Early College Start, Dual Credit, and College Connection

Early College Start,Dual Credit, and

College ConnectionNortheast Texas Community College

April 11, 2008

Presenter

Luanne Preston, Ph.D.

Executive Director

Early College Start and College Connection

Austin Community College

Phone: 512-223-7354

E-mail: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Agenda• Austin Community College• Overview: Closing the Gaps• Early College Start (ECS)

• How it works

• Benefits

• Results

• College Connection and ECS• Best Practices

Agenda

• ACC’s Early College Model Development

• Working Models• Lockhart High School

• Crockett College Academy• How to Build the Model

• Questions/Answers

Austin Community College

• “One College” with 7 campuses

• 34,000 students in credit programs

• Strong commitment to high school outreach programs

Closing the Gaps OverviewClosing the Gaps Overview

• Closing the Gaps warns that if more Texans do not receive college degrees by 2030, the State could lose up to $40 billion in annual household income.

• The goal is to increase student enrollment in higher education by 630,000 by 2015.

• Most students will elect to start at a community college.

• Austin Community College District expects over 15,000 more students by 2015.

Source: http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/ClosingtheGaps/ctgtargets_pdf.cfm?Goal=1

Early College Start

• Umbrella concept for ways students can obtain free/low-cost college credit while in high school• Dual credit

• Co-enrollment

• Tech Prep/Credit-in-escrow

• Pre-enrollment services delivered at high school campus

• ACC outreach program for rising juniors and seniors

College Connection

• Response to “Closing the Gaps”

• Pre-enrollment services delivered at high school campus

• ACC outreach program for 100% of senior class

How ECS WorksDual Credit/Co-enrollment

Students:• Demonstrate college-readiness via state-

approved tests

• Meet all academic skills and college course prerequisites

• Follow the college process for enrollment – services brought to high school campuses

• Register for ACC courses

How ECS WorksDual Credit/Co-enrollment

• ACC waives tuition and fees• for in-district students

• classes taught on high school campuses;

• $40 per-course fee for out-of-district

• Students transfer credit • back to high school

• use at ACC toward degree/certificate

• forward to 4-year institution

How ECS WorksCredit-in-Escrow

Students:• Enroll for high school classes articulated to

college courses

• Complete with a “B” or better

• Upon graduation, apply at ACC

• CATEMA system indicates to student that they have credit to claim

• ACC applies credit-in-escrow to student’s college transcript

How College Connection Works

Seniors• Complete pre-enrollment process on

high school campus during senior year

• Application• Assessment testing• Orientation• Academic advising

How College Connection Works

• Are ready-to-register by graduation• May enroll at ACC as early as the

summer following graduation

Benefits of ECS

• Makes college accessible and affordable

• Supports “Closing the Gaps” state goal

• Creates a college-going culture in high school

• Increases college-going rate

• Creates enrollments for college programs

• Creates familiarity with merits and value of community college

Student Benefits

• Provides free/low-cost college experience

• Fulfills advanced measures for Texas’ Distinguished Achievement Plan

• Enhances seamless transition to college

• Satisfies high school graduation requirement and earns college credit (dual credit)

Student Benefits• Allows completion of college/core

curriculum/general education transfer courses

• Allows CATEMA* statewide registration of Tech Prep credits

• Provides access to courses not available in high school (e.g. Japanese, Russian, photography)

*Career and Technology Education Management application (system to enter, display, update, report data)

ECS and College Connection

• Many student benefits are the same

• Both programs reduce barriers to college attendance

• Both programs are FREE

ECS Results

• 2,500 plus enrollments every semester in ACC’s eight-county service area

• Participants from each of 57 service-area high schools

• College classes offered on 37 high school campuses

• ECS students enter after high school at twice the annual rate for traditional students

Post-High School Entry to ACC (In-district)

2002-2004

0

10

20

30

40

50

ECS 45.7%

In-District High

Schools 19%

Dual vs. TraditionalACC Grade Distribution by Enrollment Status (Dual vs. Traditional) and Delivery Method

(Distance Learning vs. Classroom)

Fall 2006

ECS Student Success

• ECS students have better success indicators than traditional students:• Higher mean GPA• Higher rate of retention

School District Benefits

• Offers large range of college-level opportunities

• Offers increased “menu” options of ECS college credit and AP

• Offers college-level programs that students not considering AP can access

• Offers classes not available in high school curriculum

School District Benefits

• Provides alternative to “wasted” senior year perception/criticism

• Reduces high school personnel units as more students take college classes

• Offers potential to satisfy 4x4 needs

• Is convenient—ACC will offer classes during school day on high school campus

Advantages of ECS

• Students gain a true college experience

• college academic content,

• typical college semester format (rather than over an entire academic year)

• exposed to college professors who meet SACS standards

• Students establish a college transcript

• credit in-hand upon successfully completing the college course

• no additional testing needed

Advantages of ECS

• Ease of transfer of college credit • transfers seamlessly to public institutions in Texas

• transfers easily to Texas private institutions and out-of-state public and private institutions

• Maturing experience for students

• follow college enrollment process

• attend new student orientation

• learn the mechanics of going to college and college survival skills

Advantages of ECS

• Student success in focus at ACC

• access to community college support services (libraries, tutoring labs, computer labs)

High School Partnerships

• College policies and procedures

• Office to implement/staffing to support

• Formal agreements

College Connection Results

• Increased college-going rate in every participating school

• Increased enrollments at ACC

• More students traditionally underrepresented in higher education, particularly African-American and Hispanic, than in the general ACC student population

How ECS and College Connection Work Together

• A strong dual-credit program reduces the need for College Connection services– Dual credit students don’t need to

apply, may require no assessment testing, have already been through orientation, and have college experience

How ECS and College Connection Work Together

• College Connection and ECS services can be delivered at the same time– Takes a little more planning

• College Connection is one more opportunity to help dual credit students with college awareness and college planning

Why Do Austin Community College (ACC) and School Districts Need to Partner?

