Information presented at the Oct. 22 Academic Senate meeting shows a racial gap in academic performance amongst students. Hispanic and black students made up almost 45 percent of the student body in 2011, and almost 25 percent of all failing grades.
The information, compiled by Interim Director of Institutional Planning Crystal Kollross, shows that in almost all divisions at PCC, Hispanic and black students received lower grades on average than Asian and white students.
Social Science Professor Susie Ling presented the information to the Senate. The numbers, compiled by Kollross, show that 13 percent of black students, and over 11 percent of Hispanic students received ‘F’ grades in their classes.  Compared to just over five percent of white students and seven percent of Asian students that received ‘F’ grades.
“I’m glad Susie brought this information up [to the Academic Senate]â€, Kollross said when asked about the information.
“These numbers are shockingly inadequate,†Ling said while presenting the information. “It’s not just at PCC, many other colleges have the same problems,†Ling said.
In math, over 18 percent of black students and over 15 percent of Hispanic students received ‘F’ grades. By comparison, nine percent of Asian students, and just over 10 percent of white students received ‘F’ grades in classes in 2011.
“The students that come to us are not ready for the level of math given here at PCC,†Math Instructor Patricia Peach said about the information on the math department.
“The information is troubling and suggests that we need to take a look at why the data is as it is with the view to work to understand why this is the case with the goal of improving academic performance and achievement for all students,†said Senior Superintendent and Senior Vice President of academic and student affairs Dr. Robert Bell.
The information gives a breakdown of grade percentages for each division by race, showing how many students received an ‘A,’ ‘B,’ ‘C,’ ‘D’ and ‘F’ grades
“Two thirds of the students [that take English 1A] aren’t up to 1A standards,†Marheine said. “We have a racial bias in this data,†he said. These findings do not include students that chose not to state their race when applying.
“We found we were not as happy as we should be [with the numbers],†said Roger Marheine about the English department’s numbers.
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Thank you Courier for this article on what we commonly refer to as the achievement gap. The differential in achievement levels between Black and Latino students verses White and Asian students has been well know in the Basic Skills arena for over a decade and for the past several years we have been coming to a better understand as it applies to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) students. There are numerous explanations for the root cause of this achievement gap, and the answer is multi-faceted and complex. However there is good news, and better news, regarding ways in which this gap might be addressed and ultimately eliminated.
Several PCC administrators, faculty, staff and students recently attended the annual Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities Conference in Washington D.C. (For a student perspective, go to pccstem.org and click on HACU). The good news is that, at this conference, researchers from Cal State Fresno (a predominately Latino CSU) presented data on how curricular reform – specifically moving towards active learning pedagogies – has dramatically closed the achievement gap for Latino students in a variety of classes across the campus from math to biology to psychology.
The even better news is that this kind of curriculum reform is currently underway at PCC. In the Natural Sciences and other areas a number of faculty have begun using active learning pedagogies – such as the studio classroom, project based learning, flipped classroom, and other strategies which increase student engagement – to help recruit, retain and increase the success rates of students in STEM classes.
The recent findings presented to the Academic Senate clearly demonstrate that there is room for improvement in closing the achievement gap across the disciplines. Although it may be uncomfortable for some, we can’t afford not to bring equity into our conversations regarding student success.