I've just learned of a charitable organization dedicated to giving Afghan women a university education in the U.S.: The Initiative to Educate Afghan Women.

Astoundingly, given what we read daily about remediation levels for our own American students, these women come to college prepared:

These women require no remedial classes, by the way. They come prepared, many having huddled in basements secretly imbibing what information they could from male relatives or having lived in Pakistani refugee camps to gain access to schools. Not one of them has a GPA below 3.5.

source: Foreign Exchange

Compare that to figures released by the Cal State system in 2004:

A year ago, only 52 percent of entering freshmen passed the system's English placement test. Sixty-three percent passed the math placement test. The rest needed remediation.

source:
The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education

Maybe Steven Leinwand should take a look at educational practices in Pakistani refugee camps....

-- CatherineJohnson - 25 Mar 2006

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