January 2000
Volume 7 • Number 1

Contents

Inadequate preparation of high school graduates for college is a topic of growing concern throughout education as well as in industry, state legislatures, and the general public. Using a quality framework, education is viewed as an overall system within which high schools and universities can work together to improve the quality of incoming students and to increase their ability to succeed in college. The transition from high school to college can be approached as a standard customer/supplier relationship: a customer (university) working with suppliers (high schools) to specify what the requirements (skill levels) are for the inputs (students) that are provided, and to inform the suppliers how well they are currently meeting these requirements (feedback loop).

A survey of college seniors majoring in business and engineering was conducted. They were asked to rate how well their high school work had prepared them for college in several key areas: academic program; teaching practices; and support structures and extracurricular opportunities. Students felt that they were well prepared in mathematics and science (engineering), that advanced placement classes were very effective, and that teacher attitudes were generally positive. On the other hand, technology and computers usage, speech and oral communication, and career guidance were seen as areas needing improvement. Using a feedback process from the university to its major supplying high schools to focus school improvement efforts on areas that can enhance students’ preparation for college can be of substantial benefit to all stakeholders in the system.

Key words: customer/supplier relationship in education, education system, feedback loop, high school-college articulation

byWILLIAM T. HARTMAN, PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, PRISCILLA FEIR, PERKIOMEN VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT

INTRODUCTION

Are high school graduates adequately prepared for college? The issue of high school preparation for college is an area of national concern. It is common to see popular accounts decrying the necessity for remedial courses for college freshmen (for example, “bonehead” English). The Southern Regional Education Board (1992) reported that approximately one-third of freshmen entering college are not prepared to do college-level academic work and that less than 20 percent of high school graduates completed the minimum number of academic courses recommended by the National Commission on Excellence in Education. In response, numerous states have initiated reform efforts in both K-12 and higher education. The overall goals of these undertakings revolve around the following (Sebring 1996, 1-6):

• Improving student preparation for college
• Creating better communications among schools, colleges, and universities
• Increasing the quality of higher education
• Reducing the cost and increasing the productivity of education in the state

As one example, in Oregon, school reform legislation passed in 1991, and amended in 1995, requires students to demonstrate mastery of rigorous standards. The purposes were “to improve student preparation for college, decrease the need for and cost of remediation, decrease student time to complete a degree, and increase faculty productivity in higher education” (Sebring 1996, 2). This reform was due, in large part, to the number of students admitted to college who either fail to proceed in a timely fashion or who require remedial coursework (Conley 1996, 7-18). Likewise, in Florida, cross-sector groups in education have been established to “limit the need for remedial education, and develop high school graduation requirements that prepare all students for college-level coursework” (Sebring 1996, 3).