MATC FORMS UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP WITH AREA SCHOOLS;
PROGRAM HELPS BETTER PREPARE STUDENTS FOR COLLEGE
When students head to college, two subjects give them the most headaches—math and English.
In 2007, 68 percent of Wisconsin high school students who took Madison Area Technical College’s COMPASS placement test were considered not prepared for college math. Another 27 percent were not prepared for English.
In an effort to better prepare students for college, MATC has already teamed up with 16 Madison area school districts to help improve their math and English curricula.
Here's how the program works. MATC shares student placement test scores with participating school districts. The scores indicate which areas of math and English students are having the most trouble. The District schools can then change their curricula to focus more attention to those problem areas.
"This is a win-win-win situation for the high schools, MATC, and the students who attend college here," says MATC’s Pre-College and Transition Coordinator Juanita Comeau. "This program helps identify the areas where students need better preparation to succeed at MATC."
So far, MATC has worked with the following school districts:
Madison, Sun Prairie, Monona Grove, Verona, McFarland, Oregon, Stoughton, Reedsburg, Baraboo, Lodi, Deerfield, Waterloo, Jefferson County, Belleville, Wisconsin Heights and Waunakee.
The goal is to eventually have all 40 area school districts involved in the college readiness program.
MATC provides "real world smart" education as one of 16 colleges in the Wisconsin Technical College System. It serves 12 south-central Wisconsin counties through a comprehensive curriculum of technical, liberal arts and science, adult basic education and life enrichment studies and activities, as well as customized employee training. MATC offers associate degrees, vocational diplomas and certificates and non-degree courses in more than 140 programs through five campuses and numerous community locations.
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