Pathways to College 

Access and Success

Katherine L. Hughes, Melinda Mechur Karp,

Baranda J. Fermin, and Thomas R. Bailey 

Community College Research Center,

Columbia University, Teachers College

U.S. Department of Education

Office of Vocational and Adult Education

2005
ii

This report was produced under U.S. Department of Education Contract No. ED-99-CO-0163

with DTI Associates, Inc., and their subcontractor, the Community College Research Center,

Teachers College, Columbia University. Ivonne Jaime served as the contracting officer’s technical

representative. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of

the Department of Education. This publication includes information about and references to

products, commodities, services or enterprises from other organizations, both public and private.

Inclusion of these does not constitute an endorsement of them by the U.S. Department of

Education.

U.S. Department of Education

Margaret Spellings

Secretary

September 2005

This report is in the public domain. Authorization to reproduce it in whole or in part is granted.

While permission to reprint this publication is not necessary, the citation should be: U.S.

Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, Pathways to College: Access

and Success, Washington, D.C., 2005.

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Center at (202) 260-0852 or (202) 260-0818.
List of Exhibits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .v

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix

Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Pathways to College: Access and Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Study Sites and Site Contexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Recommendations for Policymakers, Practitioners, 

and Researchers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Methods Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Works Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Appendix: Enhanced Profiles of Research Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59

Southern California MCHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59

Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual Enrollment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67

Minnesota IB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77

New York City’s College Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87

Dallas Tech Prep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95

iii

CONTENTS

LIST OF EXHIBITS

v

Exhibit 1: Case Study Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Exhibit 2: Minnesota IB Classroom Observation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Exhibit 3: New York City Dual Enrollment Developmental 

English Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Exhibit 4: Sample Pathway for a College Now Student 

Beginning in the Learner’s Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Exhibit 5: Sample Pathway for a College Now Student 

Beginning in a Gateway Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Exhibit 6: New York City Dual Enrollment Saturday 

Theater Workshop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

Exhibit 7: Conceptual Model of the Credit-Based Transitions

Program Influence on Student Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

Exhibit A-1: Southern California Middle College High School

District Graduation Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

Exhibit A-2: Southern California Middle College High School–Sample

Schedule for 11th-Grade Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

Exhibit A-3: Southern California Middle College High School

Outcomes, 2003—04 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
Exhibit A-4: Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual Enrollment Program–

Health Careers Academy Sample Courses Sequence . . . . . . . . . .71

Exhibit A-5: Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual Enrollment

Outcomes, 2003—04 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76

Exhibit A-6: Minnesota International Baccalaureate

Program Pathways, Options and Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . .82

Exhibit A-7: Minnesota International Baccalaureate Outcomes, 2003—04 . . . .86

Exhibit A-8: College Now, New York City Prerequisites for 

College Now Noncollege Credit Courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

Exhibit A-9: College Now, New York City, Prerequisites for 

College Now Credit-Bearing Courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90

Exhibit A-10: College Now, New York City Outcomes, 2003—04 . . . . . . . . .. 93

Exhibit A-11: Dallas, Tech-Prep Curriculum and Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98

Exhibit A-12: Dallas, Tech-Prep Student Outcomes, 2003—04 . . . . . . . . . . .101

vi
AA – Associate in Arts

AAS – Associate in Applied Science

AP – Advanced Placement

AS – Associate in Science

ADA – Average Daily Attendance

California Community College –

Pseudonym for postsecondary partner of

Southern California Middle College High

School program

CAS – Creativity, Action, Service (see

Minnesota IB profile for more information)

CBTP – Credit-based transition program

CPR – Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

CTE – Career and technical education

CUNY – City University of New York

Dallas Tech-Prep High School – Pseudonym

for secondary partner of Dallas, Texas, TechPrep program

Dallas, Texas Tech-Prep Program–

Pseudonym for the program partnership

between Dallas Tech-Prep High School and

Texas Community College 

ELL – English Language Learner

FTE – Full-Time Equivalent

IB – International Baccalaureate

ID – Identification card

IEP – Individualized Education Plan

Iowa Community College – Pseudonym for

postsecondary partner of Metropolitan

Counties, Iowa Dual Enrollment program

Learner’s Academy – Two-year sequence of

courses for ELL students at the New York

City Dual Enrollment program

MCHS – Middle College High School

Metropolitan Counties, Iowa Dual

Enrollment – Pseudonym for the program

between Rural High School and Iowa

Community College

Minnesota IB – Pseudonym for the IB

program studied in Minnesota

New York City Dual Enrollment –

Pseudonym for the program partnership

between New York City High School and

New York Community College

New York City High School – Pseudonym

for secondary partner of New York City Dual

Enrollment program

New York Community College –

Pseudonym for postsecondary partner of

New York City Dual Enrollment program

vii

KEY TERMS
PC – personal computer

Regional Medical Center – Pseudonym for

hospital partner of Metropolitan Counties,

Iowa Dual Enrollment program

Rural High School – Pseudonym for

secondary partner of Metropolitan Counties,

Iowa Dual Enrollment program

Southern California Middle College High

School – Pseudonym for secondary partner

of Southern California Middle College High

School program

Texas Community College – Pseudonym for

postsecondary partner of Dallas, Texas, TechPrep program

The Global EDGE Tech Prep Consortium

– The Tech-Prep consortium of which the

Dallas, Texas Tech-Prep program is part

TOK – Theory of Knowledge (see Minnesota

IB profile for more information)

