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Dual Credit: A Strategy for Accelerating Educational Readiness, Progress, and Completion

Dual Credit: Executive Summary | 2

Executive Summary

This report explores the value that dual credit programs — alternatively known as dual enrollment programs — offer a strategy for accelerating course completion and prog-ress toward completing a degree or certification, as well as for reducing costs associat-ed with taking college courses.

Hobsons and AASA, the School Superintendents Association, have collaborated since 2014 to explore the connection between K–12 and higher education as a way of im-proving student success. Included among these conversations have been shared com-mitments for making big ideas about accelerating completion and reducing costs more actionable. These conversations have focused on the need for thoughtful, collective planning to simplify navigating the K-20 educational pathways that loosely connect the major subsections of the U.S. education ecosystem. Furthermore, the conversations have made the value of working together to help students of all ages make more effec-tive education decisions even more evident.

As the premier provider of advising and admissions, enrollment management, and student success platforms, Hobsons is committed to enabling better educational de-cision-making at each point in the learning through life value chain. Hobsons’ partner-ship with AASA has paid particular attention to high school goal setting and college to


career planning. Hobsons has contributed to the development and advancement of education leaders through support of the AASA Collaborative and the Superintendent National Certification Program. This survey is part of an ongoing collaboration.

Determining the Current State of Dual Credit Programs

In March 2016, AASA surveyed its membership to determine how leaders are using dual credit programs in their districts. AASA reached out to superintendents from around the United States to learn more about dual credit program adoption and im-plementation, with attention paid to the perceived value, liabilities, and potential effect on student achievement.

This report presents the results of these inquiries, originally presented on June 10, 2016, at a convening of AASA and AACC, the American Association of Community Col-leges, which was hosted by Hobsons in Alexandria, Virginia. The report offers an over-view of dual credit programs in the United States, viewed through the lens of senior school district administrators, including superintendents of all ranks. It will serve as the foundation for pursuing ongoing collaborative interests with AASA and AACC as well as other student success stakeholders working to better navigate opportunities to support student success at each point along the K-20 education journey.

Impetus for Survey Research

Pursuit of this survey research and summary report emerged from Hobsons’ and AASA’s shared interest in learning more about how dual credit programs are deployed at U.S. high schools. The research sought to determine whether dual credit programs are currently driving value for both districts and their students, and if so, to provide information on what it takes for programs to be successful. Dual credit programs rep-resent an important strategy for expanding access to curricular offerings, and for pre-senting students with alternatives for accelerating college completion, as well as for reducing costs. It is important to begin by looking at dual credit programs through the eyes of those who are charged with their successful implementation.

This summary describes the current status of dual credit programs and the percep-tions of value held by school district leadership. It describes specific benefits accrued from dual credit programs as perceived by district leadership and identifies possible barriers to optimized adoption. It asks whether dual credit program completion is an effective indicator for diagnosing student readiness for college and questions whether the broad adoption of dual credit courses is a sign that U.S. stakeholders may be ready for a K-14 system of education.


What is Dual Credit?

Dual credit programs are academic programs of study in which students complete courses in high school that have been reviewed and approved for receiving college credit. Dual credit programs have been a part of the educational landscape in the Unit-ed States for more than 60 years. In the early days, programs opening access to college courses were aimed primarily at high-achieving students. However, the significant val-ue of expanding access to courses and programs that would not otherwise be avail-able to students in rural districts has been obvious in parts of the country where access to college programs and courses are constrained by distance or geography.

Dual Credit Program Evolution

Dual credit programs have been a part of the educational landscape in the United States since the College Board introduced Advanced Placement (AP) courses in 1955 and later added the International Baccalaureate (IB) degree option in 1968. While these programs were aimed primarily at high-achieving students, they made clear the value and benefits of expanding access to courses and programs that would not otherwise be available. Dual credit programs aimed at expanding curricular choices and career or technical training have been growing steadily since the 1980s. Since President Obama’s 2009 call to dramatically improve U.S. college retention, progress, and completion, in-terest in dual credit programs has mushroomed.

This growth has expanded to now include a variety of curricular offerings, in a vari-ety of forms and modes of instructional delivery. Courses can be offered at the high school campus, the college campus, or at a community center. They can be taught face-to-face or via distance learning. Dual credit courses can be taught by a high school instructor, a college instructor, or both. There is also variation in the subject disciplines with a distinction between an academic and career or technical focus.

