Early College Start, Dual Credit, and College Connection

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Early College Start,Dual Credit, andCollege
Connection
Northeast Texas Community College April 11, 2008
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Presenter

• Luanne Preston, Ph.D.
• Executive Director
• Early College Start and College Connection
• Austin Community College
• Phone [phone]
• E-mail luanne_at_austincc.edu

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Agenda

• Austin Community College
• Overview Closing the Gaps
• Early College Start (ECS)
• How it works
• Benefits
• Results
• College Connection and ECS
• Best Practices

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Agenda

• ACCs Early College Model Development
• Working Models
• Lockhart High School
• Crockett College Academy
• How to Build the Model
• Questions/Answers

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Austin Community College

• One College with 7 campuses
• 34,000 students in credit programs
• Strong commitment to high school outreach
  programs

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Closing 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/ClosingtheGap
  s/ctgtargets_pdf.cfm?Goal1

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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

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College Connection

• Response to Closing the Gaps
• Pre-enrollment services delivered at high school
  campus
• ACC outreach program for 100 of senior class

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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

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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

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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 students
  college transcript

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How College Connection Works

• Seniors
• Complete pre-enrollment process on high school
  campus during senior year
• Application
• Assessment testing
• Orientation
• Academic advising

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How College Connection Works

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

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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

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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)

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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)

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ECS and College Connection

• Many student benefits are the same
• Both programs reduce barriers to college
  attendance
• Both programs are FREE

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ECS Results

• 2,500 plus enrollments every semester in ACCs
  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

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Post-High School Entry to ACC (In-district)2002-2
004
In-District High Schools 19
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Dual vs. TraditionalACC Grade Distribution by
Enrollment Status (Dual vs. Traditional) and
Delivery Method (Distance Learning vs.
Classroom)Fall 2006
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ECS Student Success

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

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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

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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 convenientACC will offer classes during
  school day on high school campus

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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

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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

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Advantages of ECS

• Student success in focus at ACC
• access to community college support services
  (libraries, tutoring labs, computer labs)

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High School Partnerships

• College policies and procedures
• Office to implement/staffing to support
• Formal agreements

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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

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How ECS and College Connection Work Together

• A strong dual-credit program reduces the need for
  College Connection services
• Dual credit students dont need to apply, may
  require no assessment testing, have already been
  through orientation, and have college experience

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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

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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

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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

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Early College High Schools/Middle Colleges

• 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

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Early College High Schools/Middle Colleges

• 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

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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

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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

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Early College High Schools/Middle Colleges

• 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

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ACCs Model Development

• How does ACCs model differ?
• Works with available college resources
• Focuses on completion of core curriculum
• Works within the tuition waiver allowed by ACC
  policy

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ACCs Model Development

• 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

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ACCs Model Development

• 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

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ACCs Model Development

• Flexibility
• Adding summer courses allows students to complete
  the core curriculum the summer following
  graduation

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Working Models

• Lockhart High School
• Crockett College Academy
• Austin ISD

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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

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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 AM

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Lockhart High School
Classifi-cation Notes Fall Semester Fall Semester Spring Semester Spring Semester
Classifi-cation Notes ACC Course Number Course Title ACC Course Number Course Title
Juniors ENGL 1301 English Composition I ENGL 1302 English Composition II
Juniors HIST 1301 U.S. History I HIST 1302 U.S. History II
Seniors Successfully completed ENGL 1301 1302 ENGL 2322 British Literature I ENGL 2322 British Literature II or elective
Seniors Successfully completed ENGL 1301 1302 ECON 2302 Principles of Microeconomics GOVT 2305 U.S. Government
Seniors Didnt take ACC classes as juniors ENGL 1301 English Composition I ENGL 1302 English Composition II
Seniors Didnt take ACC classes as juniors ECON 2302 Principles of Microeconomics GOVT 2305 U.S. Government
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Crockett College Academy

• Cohort approach
• Application process
• Selective for a combination of attitude, ability,
  and college-readiness
• School year and summer classes

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Crockett College Academy

• Across the street from ACCs newest South Austin
  Campus
• Proximity allows classes taught at both
  locations
• College and high school-based faculty

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Crockett College Academy

• 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

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Crockett College Academy

• 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

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Crockett College Academy
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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

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How to Build

• Make good use of faculty resources
• Check for masters-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

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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)

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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

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