Achieving College Readiness through a Dual Enrollment Course

Abstract

To increase equitable postsecondary access and success outcomes it is critical to address the college preparedness gap. While Florida International University (FIU) continues to improve retention and graduation gaps for currently enrolled students, it became evident that the university could play a larger role in preparing high school students for college and university. In 2017, FIU developed a dual enrollment version of a currently offered course, SLS1510: Strategies for Success, to address this gap. The purpose of this article is to describe the context in which this decision occurred, the philosophy used to drive development of the course, and the steps taken to pilot the course. This article highlights the successes of the course, including enrollment of over 2,000 students over 4 semesters, along with areas of improvement for future iterations. The findings of the pilot can help to inform colleges and universities who are interested in addressing college preparedness in the k-12 pipeline.

Student Social Class Identity Development: A Perspective on Dual Credit Programming

“…If dual credit programs across the states remain predominantly available in higher socioeconomic regions and not in historically underprivileged regions, there is a greater perceived risk that college students will have developed a lesser sense of self and a lower social class identity. This lesser sense of self and having a lower social class identity can be discovered upon their entering as a freshman and even progressing throughout their first academic year on a college campus (Cram & Bejar, 2019). Essentially, social class identity is centered on the income, wealth, status, and cultural capital of those with more, or less.…”

“…Despite these state-by-state differences, policymakers and practitioners are increasingly guiding secondary education students into enrolling in more dual credit programs across the nation (Burns et al, 2019;Cram & Bejar, 2019;Nelson & Waltz, 2017). An's (2012) research discovered that although these state discrepancies remain predominant, most state dual credit programs tend to focus on regions and school districts where students often graduate high school and move on to attend high tuition charging institutions such as private and/or public out-of-state colleges and universities.…”

“…When this circumstance arises, high school students are able to be placed in the dual credit classroom and are held to the same standards and expected to complete the same coursework. Yet, because they could not afford the dual credit course registration and tuition fee, they will not earn the college credits for their participation (Capstick et al, 2019;Cram & Bejar, 2019;Ecute, 2019). Thus, students' social class identity can be negatively developed by receiving this type of dual credit experience due to a possible feeling of inadequacy raised within them as they are unable to afford an already discounted college course.…”

“…It is also noted that An (2012) supports the notion that dual credit programs positively impact low social class students, as it not only provides students with an inexpensive way to take college courses and earn college credits while still in high school, but also helps prevent remediation of academic underprepared freshmen college students. Not only do interventions such as these move to close the social class and socioeconomic gaps in academic achievement, but long-term success also helps to improve equity in terms of access to postsecondary education and completion (Cram & Bejar, 2019) An ( 2012) claims that when high school students earn more college credits through dual enrollment programs, they are reaching a specific credit threshold that builds their academic momentum toward attaining a college degree (p.3). Dual credit accumulation benefits also have a more meaningful and significant impact on students with less educated parents compared to those with educated parents.…”

“…Education policymakers should focus on developing statewide articulation agreements to provide assurance that students who wish to attend different universities within the state receive the college credits for all dual credit courses taken at the secondary education level. It should be noted that these policies do not exist in all states at this time, contributing to the continued inequity in access to higher education (Cram & Bejar, 2019). The research of Zinth and Barnett (2018) suggests potential strategies in rethinking processes of dual credit programs to help reach more high school studentsincluding those socially and fiscally disadvantaged.…”