[Ohiogift] report on Dual Credit policies

[Margaret DeLacy]

Friends:

The Education Commission of the States has released a report on model dual-enrollment policies to guide state policymakers.

You can find the report at 

http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/01/10/91/11091.pdf

It contains thirteen "components" (i.e. policy recommendations).  They all look good to me. Below is the one that caught my eye:

Margaret


Component
2
:
Student eligibility requirements
are based on demonstration of ability to access college-
level content (i.e., college placement exams)

Eligibility for dual
enrollment should hinge on demonstrated academic abilities, not bureaucratic
procedures or information that is not directly related to a student’s academic abilities or plan of study.
Moreover, districts should not depend on difficult-to-measure student attributes determined by school,
district or postsecondary staff, such as“ability to benefit,” “maturity” or “motivation.”
States should also be wary of predicating student eligibility
entirely on local board or institutional
policies, as local variations in expectations may create barriers in one community that do not exist in
another one. Access is improved when policies are easy to understand, minimize bureaucratic
procedures and are consistently implemented.

Eligibility requirements should be based on quantifiable, reliable and valid indicators of a student’s
ability to succeed in a postsecondary course. Also, eligibility criteria should mirror those
criteria otherwise expected for students who are not in high school. Why would the prerequisite requirements
for College Algebra differ for high school students and adult students? Similarly, eligibility requirements
should be the same regardless of whether a student is accessing the course at the postsecondary
campus or at his/her high school.

Eligibility criteria should not have their basis in non-cognitive factors
such as a student’s age or academic standing.