A bill by a legislator from Ventura County intended to help academically struggling community college students is now on the governor’s desk, awaiting his action.
AB 705 would require the colleges to use a broader approach in deciding which incoming students need to take mandatory remedial courses.
Currently, students are placed in the classes because of low standardized assessment test results. The legislation by Democratic Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin of Thousand Oaks would require community colleges to use a blend of indicators in addition to the tests, including high school GPA’s and course grades.
The State Assembly and State Senate passed the bill. Irwin says the current system is holding back some students by wrongly forcing them to take remedial classes.
