In Part 1 (an earlier post) I told a story of a student who only learned by the “multiplying method”. But that was only half of the story. The half I didn’t tell you is that those 65 hours of college credit were also the student’s junior and senior high school classes.
This was a little confusing to me. The student is 18. She just graduated from high school. But she immediately entered Sam Houston as a college junior with 65 credit hours because all her junior and senior high school classes are also simultaneously community college classes. Her high school teachers were also, simultaneously, teaching the same class in the same room at the same time to the same students as a cross-listed community college class [1].
This is called “dual-enrollment.”
I thought I knew “dual-enrollment.” Several of my children took college classes during their senior year and high school credit was an option. But it never occurred to me that a high school could just make all its college-bound junior & senior classes into (simultaneous) classes for community college credit!
These “college classes” were not at the college level. The student received a failing grade in one math class but then, after her mother complained to her teacher, her high school (= college?) teacher then let her rework some problems and pull her grade up to a passing grade. This teacher continued to let her rework problems and pull up failing grades in later “college” classes. This apparently explains how she achieved a C in “College Algebra” in her high school math class in her senior year.
Her math SAT score was in the 11th percentile nationally, far below college requirements. But here at Sam Houston she was advised out of our developmental math classes and into precalculus because her high school senior math class (“College Algebra”) transferred in as our freshman College Algebra class.
This is a new wrinkle in the transition from high school to college. Community colleges in Texas now certify high school teachers to be community college teachers and then anoint their classes with college credit. This solves problems with high school budgets and the high school/college transition. College is now high school.
But wait! Why stop at two years of college credit for high school classes?! Why not give four years of college credit? Students should be able to graduate from high school with a college degree! And, given our shortage of medical doctors, why not let students graduate from high school with medical degrees? The possibilities are endless!
(I get sarcastic when I'm angry.)
(I get sarcastic when I'm angry.)
In an earlier blog I expressed concerns about removing “education” from “higher education.” In this post I am concerned that we are also removing the term “higher.”
1. Footnote: Read this webpage on "Early College". Then answer the following quiz question (multiple choice): To market our new program to parents and legislators, we should describe our program as A. “friendly,” B. “easy,” C. “rigorous,” D. “supportive.” (Choose two.)
I wonder how this compares to AP (Advanced Placement) high school classes? AP classes seemed to have a nice control/assessment feature--a student had to do well on a national exam to earn college credit. Does this replace the AP program?!
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine, who is a high school teacher, said that high school teachers like "Early College" because they get an extra paycheck. And school districts like this because, unlike the AP classes, college credit "is a sure thing." With high school students in AP classes, where the AP exam acts as an external monitor, it is not clear whether your students will do well enough to earn college credit. But with Early College, the college teachers ARE your own high school teachers. And these high school teachers (under pressures from students, parents, principals, school superintendents) decide who gets college credit.
ReplyDeletePlease tell me this is a "Texas only" thing.
ReplyDeleteEarly College is in 28 states and the District of Columbia according to http://www.earlycolleges.org.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. We are dealing with this issue as well. The local students are taking "College Algebra" in high school and the pass rates are almost 100% (or are 100% at some schools) and of course our pass rates at the university are much lower. To gain some control, we are being asked to become "consultants" (or some other similar word) to the high school teachers. We will be asked to observe the teachers to make sure they are actually teaching the material. Of course, we will have to cancel our own college classes to travel to the high schools to do this.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the education the student receives will mostly depend on what type of teacher is teaching the class. As a high school teacher, I know of A LOT of teachers who give out easy grades for doing very little. The advantage the AP program has is that the students are held accountable at the end of the year on a test that the teacher has nothing to do with. If a teacher has had no rigor in the class, the students will not pass the test. In DC classes, from what I understand, it is completely up to the teacher to decide who passes and fails. Also, with AP classes, the universities have more flexibility in what tests and scores they want to accept, which I don't believe is the case with DC classes.
ReplyDeleteI have taken and taught AP classes and from what I've seen, there is no way a student is going to pass the AP test without having learned the material. I do not believe that every student earning college credit in a DC class is learning the material.
This story has now been picked up by The Chronicle of HIgher Ed: http://chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/2013/06/06/the-dark-side-of-dual-enrollment/
ReplyDelete