OVAE – Office of Vocational and Adult

Education, U.S. Department of Education

viii
The authors wish to thank Rebecca Cox and Andrea Soonachan of the Community College

Research Center (CCRC) for commenting on previous drafts, and Lisa Rothman, also of CCRC,

for her thorough management of the contract details. We are grateful to Polly Hutcheson for her

excellent research assistance. To Ivonne Jaime and Braden Goetz of the U.S. Department of

Education, we wish to extend our appreciation for their guidance throughout the entire project.

We are additionally grateful to Hans Meeder, former OVAE Deputy Assistant Secretary for his

support and direction of this research project. For their able administration of the contract,

editorial advice, and assistance in planning and conducting research, the authors are exceptionally

grateful to Louisa Fuller and Laura Lanier of DTI Associates – A Haverstick Company. 

We also wish to thank the many students, teachers, staff members, and coordinators within the

schools and credit-based transition programs that participated in the Accelerating Student Success

Through Credit-Based Transition Programs project. Though we are unable to name all of these

individuals, their willingness to assist us in this project and provide access to program

participants, staff, activities, and documents has not gone unappreciated. 

This report is dedicated to the memory of Arlene Kahn for her support and contribution

throughout the project.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ix

1

This report is the final report from the

Accelerating Student Success Through

Credit-Based Transition Programs study,

which was initiated by the U.S. Department

of Education, Office of Vocational and

Adult Education (OVAE) in the fall of 2003.

The goal of the study is to better understand

the characteristics of CBTPs and the

students they serve. These programs, such as

Tech-Prep, dual or concurrent enrollment,

International Baccalaureate (IB) and Middle

College High School (MCHS), allow high

school students to take college-level classes

and earn college credit. They sometimes also

provide services to support the main aspects

of the high school-to-college transition.

CBTPs are widespread and interest in them

by policymakers, educators, parents, and

students has increased in recent years. In

addition, while these programs are not new,

the idea that they should be accessible to a

broader range of students is a new approach.

In the past, CBTPs enrolled primarily

academically proficient and high-achieving

students. Today, however, a growing number

of policymakers, education reform groups,

and researchers argue that middle- and even

low-achieving high school students may

benefit from participation in these programs. 

Yet, despite their popularity nationwide,

there is limited research-based information

on CBTPs, particularly those programs that

include a broad range of students. The

research for this report was conducted in the

spring and fall of 2004. Case studies were

undertaken in five states—California, Iowa,

Minnesota, New York, and Texas. Two dual

enrollment programs, an MCHS, an IB

program, and a Tech-Prep program were

studied. 

The first section of the report describes the

sites and examines some of the ways in

which contextual features influence program

implementation. The report then highlights

findings regarding four key program

features—student recruitment and selection

processes, curriculum, support services, and

data collection and use. For each feature, the

researchers investigated the current practices

of the case study sites, identified those

practices that seemed most promising in

meeting the needs of middle- and lowachieving students, and identified barriers to

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

his report looks at the ways that credit-based transition programs (CBTPs) may help middleand low-achieving students enter and succeed in college. It highlights promising practices

used by CBTPs to help students who might have been considered noncollege-bound prepare for

college credit course work. The report also discusses the challenges that CBTPs face when trying

to include such students.

T
2

implementing them. Readers should note

that the data reflect program practices at the

time the research was conducted in the

spring and fall of 2004. In addition, in order

to give the study participants anonymity, the

specific research sites were given

pseudonyms. When given permission, the

name of the general program is used.

KEY FINDINGS

Student Recruitment and Selection 

At the sites studied, student recruitment is

typically done informally. The result is that

students in CBTPs tend to be motivated,

mature, and responsible. In addition, some

sites are becoming more selective because of

conflict with the sponsoring postsecondary

partner over unprepared or disruptive

students. Some sites set admissions

requirements or select only some students

into the program. Other sites have no such

requirements, and students need only to sign

up for the CBTP to participate. Programs

without formal admissions requirements can

still pose informal barriers to admissions. For

example, relying on word-of-mouth to

inform students about the program does not

maximize knowledge about the program

among the high schools’ student bodies as a

whole. Open participation does not

necessarily ensure broad access. 

n In order to ensure that all students—

including those not usually seen as

college-bound—learn about the

program and have the opportunity to

enroll, programs should initiate

formal recruitment strategies

involving middle school and high

school guidance counselors and

parents, as well as teachers. 

