proposed to the Board of Trustees will reduce the demand of more highly skilled students in math and English-language programs.The new policy shifts the math requirement to a test designed by the College Board, and will change the English as a Second Language requirement from a test for admission to a test for acceptance. The board in its original policy had said it would also reduce its number of English language requirements for admission.
Some of the changes to the policies include:
• Eliminate the requirement that a student must write a 400 word essay on “Why I want to be a scientist.”
• Eliminate the requirement that students write essays written on “How I overcame hardship.”
• Expand the math requirement to test students on a four-point scale, from “a passing grade on the first test” to “a failing grade on the fourth test.”
• Eliminate the requirement that students write essays for English as a Second Language, and shift it to a test administered from the beginning of the first year of college in high schools.
• Eliminate the requirements for a student to publish a book and to write a short memoir, and to publish a student newspaper.
• Eliminate the requirement that students write a report or a book report, and will require them to study a single subject or subject area that is not offered during the year they are enrolled in the college.
• Add requirements that students will complete and submit the work of their peers in their English-language department.
• Expand the English language requirements for admission to be based on English assessments taken in high school.
• Expand the English language requirements for admission to test students on a two-point scale, from “a passing grade on the first exam” to “a failing grade on the second test.”
• Increase the number of English language requirements from 12 to 18.
• Eliminate two English language requirements for admission, and would require students to take a single English test at the end of the first year in high school.
• Require students to demonstrate proficiency in three out of nine computer-science subjects.
• Require students to demonstrate proficiency in