Professor's blueprint for college success

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Professor's blueprint for college success
Research may help upgrade high school advanced courses

By JULIA SILVERMAN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

EUGENE, Ore. -- After years of laserlike focus on elementary education, the country's public high schools are getting their moment under the microscope, with everyone from President Bush on down wringing their hands over the thousands of students who graduate each June underprepared for a college workload.

Credit University of Oregon education professor David Conley, then, with impeccable timing.

In new research that's getting serious national attention from heavy-hitters like the College Board, Conley lays out a subject-by-subject blueprint for what he says students need to know to succeed in college.

The research is being studied by school districts around the country, while the non-profit College Board is using Conley's work to map out the evolution of some of its popular Advanced Placement courses and exams, which are designed to let high school students test out of entry-level courses in college.

Over the next year, Conley's team at the Center for Education Policy Research at the University of Oregon will be analyzing AP courses in U.S. history, biology, chemistry, physics, European history, world history and environmental science.

The changes spurred by Conley's work could come to AP courses by the 2008-09 school year.

WHAT COLLEGE-BOUND STUDENTS NEED TO KNOW

English:

(Students should be able to) annotate, question, agree or disagree, summarize, critique and formulate a personal response.

Use reading skills and strategies to understand a variety of types of literature, such as epic pieces, narrative novels and philosophical pieces.

Identify basic beliefs, perspectives and philosophical assumptions underlying an author's work.

Know the difference between a topic and a thesis.

Math:

Use the distributive property to multiply polynomials.

Know the algebra and geometry of circles.

Know the definitions of sine, cosine and tangent using right triangle geometry and similarity relations.

Science:

Familiarity with fundamental scientific concepts, including the significance of time, the range of light waves, the nature of force, velocity and acceleration and the principles of evolution.

Understand that science and the theories of science are not absolute and should be questioned and challenged.

Understand the conservation of energy and the first law of thermodynamics.

Social sciences:

Awareness of the important events, social movements and political processes that have shaped U.S. history, from European exploration and colonization to immigration and migration patterns in the contemporary United States.

Understanding of significant events and figures in world history, from early civilizations in India and the Middle East to the European nationalist movements of the 19th century.

Know how to evaluate the credibility and authenticity of historical sources.

-- Center for Education Policy Research

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