Curriculum

CBTP course work falls into three categories:

high school course work, which meets

graduation requirements but also may give

students the knowledge and skills necessary

for success in college-level classes;

developmental course work, which is explicitly

designed to prepare students for the

demands of college-level work; and, college

credit course work. These courses may be

organized into a curricular pathway, a clear

route moving students from one level of

course work to another. Developmental

course work and the presence of curricular

pathways help ensure that students from a

range of academic backgrounds are able to

participate in the CBTP. Creating these

pathways and helping students take

advantage of them are often challenging for

programs, however, because they require high

schools and colleges to work together closely. 

n In order to maximize the range of

students participating in CBTPs,

programs should implement clear

curricular pathways. Pathways should

include high school courses aligned

with college admissions requirements

and developmental course work

leading to college credit courses.

These pathways should be clearly

communicated to students. 

Support Services

Nonacademic as well as academic support

services are essential in helping students

understand and meet the demands of a

postsecondary environment. This is

particularly important for students who

previously have not been successful in

school. In general, services vary along two

dimensions. They may vary in their sponsor,
meaning whether they are offered by the

high school, by the college, or through a

collaboration. They also may vary in their

content, for example whether services

provide academic support, general personal

support, or specific college-preparatory

activities, such as assistance with college

applications or financial aid. Services offered

through collaboration often are more

cohesive and tailored to students’ needs.

n Students in CBTPs should ideally

have access to both high school- and

college-sponsored services, as well as

customized services that are

developed collaboratively by the

institutional partners. 

Data Collection and Use; Perceived

Benefits of the Programs

Most sites do not have systematic data

collection procedures, and most of the data

available at the sites indicate short-term

outcomes, making program evaluation

difficult. There is little data sharing between

high school and college partners, and many

sites lack staff time and knowledge to collect

and use data effectively. Despite these

limitations, study participants do indicate

that there are three primary benefits to

students who participate in CBTPs: the

opportunity to earn free college credit,

gaining “a taste” of college, and increased

confidence in their academic abilities. 

n Perceived benefits are not yet

supported by evaluation research.

Programs should engage in data

collection in order to confirm that

students, particularly middle- and

low-achieving students, do achieve

these outcomes from their program

participation. 

Recommendations for Policymakers,

Practitioners, and Researchers

The data indicate that three broad areas

should be addressed by programs and

policymakers seeking to help middle- and

low-achieving students enroll and be

successful in CBTPs: student access,

institutional collaboration, and data

collection for program evaluation. 

Broad access to CBTPs should be

encouraged by:

n Developing multiple ways to ensure that

all students—regardless of academic

background and level of motivation—

learn about the CBTP;

n Developing a program culture that is

supportive of and encourages students

from different backgrounds and

academic levels to participate; and 

n Structuring the program and the

curriculum with an eye towards

increasing access, such as by creating

developmental sequences of courses. 

Policymakers can support programs in these

efforts by providing incentives for programs

that enroll middle- and low-achieving

students.

Collaborative relationships should be

encouraged by:

n Clearly establishing the roles and

benefits for each institution in the

partnership, 

n Supporting broader integration between

the secondary and postsecondary sectors,

and

3
4

n Simplifying the credit earning and credit

transfer process.

Policymakers have a strong role to play. They

can compel the two institutional sectors to

rethink and align their standards,

curriculum, and assessment practices.

Aligning high school graduation

requirements with college entrance

requirements is an important first step.

Articulation of high school with college

course work also would help students

transitioning to college know that they are

prepared. Policymakers also should support

dual credit programs, in which students

receive high school and college credit for

their program course work, as opposed to

receiving one type of credit or the other. 

Practitioners should work with researchers to

collect outcomes data that can be used for

outcomes analysis. Policymakers should

support outcomes analysis that begin with

students’ performance prior to program

participation, include comparison groups,

and follow students through college

matriculation and graduation. 

In order to assist researchers in their efforts

to evaluate the outcomes of CBTPs, the

report presents a conceptual model. The

model suggests ways that program features

may work together to promote the success of

middle- and low-achieving students as they

make the transition from secondary to

postsecondary education. Future research

should test the model. 

The findings from the Accelerating Student

Success Through Credit-Based Transition

Programs study lend credence to the

enthusiasm many policymakers and

educators have for CBTPs. CBTPs have the

potential to help a wide range of students,

not only the most academically advanced,

but also the middle- to low-achieving

students, become prepared for postsecondary

education. 
Case Site

Name

(Pseudonym)

Type of

Program Case Site Partners State

Is there

state policy

applicable to

the program? 

