Partnering with Postsecondary: How and Why to Include Dual Enrollment as an

Integral Part of a Partnership Academy

Katherine Hugheshughes@tc.edu

Community College Research CenterTeachers College, Columbia University

Educating for Careers/California Partnership Academy ConferenceFebruary 15, 2012

Outline of Presentation

• What is dual enrollment? Who is it for? • Why develop a dual enrollment program?

– Broad issues– Promising outcomes

• What do I need to consider when developing or implementing a dual enrollment program?– Program variation– Program features to consider– Stages and steps

Models of College Credit-Earning in High School

Dual Enrollment Students enroll simultaneously in high school and college courses; generates a college transcript.

Dual Credit Students enroll simultaneously in high school and college courses and earn both high school and college credit for the same course.

Credit-in-escrow (Tech Prep) Students take a high school course that may later be applied towards college, usually as the result of an inter-institutional agreement.

Credit-by-exam (AP, IB, CLEP) Students take a high school course that is deemed college-level and has an end-of-course exam. Colleges may use the exam score to grant college credit.

Middle/Early College High Schools Comprehensive opportunities for students to earn many college credits via dual enrollment or dual credit.

Who Participates in Dual Enrollment?

• Broad participation nationwide, and appears to be growing– Students took courses for dual credit in 71% of high schools.– Over 800,000 high school students took a college course (2002-

2003).

• Growing focus on underrepresented, first-generation, and middle-achieving students

• Growth of career and technical education (CTE) focused dual enrollment

Why Dual Enrollment? • Low levels of college access, retention, and completion,

particularly for disadvantaged students.– Economic benefits to obtaining a postsecondary credential– National “Completion Agenda”

• Presumed benefits to dual enrollment include:– Students get a taste of college and learn college-going behaviors.– Students enter college with credit already accumulated.– Potential cost savings to families and education systems.– Make the senior year meaningful/reduce senioritis.– Creation of connections between high schools and colleges.

• Earning college credit in high school is positively related to “academic momentum” in college.

• Benefit of transcripted credit as opposed to articulated credit

What Does the Research Say About Dual Enrollment?

• Growing body of literature showing a relationship between dual enrollment participation and positive outcomes for a wide range of students.

• Findings are not definitive.– Poor controls for students’ prior achievement

and motivation.– No proof of causality.

Program Design and Implementation Matter

• Intensity of participation may improve dual enrollment outcomes (CCRC, 2007).

• College campus-based (as opposed to high school-based) dual enrollment appears to drive positive outcomes in Florida (Speroni, 2011).

• Participation in rigorous dual enrollment courses is related to positive outcomes, while participation in other dual enrollment courses may not be (Speroni, 2011).

When implementing a dual enrollment program…

…the overarching goal is to develop a program that is authentic and supportive.

•Authenticity: A program in which students can “try on” the part of a college student so that they can become capable of doing college work•Supportive: Scaffold students’ learning, ideally by building learning support into class time

Dual Enrollment Programs Vary along a Range of Features

•Admissions requirements•Location •Timing•Student mix •Instructors•Course content and sequence•Method of credit earning•Program intensity and support services•Funding

Admissions • Tension between broad access and limiting college

courses to those who are ready.– Do not want to exclude students who haven’t been successful in

high school but could benefit from a college course.– Do not want to include students who may fail at their first college

endeavor.• Types of admissions requirements include:

– Minimum grade point average– Minimum test score/ requirement to place into college-level

courses– Teacher recommendation– Age or grade level

Location of ClassesLocation Pros Cons

College campus • Authentic experience• Access to college support

services and resources

• Additional time needed to travel from high school to college campus

• Travel logistics can be complicated

• High school and college schedules are not always aligned

High School • More accessible for students, potentially increasing access

• Greater integration and alignment with high school courses, particularly within CTE pathways

• Access to high school-based support

• Limited resources and instructional space, particularly for CTE courses

• Smaller contrast between high school and college coursework

Time of DayTime Pros Cons

During the regular high school day

• Few conflicts with other student obligations

• Broader access for students• Usually count towards

school’s ADA• Logistic simplicity

• Competition among classes for students, particularly in small schools

• Hard to establish course authenticity

Before school (“0 period”)

• Accommodate students with heavy course schedules

• Does not conflict with after-school activities and obligations

• Transportation challenges• Dependent upon student

motivation• Lower levels of course

retention and completion

After school • Little interference with high school scheduling

• Can serve multiple secondary schools simultaneously

• Conflict with other student obligations

• Transportation challenges• Parental resistance

Type of InstructorInstructor Pros Cons

College Instructor • Better understand and convey college expectations

• May be perceived as more authentic by students

• May not understand the needs of high school students

• May need help connecting with and supporting dual enrollment students

High School Instructor • More familiar with high school students and their needs

• More accessible to students

• May not be familiar with college-level expectations

• May not create college norms in the dual enrollment classroom

Course Selection and Content

• Dual enrollment course offerings should be driven by program goals.

