American students are not getting smarter each year. The opposite is happening.
The College Fix reports:
SUNY institutes mandatory tutoring, extra class time due to ‘record’ number of first-years failing math, writingDue to a “record” number of first-year failures in freshman writing and math courses, the State University of New York system now will require students to have weekly meetings with a one-on-one tutor, and will add additional time to classes in the latter category.According to the Times Union, SUNY reported that a quarter of its freshmen failed the introductory math course, and 22 percent flunked English.This fall at SUNY Albany, selected first-years will have to get tutored in writing for an hour each week, and for 90 minutes in math/science. “Hundreds” of high-performing students have been tapped to help with the effort.Dean for Undergraduate Education JoAnne Malatesta said that the assisting students, who “did well” in the writing class, will “direct freshmen to the tutoring center and encourage them to go to the professor’s office hours.”Some 375 student tutors also will hold “90-minute ‘supplemental instruction’ sessions” each week in math and science that freshmen are “expected” to attend.Malatesta said similar sessions in the past have led to “significant gains” in academic performance.At Hudson Valley Community College, officials are capping the total number of students per class and adding an hour per week of instructional time. It also “restructured” its “Enhanced English Comprehension 1” last fall semester by limiting class size to 15 and having instructors “oversee” student writing for two hours a week outside of class.English, Foreign Languages, and English as a Second Language Department Chair Tony Podlaski said the ability to offer “feedback right on the spot” has been crucial: “We really see what they’re developing.”
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