By LESTER CHANG
The bulk of first-time students to De Anza Community College last year needed to brush up their writing skills in remedial classes before they could take a college-transfer writing course, De Anza President Martha Kanter recently told members of a local service club.
Speaking at a Cupertino Rotary Club meeting Aug. 14., Kanter said 2,554 students took an English assessment test in the fall quarter of 1995.
Of that number, only 363 students did well enough to be eligible for English 1A, which offers credits that can be transferred to a four-year college or university, she said.
Nearly another 2,200 students didn't do so well and were required to enroll two remedial writing classes before they could to the English 1A course, she said.
Nearly another 1,000 students took an English as a Second Language test during the same quarter, but less than 1 percent were placed into an English as a Second Language 5 course, the equivalent of the English writing class, she said.
The situation exists at colleges across the United States, said Terri O' Connor, a college spokesperson.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, August 28, 1996.
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