Learning From The Past: Dual Credit

Early college high schools are a promising but expensive pathway to college readiness. Most such schools are supported with state funds and/or grants. This descriptive case study presents an early college program, now in its fourth year in a traditional high school, in which the families, high school and community college shared the entire cost. Data from document analysis and interviews with administrators, parents and students clarified the funding plan and participant reactions. Joint ownership increased parental engagement, student academic commitment and administrator attention. The results suggest that learning to cope with the cost of college, which this program necessitated, is an important aspect of college readiness for both students and parents. The model of shared responsibility is contrasted with the “hold harmless” model of government/foundation support that relieves schools and families of the cost of early college programming. The findings and policy recommendations are applicable to LEA and SEA leaders, philanthropies and scholars in educational financial policy.

Blending in and standing out: College-going rates across charter and traditional public high schools

Early Colleges (ECs) provide high school students access to college coursework with the goal of increasing postsecondary opportunities for traditionally underrepresented students. We examine the impact of ECs on postsecondary attainment, calculate the resulting monetary benefits, and then estimate the per-student costs of ECs compared to traditional high schools to compare costs and benefits. Our findings indicate that students enrolling in ECs in our study are more likely to attend college and graduate with an associate or bachelor's degree. Increased educational attainment from EC enrollment results in lifetime benefits of almost $58,000 per student. ECs cost approximately $950 more than traditional high schools per student per year, resulting in an overall cost of $3,800 more per student across four years of high school. Comparing benefits to cost, we estimate a net present value (NPV) of $54,000 per student and a benefit to cost ratio of 15.1. Even when using conservative estimates of costs (upper bound) and benefits (lower bound), we calculate an NPV of over $27,000 and a benefit to cost ratio of 4.6. These results indicate that investment in ECs pays off through increased earnings for EC students, increased tax revenue, and decreased government spending.

There has been limited research on academic tracking and depressive symptoms among high school students in Jamaica. Students enrolled in Grade 10 of traditional and nontraditional high schools in Jamaica were surveyed ( N = 278). Students completed the Beck Depression Inventory—II along with several other measures. Seven in every 10 students reported some symptoms of depression. Results of hierarchical regression analyses controlling for social class found that students attending nontraditional high schools reported significantly higher Beck Depression Inventory—II depression scores than students in traditional high schools. This was particularly true for male students attending nontraditional high schools. The strong emphasis on academic achievement and the tracking of students may have a negative association with Jamaican students’ depressive symptoms.

School districts across the U.S. are experimenting with various reforms in an attempt to bridge the gap between secondary and postsecondary education and create greater access to postsecondary education for all students. One such reform initiative is the Early College High School (ECHS) model, which allows high school students to earn a diploma and two years of college credit. This qualitative study employed a narrative non-fiction approach, which enabled us to highlight students' voices and experiences in order to examine the social and academic experiences of ECHS graduates in post-secondary environments. Data sources included one-on-one interviews with participants. After the data collection, narrative texts were created from the stories collected so that readers can better identify with the lives of the participants. The narrative texts were then analyzed for common themes, including academic preparation, support services, costs of ECHS participation, and relationships with peers. Participants felt that ECHS attendance positively impacted their academic and social experiences at the post-secondary level and also attested to the sacrifice and determination the ECHS program demanded.

Dual credit courses are used to recruit high school students by offering college level credit in classes they take during their high school experience. For this study, the subjects consisted of freshmen students attending a mid-sized regional Tennessee university. This research explores the transition of students’ successes in terms of their continued education once they begin their college level classes at an institution of higher learning. More specifically, this research examines the academic level of achievement of dual credit students’ first semester out of high school as compared to their academic level of achievement upon entering with dual credit coursework.

Early college high schools (ECHS) are small schools of choice which provide students with the opportunity to earn, at no financial cost to them, two years of transferable college credit or an associate's degree while simultaneously satisfying high school graduation requirements. This promising intervention is aimed at smoothing the transition from high school to college for under-represented minorities and students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. There are about 80 ECHS in North Carolina, although the model is implemented in many other states as well.
 While much is known from prior research about the impacts of the intervention on educational attainment, nothing is known about longer term outcomes such as employment, wages, criminal involvement, and voting behavior. The present study will briefly describe the data collection process, research methods, and preliminary findings on the effects of the intervention on voting and criminal conviction in North Carolina. We will also present results on whether impacts on long term civic outcomes are mediated by educational attainment. Quasi-experimental impacts have been validated against impacts generated from a randomized controlled trial of the same intervention in a subset of the sites during the same time period.
 The team assembled personally-identified population level statewide administrative data on all NC high school students (including ECHS) and linked it to records housed at community colleges, universities, the Department of Public Safety (incarceration), and Board of Elections (voting). Together this effort comprises one of the more comprehensive administrative data collection efforts linking student level K-12, postsecondary, and longer-term outcomes.

Early college high schools are a new and rapidly spreading model that merges the high school and college experiences and that is designed to increase the number of students who graduate from high school and enroll and succeed in postsecondary education. This article presents results from a federally funded experimental study of the impact of the early college model on Grade 9 outcomes. Results show that, as compared to control group students, a statistically significant and substantively higher proportion of treatment group students are taking core college preparatory courses and succeeding in them. Students in the treatment group also have statistically significantly higher attendance and lower suspension rates than students in the control group.

