Reports show more in SD need remedial aid, but students doing well overall

Talk about it

PIERRE — Two reports indicate that a higher percentage of students at South Dakota’s public universities who sat for their proficiency exams needed remedial help in the past year, at the same time that a higher percentage of students overall remained in good academic standing.

The state Board of Regents, whose members govern the universities, didn’t discuss either report during the public proceedings of the full board last week.

Briefing papers, however, show the two shifts.

In the past year, 10.8 percent of students who took a required set of national proficiency tests known as the CAAP were determined to need remediation in at least one of the four areas of writing, reading, math and science.

In the four previous years, the percentage ranged from 9.0 to 9.6 percent.

The report said the percentage of students in the latest round requiring some form of remediation varied. Black Hills State was 15.7 percent; Dakota State, 15.4; Northern State, 13.3; University of South Dakota, 11.7; South Dakota State, 8.2; and School of Mines and Technology, 7.0.

A second report looks each year at the percentage of students who stayed in good academic standing by maintaining a 2.0 grade-point average per semester.

There was some overall improvement.

The percentage for the 2010-2011 academic year was 90.6. It had been 90.3 in each of the five previous years and was 91.3 for 2004-2005.

Freshmen typically make up approximately three-fourths of the students who are placed on academic probation, stay on probation or are suspended or withdraw.

Tags: news, updates, education, state, regents, universities