The Lamar University Electronic Journal of Student Research

Summer 2008

Assignment of Black and White College Students to Remedial

Education Classes

Russell Eisenman, PhD

University of Texas-Pan American
Department of Psychology
Edinburg, Texas

William Allan Kritsonis, PhD

Professor and Faculty Mentor
PhD Program in Educational Leadership
The Whitlowe R. Green College of Education
Prairie View A&M University
Member of the Texas A&M University System
Prairie View, Texas
Visiting Lecturer (2005)
Oxford Round Table
University of Oxford, Oxford, England
Distinguished Alumnus (2004)
College of Education and Professional Studies
Central Washington University

Tyrone Tanner, EdD

Associate Professor
PhD Program in Educational Leadership
The Whitlowe R. Green College of Education
Prairie View A&M University
Member of the Texas A&M University System
Prairie View, Texas

ABSTRACT

The focus of this article is the assignment of black and white college students to
remedial education classes. The article address that colleges might want to consider
a wide array of remedial classes for some students before they are admitted to the
regular college classes in order to help them pass the regular classes. Otherwise, the
failure and dropout rate might be very high.
________________________________________________________________________
 Introduction

There is much concern about the academic achievement of Black students. They
are often likely to attend poor quality schools (Kozol, 1991) and to show poor
educational achievement (Eisenman 1994a, 1994b; Herrnstein & Murray, 1994; Reschly
& Ward, 1991; Rushton, 1995; Scott, 1988) . In the present study we look at the
assignment of Black students to remedial college classes. Since this study occurred at an
open admissions school, a wide range of student ability was present. We looked at the
extent of assignment of Black students to remedial classes, based on their American
College Testing Program (ACT) scores.

Method

The data were obtained at an open admissions regional state university in the
Deep South. We thank Ed Stephens for his excellent assistance. The school had an
enrollment of 8729 students. Data were obtained on all students assigned to remedial
education. To be assigned to remedial education a student had to have a score of 17 or
below on the American College Testing Program (ACT). The national average was 21.
Scores can range from 1-36. The ACT is widely used for college admission in the
Midwest and South, while the SAT is more popular in the rest of the United States.
Remedial classes were in the areas of chemistry, education, English, mathematics, and
orientation. Orientation was a class on how to study. Students received no credit toward
graduation in any of the remedial classes, but must pass them in order to take regular
college courses. The university classified the students as Black, White or Other, with
Other including Asians, Native Americans, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, and anyone else
not assigned to a category.

Results

Of the 8729 students enrolled at the university, 1285 or 14.8% were classified as
Black, 7160 or 82.8% were classified as White, and 284 or 3.3% as other.
For all students, 959 scored 17 or below on the ACT and were assigned to at least
one remedial class. Of these, 284 were Black which is 29.6% of 959; 651 or 67.8% were
White; and, 24 or 2.5% were Other. Thus, relative to their numbers at the university,
Blacks were overrepresented in the remedial classes and Whites and Other were
underrepresented.
What about students who have to take more than one remedial class? The more
remedial classes required, the more likely the student was to be Black. Of the 421
students who had to take one remedial class, 97 or 23% were Black. Of the 190 students
required to take two remedial classes, 74 or 38.9% were Black. For the 56 students
required to take three or more remedial classes, 28 or 50% were Black.
 Discussion

Blacks were 14.7% of the student body but about 30% of those required to take
remedial classes, based on their ACT scores. Blacks were overrepresented in remedial
classes and Whites and Other were underrepresented. A background of poverty, poor
quality schools and other variables may account for the findings, at least in part.
So, colleges are faced with many students who are not fully prepared for college
work. One possible solution is to have remedial classes for such students. Note that the
assessment of a student as needing remedial attention is based on their ACT score. One
could argue that some of these students do not test well, but are more prepared than their
test scores show. On the other hand, it may be that the ACT does a good job of
diagnosing who needs additional preparation before taking regular college classes.
Colleges might want to consider a wide array of remedial classes for some students,
before they are admitted to the regular college classes, in order to help them pass the
regular classes. Otherwise, the failure and dropout rate might be very high.

References

Eisenman, R. (1994a). Academic achievement in high school of blacks and whites: A

retrospective study of freshman college students who would not have been
admitted without open admissions. In R. Eisenman, Political issues and social
problems: A social psychological perspective (pp. 21-24). Fort Worth, TX:
Harcourt Brace.
Eisenman, R. (1944b). The assignment of black children to special education classes. . In
R. Eisenman, Political issues and social problems: A social psychological
perspective (pp. 25-31). Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace.
Herrnstein, R. J. & Murray, C. (1995). The bell curve: Intelligence and class structure in
the United States. New York: Free Press.
Kozol, J. (1991). Savage inequalities: Children in America’s schools. New York: Harper
Perrenial.
Reschly, D. T. & Ward, S. M. (1991). Use of adaptive behavior measures and
overrepresentation of Black students in programs for students with mild mental
retardation. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 96, 257-268.
Rushton, J. P. (1995). Race, evolution, and behavior: A life history perspective. New
Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
Scott, R. (1988). Education and ethnicity. The U. S. experiment in school integration.
Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies, Monograph Series No. 17.

Formatted by Dr. Mary Alice Kritsonis, National Research and Manuscript Preparation
Editor, National FORUM Journals, Houston, Texas www.nationalforum.com