Dual Enrollment: Lessons Learned on School‐Level ...

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DualEnrollment:LessonsLearnedonSchool-Level

Implementation

LaurenCassidy KaeliKeating VikiYoung

SRIInternational

ThispaperwaspreparedfortheU.S.DepartmentofEducation(ED),OfficeofElementary andSecondaryEducation,SmallerLearningCommunitiesProgramunderContract NumberED-07-CO-0106withEDJAssociates,Inc.inHerndon,VA.Theviewsexpressedin thispublicationdonotnecessarilyrepresentthepositionsorpoliciesofED,nordo referencestotradenames,commercialproducts,services,ororganizationsimply endorsementbytheU.ernment.

TABLEOFCONTENTS

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 1 DefiningDualEnrollment...................................................................................................................... 1 BenefitsofDualEnrollment.................................................................................................................. 2 PrevalenceofDualEnrollment............................................................................................................. 4 School-LevelImplementation............................................................................................................... 5

EstablishingRelationshipswithCollegePartners ........................................................................... 5 StructuringDualEnrollmentCourses.......................................................................................... 7 FacultyCollaboration ................................................................................................................... 9

Articulation...................................................................................................................................... 10 FundingDualEnrollment................................................................................................................ 12

Tuition ......................................................................................................................................... 13 Textbooks.................................................................................................................................... 14 Transportation ............................................................................................................................ 15 StudentAttendance ................................................................................................................... 15 StudentAdmissions,Access,andSupports................................................................................... 16 FulfillingEquityGoals ................................................................................................................. 16 StudentSupports........................................................................................................................ 18 Conclusion............................................................................................................................................ 20 References ........................................................................................................................................... 23

Introduction

Acceleratedlearningopportunitiesarebecomingincreasinglycommonstrategiesto promotehighschoolgraduationandencouragecollegeenrollment.Through mechanismssuchasDualEnrollment,AdvancedPlacement(AP),andInternational Baccalaureate(IB)courses,studentsgetaheadstartonearningcollegecreditwhilestill inhighschool.Thegoalsforenrollingstudentsinthesecoursesaretoprovidethem withmorerigorouscurriculaandpreparethemforcollegecourseworkand expectations.Inaddition,acceleratedlearninggivesthemthemotivation,financial incentive,andself-confidencetocontinueontocollege.Earningcollegecreditsearly canlessenthetimeandcosttoobtainingacollegedegree. DualEnrollment,inparticular,isastrategythatmoreandmoredistrictsandschoolsare usingtoadvancethehighschoolcurriculumandpromotecollegeforawiderangeof students.However,DualEnrollmentprogramscanbequitechallengingtoimplement forpractitioners,includinghighschoolordistrictprogramdirectors,guidance counselors,andcollegestaffandfaculty.Highschool-collegepartnerships,articulation, funding,andstudentaccessandsupportsareallcriticalareastoaddressinorderto successfullyimplementtheseprograms.Thispaperisbasedonasynthesisoffindings frompriorresearch.AfterfirstreviewingthestatusofDualEnrollmentacrossthe Nation,weidentifylessonslearnedandpotentialsolutionstoovercomingcommon barriersinimplementingDualEnrollmentprograms.

DefiningDualEnrollment

Despitecommongoals,DualEnrollmentpresentssomestrikingdifferencesfromAPand IB.APandIBeachhaveanationalcurriculum.Thecollege-levelcoursesareofferedby thehighschool,wherestudentstakethemwiththeirpeers.Studentsreceivecollege creditbypassinganend-of-courseexam. Incontrast,DualEnrollmentprogramsrequireapartnershipbetweenaschoolordistrict andalocalinstitutionofhighereducation.Coursesofferedcanbeacademicor career/technical,andstudentsearncollegecreditbypassingthecourse.Studentsmay ormaynotsimultaneouslyearnhighschoolcredit(i.e.,dualcredit),buttheircollege performanceisdocumentedonacollegetranscript.AlthoughDualEnrollmentbeganas anoptionforacademicallyadvancedstudents,similartoAPandIB,itisnowalsoseenas amechanismtopromotecollegeaccessforawiderrangeofstudents.Someprograms focusspecificallyonstudentstraditionallyunderservedincollege. DualEnrollmentprogramsfallintothreecategories:"singleton,""comprehensive,"and "enhancedcomprehensive."Singletonofferingsarestudent-directedandinvolvean individualenrollinginregularcollegeclasses(astudentcantakeasfewasoneDual

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Enrollmentcourseduringhisorherhighschoolcareerunderthisscenario).Typically, thisoptionisforstudentswhohavefulfilledthemajorityoftheirhighschool requirementsandareinterestedinearningcollegecreditwhileinhighschool. Comprehensiveandenhancedcomprehensiveprogramsprovidestudentswithintensive exposuretocollegedemands,andDualEnrollmentcoursesconstituteasignificant portionoftheirhighschoolexperience,especiallyduringthelastyearortwoofhigh school.AnexampleofthistypeofprogramisacareerorTechPrepacademy.Enhanced comprehensiveprogramsprovideadditionalacademicsupportsandcounselingto facilitatethesecondary-postsecondarytransition(BaileyandKarp,2003).Forexample, earlycollegehighschools(ECHSs)blendhighschoolandcollegeinarigorousyet supportiveprogram,enablingstudentstoearnupto60collegecreditsoranassociate's degreebythetimetheygraduatefromhighschool.

BenefitsofDualEnrollment

Increasinghighschoolgraduationandcollegeenrollmentandretentionratesarean ongoingchallengeintheUnitedStates.AccordingtotheConditionofEducation2010,1 74percentofstudentswhostartedninthgradein2004-2005graduatedfromhigh schoolin2008,thelastyeartheaveragefreshmengraduationdatawereavailable(Aud etal.,2010).GraduationrateswerelowerthanthenationalaverageforLatinos(64 percent),AfricanAmericans(62percent),andNativeAmericans(64percent)(Audetal., 2010).Highschoolcompletionisonlythefirststepinthebattle,becausemanyhigh schoolgraduatesentercollegeill-prepared.Morethantwo-thirdsofhighschool graduatesin2008enrolledinpostsecondaryeducationthefollowingfall(Audetal., 2010),andalthoughitisimpossibletopinpoint,anestimated60percentofstudentsin 2-yearinstitutionsand30percentofthosein4-yearinstitutionsofhighereducation neededremediationcourses(Kirst,2007).Furthermore,onlyabouthalfofallentering studentsgraduatewithin6years(MarksandDiaz,2009),indicatingthatstudentsmay needmorepreparationtobeabletograduatefromcollegeinatimelymanner. Inthe2004-2005surveysofhighschoolgraduates,collegeinstructors,andemployers commissionedbyAchieve,Inc.,39percentofcollegestudentsreportedhavingagapin theskillsandabilitiesexpectedofthemincollege,andcollegeinstructorsestimated that42percentoftheirstudentswerenotadequatelyprepared.Yet,nearlyaquarterof highschoolgraduatesfelttheywerenotchallengedinhighschooland82percentof collegestudentssaidtheywouldhaveworkedharderiftheirhighschoolshadhigher academicexpectationsanddemandsofthem.Thevastmajority(94percent)ofcollege studentsbelievedthatofferingchallengingcoursessuchashonors,AP,orIBwouldhave improvedtheirpostsecondarypreparation(Achieve,Inc.,2005).Theseresultssuggest lostopportunitiestobetterpreparesecondarystudentsforcollege.

1See for more information about the average freshmen graduation rate.

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