However, dual credit programs need to conform with policies and procedures for both high schools and colleges. Dual credit courses offer college-level credit (although the transferability of that credit can be an issue), but the concurrent provision of credit to-ward a high school diploma is not universal. Moreover, high school students enrolled in these courses may, in some instances, pursue only high school credit. By virtue of offering college-level credit, the instructors who teach these courses are, by definition, “college-level instructors.” However, many are also high school teachers.


There is one significant exclusion from dual credit programs: remedial or developmen-tal courses are often explicitly excluded from the domain of dual credit coursework since those are generally not considered to be college-level courses. Student eligibility requirements vary widely, including criteria related to high school GPA, standardized test scores, college placement test scores, high school class rank, or other course prerequisites.

Given the various and multiple dimensions of dual credit program articulation, it is easy to see how these complex undertakings can baffle even the most dedicated dis-trict leader.

The National Center for Educational Statistics (2013) and the Higher Learning Com-


mission (2013) both published comprehensive overviews of dual enrollment and dual credit programs in each of the 50 states, reflecting the need to align burgeoning in-terests in programs offering concrete solutions for responding to progress and com-pletion challenges. The variety of policies, politics, and opinions related to the various dimensions of dual credit program operations, including student eligibility, faculty eli-gibility, funding, course delivery partnerships, and transfer articulation, have made this a more divergent conversation than one might expect.

Research Assumptions

Despite their challenges, dual credit programs do appear to offer an opportunity for accel-erating completion of a more diverse collection of courses, earning college credit before matriculating in college programs, frequently through free or reduced rate enrollment options for course and credit attainment. They also provide advanced and specialized courses and programs, providing high schools with extended curricular offerings re-gardless of physical location. It was with these perceived benefits in mind that research-ers approached this opportunity to learn more about dual credit programs in practice.

Elementary

Secondary

CC/CareerEd

University

Workplace

Illustration 1: Components of the P-20 Education System in the United States

The research was framed by an assumption that the points of transition experienced by students as they traverse the subsectors of the educational system in the United States represent points of loss in the system. That is, there are points of misalign-ment between elementary schools, secondary schools, community colleges, career and technical education centers, regional institutions, comprehensive and research institutions, and finally, life-long workplace development.

For example, knowing that 40 percent of graduating high school students do not apply to college, even though they are eligible to do so, is clear evidence that student suc-cess must be better served by paying much closer attention to effective career and college planning at these points of transition. Reducing system friction will help reduce loss and attrition, but only to the degree that students, their families, and their institu-tions — particularly the school counselors working with students — are prepared to en-


gage and participate in their educational future. Dual credit programs that accelerate transitions between high school and college may represent an immediate opportunity for reducing friction in the system.

Survey Methodology

Hobsons staff developed a 17 question survey that included a combination of demographic questions, forced choice questions, and Likert-styled opinion scaling. Questions were reviewed by both Hobsons and AASA professional staff and stakeholders. Surveys were distributed to 4,500 AASA members in March 2016. The survey was open for two weeks; members were sent one reminder to complete. AASA received 424 completed surveys. Results, including histograms and crosstabs, were compiled by AASA. Hobsons analyzed the results and summarized the findings.


Survey Questions

The survey asked school district leaders :

• Are dual credit programs a part of the district’s strategic plan?

• What partnerships were needed to operate dual enrollment programs?

• What barriers and benefits are generally associated with dual enrollment programs?

• Does the completion of dual enrollment courses mean a student is ready for college?

• Should the U.S. system of K-12 education consider becoming a K-14 System?


Demographic Overview of Respondents

Survey respondents included 330 superintendents, 40 assistant superintendents, 9 as-sociate or deputy superintendents, 26 directors, and 7 principals.

Other | 1.4%No Response | 1.4%

Associate/Deputy Superintendent | 2.1%

Principal | 1.7%

Superintendent77.8%

Assistant Superintendent9.4%

Director | 6.1%

Illustration 2: Distribution of professional positions of survey respondents

Survey responses came from 48 states; only West Virginia, Hawaii, and the District of Columbia were not included among respondents.

■ 0–5 respondents■ 6–10 respondents■ 11–15 respondents■ 16+ respondents

In what state is your district located?

Illustration 2: Geographic distribution of survey respondents


Survey Respondents by Enrollment

The majority of survey respondents came from districts with enrollment of fewer than 3,000, self-reporting as rural.

