State gives colleges good marks

Edmonds and Everett community colleges reached their state-set goals for increasing their numbers of students ready to transfer to four-year universities between 2001 and 2003, a recent report says.

Both schools also increased the percentage of adults who gained basic literacy skills who had dropped out of high school or were learning English as a second language.

EvCC was particularly strong in a third area of training workers who earn vocational degrees or related certificates so they could start anew in the job market.

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"We have been really aggressive in the work-force training area," said Stu Barger, EvCC vice president for instruction, pointing to a demand from the many laid-off Boeing workers.

The 1999 Legislature established long-term goals for community colleges. Since then, the state Board of Community and Technical Colleges has developed targets to measure progress in the areas of transfer-ready students, adult basic education and workforce training.

"Having goals is always good," said Jack Oharah, president of EdCC. "Aligning ourselves to make sure we are making progress always strengthens our programs. We don’t see it as pressure. We just see it as something that helps us do a job better."

Results from 2001 through 2003 for the state’s 34 community and technical colleges show:

?The number of students leaving college with job skills – including earning degrees or certificates, completing apprenticeship programs or otherwise demonstrating they have gained skills to advance in the workforce – surpassed the state goal by 24 percent.

More than 22,300 students were considered "prepared for work," compared with a goal of 18,000.

Everett Community College, which received state money to help laid-off Boeing employees retrained 1,228 workers in 2003, which was 678 more than its target.

Edmonds Community College had 676 students getting training considered "job ready" in 2003, 83 less than a target it set but above the state requirement.

The number of students identified as "transfer-ready" during the biennium was more than 43,800, 6 percent more than the target of 41,250. Both colleges exceeded their targets. EvCC had 1,709 students considered ready to transfer in 2003, while EdCC had 2,162.

EvCC has set a goal to increase those numbers by 3.1 percent over the next two years; EdCC hopes to raise its "transfer-ready" students by 4.1 percent.

"The difficulty is that we get them transfer ready, and we meet those goals, and there is no place for them to transfer," Oharah said, referring to limited openings at some universities in Western Washington.

"We think the goals are reasonable but you have to look at the policies around the goals," he said.

?Colleges statewide also increased the percentage of adults making basic skills gains in classes that are not for college credit. The percentage of students who made substantial gains during the biennium was 51 percent, compared with a target of 48 percent.

Everett increased to 49 percent from 43 percent the number of adults gaining basic literacy skills; Edmonds increased its percentage from 58 percent to 64 percent.

Barger said many of the students in the adult basic education program have low incomes and tend to move or quit the classes when better job opportunities come up.

Cascadia Community College in Bothell was just opening when the statewide goals were set.

"We really have to look anecdotally until we get five years history," said Suzanne Ames, a Cascadia spokeswoman. "We have three years so we are getting there."

Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.