• Our constituencies overlap (parents, students, business communities)

• We have a common interest in raising educational achievement levels

• Closing the Gaps applies to all of us

• Economic development depends on educated trained workforce

• We have similar challenges

• Funding

• Accountability

• We are stronger when we work together

Early College High Schools/Middle Colleges

• Goal• Blend high school and college • small school concept• secondary and postsecondary

partners take joint responsibility for students

• Curriculum is carefully designed so that students can earn a high school diploma while earning college credit


• Key Characteristics• Engages students in college-level

course work

• Ensures that students graduate with a high school diploma and an associate degree or 2 years of transferable college credit


• Provides access to college, important to economically disadvantaged students

• Assumes that all students will complete a postsecondary credential

• Often targets students who are underrepresented in higher education

Early College High Schools

• Academically rigorous classes• College classes as early as Grade 10• Program completed in 4-5 years• Grade 9 and 10 classes are taught by

school district teachers• Provides guidance and coaching from

high school advisors through the first 2 years of college

Middle Colleges

• Close links with Tech Prep programs

• Flexible schedule allows students to work

• High school diploma comes with college degree

• Provides alternative to traditional high school programs


• Gates Foundation Support• Requirements for dedicated space on

college campus

• Dedicated faculty

• At-risk students, dropout recovery

• Funding mechanism, usually ADA (grant funding is for planning)

• Challenges for ACC

ACC’s Model Development

• How does ACC’s model differ?• Works with available college

resources

• Focuses on completion of core curriculum

• Works within the tuition waiver allowed by ACC policy


• Academic year planning• Can be started by any school in

summer or fall with sufficient enrollment

• Timing and sequence of courses to make sense for rising juniors and seniors

• Hybrid faculty and facility use• Transportation


• Flexibility• Cohort approach

• Application process

• Parent involvement

• Multiple points of entry• Juniors and/or seniors

• During school year only• Students can earn up to a year of college credit


• Flexibility• Adding summer courses allows

students to complete the core curriculum the summer following graduation

Working Models

• Lockhart High School

• Crockett College Academy• Austin ISD

Working Models

• Lockhart High School• Smaller, rural school

• Academic year only (students take summer classes on their own)

• Multiple entry points

• Classes offered in face-to-face format at LHS

• ACC faculty travel to LHS

• Some LHS faculty are also ACC adjunct faculty

Working Models

• Lockhart High School• Students routinely graduate with 24

core college credits

• Savings example: $9,064 (approximate) for 24 hours tuition/ fees, plus room and board for two semesters at Texas A&M

Lockhart High School

Classifi-cation Notes

Fall Semester Spring SemesterACC Course

NumberCourse Title

ACC Course Number

Course Title

JuniorsENGL 1301

English Composition I

ENGL 1302English Composition II

HIST 1301 U.S. History I HIST 1302 U.S. History II

Seniors

Successfully completed ENGL 1301 & 1302

ENGL 2322 British Literature I ENGL 2322British Literature II* or elective

ECON 2302Principles of Microeconomics

GOVT 2305 U.S. Government

Seniors

Didn’t take ACC classes as juniors

ENGL 1301English Composition I

ENGL 1302English Composition II

ECON 2302Principles of Microeconomics

GOVT 2305 U.S. Government

Crockett College Academy

• Cohort approach• Application process

• Selective for a combination of attitude, ability, and college-readiness

• School year and summer classes


• Across the street from ACC’s newest South Austin Campus

• Proximity allows classes taught at both locations

• College and high school-based faculty


• Students:• are largely Hispanic, economically

disadvantaged

• complete almost all of the core curriculum while in high school

• have many course choices based on eventual AA/AS and BA/BS degree sought


• receive agreed-upon extra support in first two semesters

• First class is “Effective Learning” taught at CHS

• Accompanied to second class at SAC by a high school faculty member to reinforce “Effective Learning” concepts, and to help stay on track for successful, first core curriculum course completion

• All ACC student success services, including tutoring, available to CCA students


How to Build the Model

• Find your public ed/higher ed partner

• Start with an academic year plan• What to offer

• When to offer

• How much to offer

• Promote to students/parents

How to Build…

• Make good use of faculty resources• Check for master’s-degreed high

school faculty or recent retirees (they understand high schools and high school students

• Enlist support of college department chairs

• Designate a “point person” for each institution

How to Build…

• Schedule classes

• Arrange transportation, textbooks, supervision, college and campus orientation• Who does this?

• Register students (use best method)• Cohort registration by college to ensure

access to correct section(s)

How to Build…

• Students use registration with guidance

• Monitor progress• Check with faculty and students• Check student grades/retention

• Refine system• CCA will change application, selected

larger cohort for second year• LHS adding new courses

Questions/Answers

Find a copy of this presentation at:www.austincc.edu/isd/ntcc/041108Presentation.ppt

http://www.austincc.edu/isd/ntcc/041108Presentation.ppt

Documents

Early College Start, Dual Credit, and College Connection