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By Crystal Guajardo seemed to place more emphasis on judging upon the results of college entry exams and/
Pulse Staff Reporter them on the way they dressed or looked or previous academic records, students are
rather than how well they performed. Stan- placed in the appropriate developmental
Many Palo Alto College students believe dardized test were also a factor. courses. Developmental lab classes that en-
they were not prepared for their first year of “I would like to hear more about learning able students to succeed are also offered.
college, and the number of students enrolled rather than teachers saying ‘Remember this Lab classes are taken on a pass/fail basis
in developmental classes confirms this be- for the test,’” said Wright. and meet for one or two hours a week. Lab
lief. “Students would be more prepared for services include computer programs, vid-
According to Institutional Research, 2,157 college if high school teachers cared,” said eotapes, written materials and a college in-
students are enrolled in developmental Luis Hernandez, a freshman Pharmacy ma- structor who is available to provide tutoring.
Math, 729 in developmental English and 569 jor. The reading lab class, for instance, is re-
in developmental Reading this Fall. Devel- “Because of the teachers who cared, I actu- quired as part of the developmental reading
opmental classes prepare students for col- ally made it to college. If it wasn’t for those course. Students work on a computerized
lege-level classes. teachers who offered one-on-one help, I program that covers concepts from the text-
“I had laid-back teachers at my high wouldn’t know how to learn and push my- book and emphasizes vocabulary building.
school who didn’t expect much,” said So- self,” said Hernandez. “Education depends on how bad the stu-
phia Semersky, a sophomore Education ma- While most students say they are not dents want an education and how many
jor. “With little initiative, we always received prepared for college because of low expec- hours are put into studying,” said Yvonne
a grade of an A. If my high school had higher tations and too much emphasis on rules, Richardson, instructional skills reading spe-
expectations, I would have been more pre- not learning, others like freshman Sabrina cialist.
pared, but since they didn’t, now in college Lopez, an undecided major, said the reason First-year students should also make use
it’s really tough.” she felt unprepared for college is because she of the required SDEV course. You will learn
Like Semersky, James Wright, a freshman had half days and slacked off a lot. study skills, how to take notes, the impor-
Fine Arts major, said he also thinks he was “If I would have went to class in high tance of attendance and time management,
unprepared for college. school, I would have felt better prepared,” said Richardson.
“I felt my high school was really control- said Lopez. For information on free tutoring services
ling and focused more on the rules rather Palo Alto College offers underprepared in Math, Reading, Foreign Language, Sci-
than education,” said Wright. students the opportunity to develop college- ence and Writing, visit www.alamo.edu/
Some students believe that teachers level skills in Reading, Mathematics, Writing, pac. Go to the Current Students’ tab and
Speech and Personal Development. Based click on the Tutoring link.