Early College Start

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Early College Start
Statewide Education Summit May 18, 2005
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Improving High School to College Transitions

• Reality Most ISD grads begin their higher
  education at ACC
• Reality Most adults begin their higher education
  at ACC
• THECB Closing the Gaps Initiative -- By 2015,
  close the gaps in participation rates across
  Texas to add 600,000 more students.

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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

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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)
• Students must demonstrate college-readiness
  reading, writing and math skills
• Career and Technology Education Management
  application (system to enter, display, update,
  report data)

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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

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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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Encouraging Participation

• Discourage competitive stance with Advanced
  Placement students need all college-level
  opportunities
• Expand school-district-approved dual credit
  equivalency lists
• Expand Tech Prep articulation agreements
• Offer informational resources and services to
  students, high school counselors and
  administration, parents

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Encouraging Participation

• Offer classes on high school campuses
• Create formal opportunities for college and high
  school academic and workforce faculties to meet
  and exchange curriculum expertise, expectations,
  and transition information
• Make dual credit participation an element of
  accountability for schools, similar to AP
  participation

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