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Updates
Running Start
Students Study Online
Following a national trend in higher education, Running Start students
are utilizing more online instruction. In the last five years, the amount
of online enrollment has grown by 440 percent. Most of the online courses
are in social science, English composition and humanities. Washington’s
community and technical colleges
offer two-year degrees online. Making the virtual campus available to
Running Start students makes the program more accessible to students
in remote areas and allows students to access college courses from their
high school campus. (Some high schools have designated one free period
a day so students can get into the computer labs to participate in a
variety of online learning experiences.)
| Online |
1998-99 |
1999-00 |
2000-01 |
2001-02 |
2002-03 |
2003-04 |
| FTE |
64 |
115 |
173 |
270 |
343 |
460 |
| Headcount |
427 |
814 |
1,152 |
1,652 |
2,008 |
2,665 |
Expanding Other
Dual Enrollment Options
In the 2004 legislative session, two bills were considered that addressed
the issue of expanding dual enrollment options for high school students.
SB 6165 called for the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges,
the Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Council of Presidents,
the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, the Superintendent
of Public Instruction, public secondary
school principals and public school district superintendents to strengthen
and expand dual enrollment programs on high school campuses. This bill
was vetoed because it so closely aligned with the language in SHB 3103.
SHB 3103 calls for the Higher Education Coordinating Board to report
to the legislature every two years, beginning in January 2005, on efforts
to expand dual enrollment, increase articulation agreements and align
curriculum between high schools and higher education.
The Office of the Superintendent for Public
Instruction took the lead on convening a workgroup to identify the barriers
to expanding dual enrollment and to identify strategies for expanding
options for high school students. The major strategy that emerged is
an expansion of College in the High School (CHS) programs. While CHS
guidelines have been in place for several years, only four colleges
are currently offering more than a handful of classes through CHS programs.
Efficiency to
Degree
In addition to being viewed as an optional way for students to complete
their high school requirements, Running Start is being evaluated more
and more in terms of efficiency and cost savings for students earning
college degrees. Data compiled in November 2004 indicate that Running
Start students complete their bachelor’s degree in Washington
following a pattern similar to other transfer students. The Running
Start
experience reduces the net tuition costs for students as well as the
cost to the state per bachelor’s degree. Students who have earned
Running Start credits while in high school complete their bachelor’s
degree with 33 fewer state supported credits than those who do not participate
in Running Start and enter universities as freshmen.
Certificate of
Achievement Pilot Projects
In early 2003, presidents of the community and technical colleges convened
a committee to make recommendations about how WASL scores might be taken
into account in the admissions process. The two-year college system
is committed to finding ways of linking WASL performance to success
in life after high school.
The committee recommended that rather than
using the WASL standard as an eligibility requirement, colleges should
be encouraged to use WASL scores in addition to, or in combination with,
existing placement tests for the placement/advising process. To this
end, several colleges around the state are piloting admissions/placement
processes that take WASL scores into account. During the 2003-2004 academic
year, four colleges – Wenatchee Valley, Skagit
Valley, Everett and Columbia Basin – agreed to participate in
a pilot study examining students entering directly from high school
in fall 2003 quarter by compiling the following data:
- WASL scores (by area)
- High school math/English courses/grades
- Placement test scores by area
- Grades in the first college-level math and English
courses taken during the first term of enrollment at the colleges
Findings
- The strongest predictors of grades in first college
math course were WASL Math score and Asset “number sense”
score.
- The strongest predictors for first college English
course were Asset reading, Asset writing, and WASL math.
- Other significant inter-correlations:
- WASL math with all other variables except Asset
algebra and intermediate algebra subtest scores (negatively correlated
with Asset number sense).
- WASL reading with WASL math, writing, English
grades, and Asset college algebra.
- WASL writing with all variables except Asset number
sense, algebra, Intermediate algebra.
- Sample sizes were fairly small because in a number
of cases the colleges had difficulty getting the necessary permission
and cooperation from local area high schools in order to obtain the
data (overall total N = 387).
- The process was time-consuming and difficult to implement,
reinforcing the argument for a better and more coordinated statewide
data system.
To draw larger conclusions about the results would require
a study with a larger sample of colleges and high schools, but doing
so on a piecemeal high school by high school basis would require considerable
staff time and local persuasion or a clear and visible state-level commitment,
preferably with some funding support.
National Dual-enrollment Trend
Continues
Running Start is part of a national and statewide movement to offer
more options for college-level learning to students while they are still
in high school. States are increasingly implementing policies that encourage
postsecondary institutions to offer dual/concurrent enrollment courses
to high school students. This is due, in part, to the desire to provide
advanced academic opportunities to high school students and also to
smooth the transition from secondary to postsecondary education.
Dual enrollment has sparked national
interest because it is seen to provide:
- Greater access to a wider variety of rigorous academic
and technical courses;
- Savings in time and money on a college degree;
- Pathways for students to move “seamlessly”
between the K-12 and postsecondary systems;
- Greater collaboration between high school and college
faculty and programs; and
- Greater support for students’ college aspirations.
Research indicates that in 2001, 48 states were involved
in offering dual-enrollment programs (Andrews, 2001).
The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices
has proposed five steps that states can take to improve education outcomes,
especially for students who have been traditionally underserved by higher
education. Included in the five steps is a call for providing more options
for students to have college-level learning opportunities while still
in high school (Kazis, Varga, Hoffman 2004).
At the federal level, the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and
Technical Education Act of 1998 provides funds to states for the expansion
and improvement of Tech Prep programs, including the development of
articulation agreements between high schools and colleges that link
their course offerings and credit for programs in high-growth technical
occupations.
In Washington State in 2003-04, 13,690 students earned
86,189 college credits through Tech Prep courses offered at high schools.
Students in high school also earn credit through College in the High
School, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs.
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