Before community colleges can jump into offering dual enrollment, they must first build a well-intentioned partnership and assess which pathways are conducive to employment in high-wage, high-need industries, asserts a new report from the Career Ladders Project.
The equity-based nonprofit examined how six pairs of community colleges and K12 districts across the Los Angeles Regional Consortium have worked together to build high-quality dual enrollment partnerships. The increasingly popular postsecondary on-ramp continues to drive positive undergraduate enrollment rates. However, the rate of students’ credential completion varies by state, highlighting gaps between partnerships.
Here are a few takeaways from the Career Ladders Project on how cross-sector partners laid the groudundwork for a successful dual enrollment pathway.
Assess the dual enrollment partnership
Districts and community colleges from the consortium created a short-hand checklist that helped spur conversation on what should be included in their dual enrollment partnerships. Key concepts include the number of high school students who should be served, protocols for information and data sharing, and enrollment requirements.
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Next, the report suggests outlining roles and commitments from key stakeholder groups. Pasadena College, for example, provides professional development for faculty who teach high school students, and Cerritos College has a dedicated faculty liaison who supports dual enrollment instructors.
Pathways should be intentionally designed to serve under-resourced students, who often benefit the least from dual enrollment. One way is to disaggregate participation data to identify which students need proactive outreach and support.
Select the pathway
Student preference and regional labor market data can help community colleges and K12 district partners pinpoint which dual enrollment pathways to develop. Career and technical education makes up the highest percentage of course offerings available in the Los Angeles consortium at 29%, followed by the arts (15%) and college and career preparation (12%).
Courses the feed into local employment opportunities can demonstrate the value of education to high school students, the report asserts. “Students and their parents should be informed of the post-high school opportunities that their participation in dual enrollment pathways will lead them toward.”
For example, Centinela Valley Union High School District surveys incoming ninth graders to rank their preferences for existing and potential new pathways.
Read about how the Career Ladders Project suggests implementing plans here.