No Response | 1.2%100,000+| 1.2%

50,000–99,999 | 1.4%25,000–49,999 | 2.4%

10,000–24,999 | 10.8%

5,000–9,999 | 12.3%

3,000–4,999 | 13.4%

1,000–2,999 | 29.5%

1–999 | 27.8%Illustration 3: Number of students in district

Status of School District

No Response | 1.9%

Rural | 58.7%

Suburban |27.8%

Urban | 11.6%

Illustration 4: Status of school district

Eighty-four percent of the respondents indicated that dual credit was reflected in


their strategic plans, with 95 percent of responding districts currently offering dual credit courses. Of the 14 respondents noting that their districts did not currently offer dual credit courses, 11 indicated that dual credit programs were anticipated within the next year.

No Response | 0.9%Strongly Disagree | 2.6%Disagree | 4.2%

Neutral | 8.5%

Agree | 30.7%

Strongly Agree | 53.1%

Illustration 5: Dual credit programs are reflected in my district’s strategic plan

My District Currently Offers Dual Credit Programs

No Response | 1.7%No | 3.3%

Yes | 95%

Illustration 6: My district currently offers dual credit programs


Respondents indicated the number of dual credit courses they offered.

Don't Know | 2.2%No Response | 1.2%

More than 20 Courses | 19.5%

11–20 Courses | 22.9%

5–10 Courses | 36.3%

1–4 Courses | 17.8%

Illustration 7: Number of dual credit programs offered

Respondents were asked to indicate all of the partnerships used by their districts to support the delivery and oversight of dual credit programs. Public two-year institutions were noted as most frequent partners with K-12 districts, representing 79.8 percent of the respondents. Close to 53 percent of respondents indicated they were partnering with four-year public institutions. Technical colleges represented just over one-third of all dual credit partnerships. Given the importance of having a qualified instructor avail-able to deliver what is, effectively, a college class, there should be no surprise about the value of establishing partnerships with a postsecondary partner. Community colleges appear to be the dual credit institutional partner of choice.

12.7%

10.5%

34.6%

79.8%

52.9%

19.3%

5.4%

2.2%

Other School District(s)

Co-op(s) / Area Service Center(s)

Technical College(s)

Community College(s)

Public Four-Year Institution(s)

Private Four-Year Institution(s)

Local Business(es)

Other

Illustration 8: Partnerships for oversight and delivery of dual credit programs


The modality of the dual credit programs delivery indicated that 85.1 percent of dual credit programs are delivered onsite at the school district. Technology-enabled deliv-ery, including online and blended programs, is becoming an increasingly important consideration as part of the overall strategy for instructional delivery. Both site-based and distributed delivery options give districts an opportunity to address concerns re-lated to student transportation and safety.

42.9%

33.4%

50.5%

85.1%

Online

Blended (combination of technology and site-based instruction)

On-site at a College or University Campus

On-site at the School District

Illustration 9: Dual credit course delivery modality

The perceived benefits coming from participation in the dual credit programs high-lighted the importance of access to college courses and affordability, with more than 94 percent of survey respondents noting the importance of both benefits. Expanded curricular offerings were noted as a benefit by more than 87 percent of respondents.

Taking college-level courses in a dual credit program was seen as a way to improve the likelihood of being accepted in college by almost two-thirds of all survey respondents. Seventy-two percent of respondents agreed that dual credit courses improved the like-lihood of securing better career options in the future.

A notable benefit of dual credit programs participation reflected in the “Other” catego-ry was that dual credit programs support students’ aspirational development. Respon-dents noted that students are inspired and motivated when they see they are able to complete college-level work. This was especially notable in districts serving lower so-cio-economic students, first-generation students, and students looking for challenging academic experiences more aligned with personal interests.

10.5%

72.2%

65.6%

87.1%

94.4%

94.4%Improve Access to College Courses

Improve Affordability of College Courses

Improve Access to Expanded Curriculum

Improve Likelihood of Being Accepted to College

Improve Likelihood of Better Career Options

Other

Illustration 10: Benefits that dual credit programs provide to students


Several of the perceived barriers to dual credit programs success are related to costs: costs to the district for delivering programs, costs for higher education institutions in-terested in supporting dual credit program delivery and oversight, and costs for partic-ipating students and their families. Collectively, costs represent a barrier to more than 80 percent of the survey respondents.

However, the single most important barrier cited by survey respondents was the lack of credentialed instructors for delivering dual credit programs. Lack of qualified in-structors is a particular concern for rural district administrators. The number of other issues, ranging from state legislation to lack of curricular alignment and unclear da-ta-sharing agreements, suggest that a district’s ability to realize the full value of dual credits depends upon that district’s willingness to navigate through a lot of murkiness to find a path with the right programs and partnerships in place.