Since 2001 several states have adopted the requirement that high school students either take the SAT or ACT to assess high school programs or assist students in accessing post-secondary-educational opportunities. In 2012 the state of North Carolina adopted a new accountability program that included the ACT as a measure of college readiness. Previous research on the relationship between school districts and school level performance found that district size had a role in school achievement. This study looked at how district factors influenced the ACT performance of students across North Carolina in an effort to better understand if there were district factors other than size that may be influencing student performance and how high school reforms, given the influence of district factors is meeting the goal of increasing student college readiness. The results of this study are as follows. (1) District factors are related to school level performance, where student race and parental education levels were found to be significant predictors of achievement, (2) the traditional school level factors of race and student socioeconomic status did significantly predict ACT scores, and (3) as a high school reform model, students attending early college high schools did score higher on the ACT as compared to traditional high schools.

Cognitive and noncognitive college readiness were assessed for participants in the Huskins dual credit program (n = 42), non-Huskins dual enrollment program (n = 10), and Early College High School (n = 31) at Mitchell Community College in Statesville, North Carolina. College readiness was also assessed for two comparison groups: nonconcurrently-enrolled college bound high school students (n = 32) and regularly matriculated college students (n = 50). Cognitive college readiness variables included the percentage of Cs or better in college transfer courses and the rate of acceptance into colleges at various degrees of entrance difficulty. Noncognitive college readiness variables included commitment to education, self- and resource-management skills, interpersonal and social skills, academic success skills, and career planning skills. After controlling for the effects of age, ethnicity, gender, prior completion of college transfer courses, completion of developmental education courses, verbal skills, and mathematical skills, the Huskins and non-Huskins dual enrollment groups had significantly higher probabilities of Cs or better than the college comparison group. After controlling for the effects of age, ethnicity, gender, and pretest levels of the five noncognitive college readiness variables, the Huskins and non-Huskins dual-enrollment groups had significantly higher levels of career planning skills than the high school comparison group. Although the results did not prove the existence of a causal relationship, they supported the notion that concurrent enrollment might have a positive impact on college readiness.

Generational Immigration Status Modifies the Association Between Psychosocial Distress and Substance Use Among Alternative High School Students

У статті досліджено програми раннього вступу до університетів та коледжів для обдарованих старшокласників у США. Схарактеризовано спеціальні програми для обдаро-ваних старшокласників, які в своєму інтелектуальному, емоційному та особистісному розвитку на декілька років випереджають ровесників. Доведено, що всі програми раннього вступу до університетів у різних штатах базуються на стратегіях прискореного і збагаченого навчання; виокремлено організаційні відмінності такого навчання у різних штатах. Проаналізовано сутність таких програм раннього вступу, як Міжнародний Бакалаврат, академічні олімпіади й конкурси, літні школи, волонтерські програми, тощо. Авторами окреслено шляхи імплементації американського досвіду раннього вступу до закладів вищої освіти в Україні.

This study explored the implementation of a novel approach to dual credit referred to as the facilitator model that can be suited for STEM-focused coursework such as courses focused on engineering, design, technology, and innovation. Unlike other models, high school teachers facilitate the implementation of a college course for both high school and college credit in collaboration with a university instructor who evaluates student learning. This novel approach was specifically implemented for an open-ended undergraduate design course within an engineering technology college, similar to many first-year engineering course experiences that emphasize project-based learning, from a large research-intensive public university. For this study, the facilitator model was piloted with five high school teachers as facilitators of an undergraduate design course for dual credit at two innovative, STEM-focused public charter schools. The qualitative research design focused on examining (1) teacher needs while implementing, and perceptions of, the dual credit facilitator model for an undergraduate design course in urban public charter schools and (2) the impact of this model on student learning. This study included the collection and analysis of over 90 h of interviews, focus groups, surveys, and observations. Results provide a promising outlook for the use of the facilitator model when delivering dual credit content that is open ended and within the context of design, technology, and engineering by (1) navigating multiple institutional policies and processes related to dual-credit implementation, (2) providing ongoing support and fostering collaboration between high schools and university, (3) enabling students to earn directly transcripted college credits that count as a required course toward degree completion, and (4) increasing affordability and access to dual credit coursework. These potential advantages over other dual credit models can help address barriers that may limit access to dual credit coursework, specifically for underserved high schools.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41979-022-00075-5.

States have introduced a range of policies and strategies aimed at boosting college readiness by strengthening collaborations between secondary and postsecondary education sectors. One popular strategy is Early College High Schools, which allows historically underserved student groups to complete college-level coursework and improve their college readiness while still in high school. This study examined the influence of academic momentum during high school on key measures of postsecondary success for ECHS students in a suburban school district in Texas. This quantitative study analyzed data for five ECHS graduating classes from a Texas community college and school district. Data analysis for the first research question included descriptive statistics. The second research question used a multinomial logistic regression model to determine the relationship between momentum measures and postsecondary matriculation. At-risk and low SES students were less likely to matriculate to a 2- or 4-year postsecondary institution. Overall, ECHS graduates who earned a degree while still in high school were more likely to matriculate to a 2- or 4-year postsecondary institution. Support structures embedded within the small learning environment of an ECHS can provide graduates an opportunity to learn behaviors important for college success. Recommended strategies for improving the ECHS model are provided.

Early college high school models are designed to encourage and assist traditionally underrepresented groups of students — low income, Latino, and African-American — to persist in and graduate from high school while earning college credit. Some of the models target high school dropouts, with the aim of helping them acquire the education and training that could lead to better outcomes. The authors review and discuss several such early college designs. By locating in or near a college campus, early colleges first introduce, gradually expose, and then immerse students in the college experience. These models have garnered support from the philanthropic community, which has helped the early college models spread and grow.