Leaders of Hawai'i's P-20 Initiative say students and families need to start thinking about getting through high school and beyond as early as the middle- school years to avoid pitfalls in the education system.

"You don't wait until you show up on the first day (of middle school) and expect someone's going to tell you what to do," P-20 coordinator Kathy Jaycox said.

If students begin preparing early, P-20 coordinators feel, some of the difficult transition points — middle school, ninth grade and the first year of college — may be eased.

National statistics show that of the 65 percent of Hawai'i students who graduate from high school on time, only 34 percent enter a Hawai'i college immediately. And only 22 percent are enrolled by sophomore year.

Also troubling is the amount of remediation needed by students enrolled in Hawai'i's community colleges. According to the P-20 Initiative's new strategic plan, 89 percent of students in Hawai'i's two-year colleges require remediation in math, and 68 percent require remediation in English.

That's especially troubling to national Education Trust advocate Kati Haycock.

"Having to take one brush-up course is not a big deal," Haycock said. "But students who have to take two or three end up never completing anything in college, so it's something you want to fix."

Linda Johnsrud, University of Hawai'i interim vice president for academic planning and policy, said trying to solve the issues of getting students into college and keeping them there are priorities for the UH system. Community college chancellors are being asked to define what is needed on each campus to improve the retention rate and increase the number of students graduating with degrees.

"We have three initiatives: to increase the college-going rate (it's now 34 percent but has dropped from 46 percent in the 1970s), to increase the transfer rate between two- and four-year colleges, and to increase the number of degrees and certificates awarded," Johnsrud said.

"Every chancellor has to look at his or her campus and ask what are the issues. Is it more financial aid, more financial aid advisers, more academic advisers, more classes, different time schedules when we deliver classes, more outreach in the community? What's needed?"

There are more than 22,000 job openings every year in Hawai'i. Yet the state's public and private colleges are graduating fewer than half that number of students ready to fill those jobs, according to the P-20 report. In 2003, public and private colleges awarded 9,850 degrees, and Johnsrud said the UH system simply has to increase its numbers.

"The P-20 message we're trying to get out to middle and high schools is that high school is just not enough anymore," Johnsrud said. "You do need some post-secondary education or training."

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com.