Going back to Illustration 2’s relatively heavy cluster of district representation in the central United States may be attributed to regional efforts by the HLC (Higher Learning Commission), located in Chicago, to provide guidance for determining qualified faculty for accreditation and assumed practices. This means that the expectations that HLC has established for faculty preparation among its regionally accredited institutions is also expected for all high school teachers teaching dual credit courses.

5.1%

17.1%

8.5%

4.4%

4.4%

15.6%

9.8%

12.2%

17.6%

3.4%

55.1%

22.0%

30.2%

5.4%

28.5%Cost to District

Cost to Higher Ed Institution

Cost to Student/Family

Cost of Course Resources to Family

Lack of Credentialed Instructors

Lack of Standards for Earning Credit

Finding Time to Build Partnership

State Legislation

Lack of Faculty Support

Lack of Interest from Institutions

Lack of Assessment

Lack of Career Alignment

Lack of Curricular Alignment

Unclear Data Sharing Agreements

Other

Illustration 11: Biggest barriers to offering dual credit courses

Approximately one-half of the superintendents completing the survey generally agreed with the statement that completing a dual credit course is evidence that a high school student is college ready, of which 20 percent of respondents strongly agreed.


Neutral respondents pointed out that the ability to complete a college course may show signs of intellectual ability but may not reflect the necessary emotional maturity required to be successful in a college setting.

No Response | 2.0% Strongly Disagree | 1.0 %Disagree | 4.4%

Neutral | 22.9%

Agree | 50.7%


Illustration 12: The successful completion of a dual credit course is evidence that a student is college ready

With the growing evidence that job opportunities of the future will require some level of higher education, when asked if the K-12 system in the United State should evolve into a K-14 system approximately one-third of all survey respondents agreed with the statement, with 29 percent of all respondents disagreeing. More than 35 percent of all respondents took a neutral position on the question. This suggests that the value of shifting gears and extending the current model of elementary and secondary educa-tion to include two additional years of what has traditionally been seen as postsecond-ary programming still needs to be socialized, discussed, and evaluated.

“We know dual enrollment empowers students. We

hope to learn how Pell facilitates dual enrollment

participation, affordability, and completion.”

Yuanxia DingSenior Policy AdvisorUnited States Department of Education


Dual credit programs may be one of the solutions for actively responding to the chal-lenge of accelerating college course completion, and reducing costs to students by shifting the responsibility for paying for courses from students and their families to K-12 settings that receive public funding for operations and expenditures.

Strongly Disagree | 7.1%

Disagree | 21.4%

Neutral | 35.7%

Agree | 21.5%


Illustration 13: The US K-12 public education system should evolve into a K-14 system


In Support of Dual Credit Programs for Accelerating Completion and Reducing Costs

During the next year, Hobsons will continue to collaborate with AASA and AACC to explore opportunities to remove friction as students migrate between high school and college. Results of this first survey showed that dual credit adoption is ubiquitous, yet the number of barriers, especially those related to instructor preparation, call for thoughtful consideration of multiple paths for demonstrating competence.

The survey indicates that the greatest long-term value to be derived from dual credit programs will come when high school and college leaders align programs from high schools to colleges and back again. With this in mind, Hobsons is collaborating with AACRAO, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, to undertake a study of dual credit programs from the perspective of higher education institutions in the United States. Hobsons plans to present the findings of this research at the AACRAO Strategic Enrollment Management Conference in November 2016 in San Antonio, Texas.

Hobsons has reached out to several regional higher educational accreditors, including the Higher Learning Commission, to include them in these important discussions.

Additionally, Hobsons continues to actively explore the world of academic transfer to find ways to align transcript evaluation with program evaluation. Hobsons will con-tinue to explore policies and practices guiding academic credit transfer articulation during the next year to continue efforts to reduce friction in the system.

References

Higher Learning Commission (2013) Dual Credit in U.S. Higher Education: A Study of State Policy and Quality Assurance Practice. Council of Regional Accreditation Commis-sions and the Lumina Foundation. https://www.hlcommission.org/Accreditation- Processes/dual-credit-programs-and-courses.html

Marken, S., Gray, L., Lewis, L. Ralph, J. (2013) National Center for Education Statistics Dual Enrollment Programs and Courses for High School Students at Postsecondary Institutions: 2010–11. First Look. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2013/2013002.pdf

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http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2013/2013002.pdf

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Dual Credit: A Strategy for Accelerating Educational ...blogs.edweek.org › edweek › high_school_and_beyond › Dual_Credit_S… · Dual credit programs have been a part of the