– Provide entry to a CTE pathway?– Improve students’ academic skills?– Give students tools for college success?• Choosing the right course can influence student

persistence, particularly for lower-achieving students.

Course type Pros ConsCTE courses • May be more engaging to

students• Allows students to

demonstrate skill and have academic success outside of traditional courses

• Demonstrate the relevance of high school pathways to postsecondary options

• Lead to job opportunities

• Challenging to implement on a high school campus

• May be seen as less-valuable or for a smaller sub-set of students than academic courses

• Credit transfer may be more difficult

Academic courses • Broad college preparation• Head-start on prerequisites

for certain majors

• Mixed success for academically-struggling students

• May require intensive (and hard-to-implement) supports to ensure student success

College 101 courses • Develop key skills for college success while earning college credit

• Typically only one credit• Not always clear how credit

transfers• Not clearly aligned with

academic or CTE programs of study

Credit EarningType of credit Pros Cons

Dual credit • Help students “catch up” on lost high school credits

• May be prohibited by state or district policy

• May supplant high school courses and threaten teachers jobs

• High school credits may not be automatically earned

College credit • Simpler for students and instructors

• Missed opportunity for students to earn credit towards graduation

Types of Supports

Type Definition and examplesAcademic Focused on academic skills, i.e.: tutoring

Behavioral Focused on developing non-academic skills and habits, i.e.: study skills support

College knowledge Focused on helping students gain access to college, i.e.: assistance with financial aid applications

Sources of SupportSource Pros and cons

High school Pros: Familiar environment; visible support systemsCons: May not be useful for college coursework

College Pros: Authentic; geared towards college courseworkCons: Difficult to access; may be intimidating

Collaboration Pros: Targeted towards the needs of dual enrollment studentsCons: Challenging to develop and implement

What else do I need to consider?

• Quality dual enrollment programs require significant planning and communication among partners

• Activities often shift as lessons are learned through implementation

• Steps to implementation

1. Establish a partnership

• Identify a partner or partners• Engage high-level administrators• Identify a lead partner • Define partners’ roles and division of labor• Communicate clearly and frequently• Write and execute a Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU)

2. Familiarize the Partners with Relevant Regulations

• What are your state regulations regarding dual enrollment?– Which program features are addressed? – Is there funding for dual enrollment?– On what are they silent?

• Are there any additional district or college regulations?

• Identify the barriers and challenges regulations may present

3. Determine Your Program Model

• Using the decision matrices presented earlier, decide upon:– Program courses and sequences– Course logistics (where, when, and who)– Student supports

4. Determine Your Costs

• What will the costs be?– Courses and instructors– Books– Transportation– Staff time for coordination and oversight– Costs associated with support activities

• Who will pay, and for what?– How will you split funding requirements?– Will students pay some portion?– What type of grant funding is available?

Funding• Funding arrangements vary widely, with

implications for institutions and individuals.• Tuition:

– Students paying tuition may exclude low-income students.– Institutional responsibility for tuition may discourage institutional

participation, particularly when institutions are already suffering from low funding.

– State funding may be unstable.• FTE/ ADA:

– Losing funds can be a disincentive for participation for institutions.

– Double-funding may not be politically popular.– An alternative: Institutions share the funding burden

5. Promote and Sustain the Program

• Recruit students into the program– Who is responsible for recruitment?– What activities will reach your target student?

• Formal (recruitment fairs) and informal (word-of-mouth) activities

– How can you leverage other partners in your recruitment efforts?

• Develop strategies to make the program sustainable– Promote the program to industry or college partners– Identify external funding opportunities

6. Measure Success

• Descriptive research: Describes your program or students

• Implementation research: Examines program structure and implementation, as related to program quality

• Outcomes research: Analyzes whether students who participate in your program have better outcomes than other, similar students

Websites and ResourcesCommunity College Research Center http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu

Concurrent Courses Initiative http://www.concurrentcourses.org

National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships http://nacep.org

Jobs for the Future http://www.jff.org

Early College High School Initiativehttp://www.earlycolleges.org

Thanks to the James Irvine Foundation!

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Community College Research CenterInstitute on Education and the Economy, Teachers College, Columbia University

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