Almost one-third of Mustang High School graduates must take remedial, zero-level classes for no credit during their freshman year of college.
Secondary Curriculum Director Geoff Kingsley reported to Mustang School Board members Monday night the district's college remediation rate held steady but also lagged behind neighboring Yukon School District's rate. Among 2008 MHS graduates headed for college, 32.1 percent had to take a remedial math or reading class in college, which is a slight increase from 31 percent Kingsley reported for the 2007 class.
Mustang's weakest subject was math with 28.6 percent of 2008 seniors unprepared for college-level work. The report showed 9.5 percent took remedial English.
“It costs annually parents millions of dollars to pay for college courses and not get college credit,” Kingsley said.
Oklahoma's average is 38.3 percent, so Kingsley pointed out Mustang students are better prepared than their peers, but the district did not fare better than Canadian County at 31.5 percent. He reported 29.9 percent of Yukon High School's 2008 graduates took remedial classes in college.

ACT scores stagnant
Mustang High School students averaged 21.5 on the ACT in 2010, which was a decline from a high of 22.1 in 2007. The scores showed one quarter of students who took the exam were ready for college-level work.
The ACT exam is scored on a 36-point scale and used by most colleges to determine a student's readiness for university-level work.
Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma require freshmen to score at least a 24 on the exam to avoid taking remedial classes.
Kingsley said Mustang educators are aiming to raise the district's average to 24. He has said the average Mustang student should qualify to attend OSU or OU.
“Really, it's getting 12 to 15 questions right that you wouldn't have gotten right previously,” he said. “If we can just get kids to answer three or four questions per subject area correctly, we can get to that 24. It is doable.”
Students at Edmond North and Norman North high schools proved it with ACT averages of 24.3 and 24, respectively. The schools lead 6A OSSAA high schools, while Mustang was ranked in the middle of the pack.

Helping students improve
Teens are encouraged to take tougher coursework like Advanced Placement and college-level classes, which Kingsley said can go a long way to helping them be ready for the ACT.
Mustang also spent $1,000 in state remediation funds to buy an ACT Online license so teens could take practice tests. Kingsley said he sent letters home to parents of teens planning to take the exam.
Mustang High School teachers are also trying to incorporate in their classrooms, more exercises and questions similar to content their students will face on the ACT exams.
Kingsley wrote ACT- style exercises that fit into Oklahoma's required curriculum teachers can use in their lesson plans. For example, if teens are studying the civil rights movement in history class, their teacher can include a reading analysis activity on Malcolm X.
“It's tied directly into the content they are teaching,” he said. “It's kind of like killing two birds with one stone.”
Kingsley said students who practice before taking the ACT tend to do better on the exam.
“You don't go into games without having a scrimmage,” he said.

Improved college graduation rate
Oklahoma has tracked each district's college success rate since 1997 when the state created its Profiles School Report Cards issued by the Office of Accountability.
These reports show the percentage of Mustang graduates headed to college has fluctuated from a low of 58.5 percent in 2007 to a high of 70.4 percent of the Class of 2007. The report showed 61.6 percent of the Class of 2009 was college bound.
The percentage of students needing remediation in college has also fluctuated from a high of 35.8 percent reported in the 1997 report card to a low of 29.1 percent in 2003.
The 13-year history does show more MHS grads who enter college are receiving their degrees. In 1997, the report showed 32.2 percent finished their degree, and the rate steadily climbed to a peak of 45.5 percent reported in 2005. In the 2009 report, reflecting seniors who graduated between 1999 and 2001, 43.1 percent graduated from college.