Does the

program

offer dual

credit?

School Demographics

(2003—04)

Program

Admissions

Requirements?

Location

of

College

Classes

Southern

California

MCHS

MCHS

Secondary Partner: Southern

California MCHS 

Postsecondary Partner:

California Community

College

California Yes Yes

Total High School/Program

Enrollment - 330

Eligible for Free and Reduced

Lunch-75 percent

Racial/Ethnic Compositionn African-American - 45

percent

n Hispanic - 55 percent

Yes College

Metropolitan

Counties, Iowa

Dual

Enrollment

Dual

Enrollment

Secondary Partner: Rural

High School

Postsecondary Partner: Iowa

Community College

Academy: Nursing Academy

Hospital Partner: Regional

Medical Center

Iowa Yes Yes

Total High School Enrollment -

400

Eligible for Free and Reduced

Lunch - 18 percent

Racial/Ethnic Compositionn White - 95 percent

n African-American or

Hispanic - 5 percent

No

Hospital

Partner or

College

Minnesota IB IB

Secondary Partner: 

Minnesota IB

Postsecondary Partner:

None

Minnesota Yes Yes

(but not

automatic)

Total High School Enrollment -

1,415

IB Program Enrollment - 692

Eligible for Free and Reduced

Lunch - 45 percent

English Language Learners - 10

percent

Racial/Ethnic Compositionn White - 75 percent

n African-American or

Hispanic - 10 percent

n Asian - 15 percent

No High

School

New York City

Dual

Enrollment

Dual

Enrollment

Secondary Partner: New

York City High School

Postsecondary Partner: New

York Community College

New York No No

Total High School Enrollment -

3,255

Eligible for Free and Reduced

Lunch - 23 percent

English Language Learners - 14

percent

Racial/Ethnic Compositionn White - 45 percent

(includes immigrants

from former Soviet states)

n African-American - 11

percent

n Hispanic - 21 percent 

n Asian - 22 percent

Yes for college

credit courses

No for

developmental

courses

High

School

Dallas, Texas

Tech-Prep

Program

Tech-Prep

Secondary Partner: Dallas

Tech-Prep High School

Postsecondary Partner:

Texas Community College

Consortium: Global Edge

Texas Yes Yes

(but not

automatic)

Total High School Enrollment -

1,640

Racial/Ethnic Compositionn White - 82 percent

n African-American - 5

percent

n Hispanic - 12 percent

No High

School

5

Exhibit 1: Features of Credit-Based Transition Programs Case Study Sites 

7

PATHWAYS TO COLLEGE

ACCESS AND SUCCESS

The U.S. Department of Education's Office

of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE)

initiated the Accelerating Student Success

Through Credit-Based Transition Programs

study in the fall of 2003 to better understand

the characteristics of these programs and the

students they serve. Previous project activities

include focus groups with CBTP

practitioners and a review of the dual

enrollment policies of all 50 states.1 This

report, the final report of the project,

presents the findings from case studies of five

diverse CBTPs in order to: 

n Describe the practices of programs that

enroll a broad range of students, 

n Identify the programmatic characteristics

that support middle- and low-achieving

students in their college courses and

their transition from secondary to

postsecondary education, and

n Explore the ways in which CBTPs may

support the secondary-to-postsecondary

transition of middle- and low-achieving

students by developing a framework that

outlines the mechanisms by which these

programs might lead to postsecondary

success. 

CBTPs are widespread and interest in them

by policymakers, educators, parents, and

students has increased in recent years. A

recent survey of a nationally representative

sample of public high schools measured the

prevalence of these programs. Seventy-one

percent of public high schools reported that,

during the 2002—03 school year, students

took courses for dual credit, meaning they

took a course for both high school and

college credit (Waits, Setzer and Lewis,

2005). 

There has been limited research on these

programs. Some descriptive and anecdotal

data are available (Bailey and Karp, 2003).

Yet little is known about how the programs

work, much less their effectiveness in

facilitating successful transitions to college. 

In addition, while CBTPs are not new, the

idea that they should be accessible to a

broader range of students is a new approach.

In the past, CBTPs such as IB enrolled

primarily academically proficient and highachieving students. However, a growing

number of policymakers, education reform

groups, and researchers argue that middleand even low-achieving high school students

1 The reports from these two activities are available on the Accelerating Student Success Through Credit-Based Transition Programs project's

Web site at: www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/cclo/cbtrans/index.html. Reports can also be accessed at http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu.

ow can we help all youth have smoother and more successful transitions to college? CBTPs,

such as Tech-Prep, dual or concurrent enrollment, IB, and MCHSs, may provide one

answer. These programs allow high school students to take college-level classes and earn

college credit and sometimes provide services to support the many aspects of college transition. 

H
may benefit from participation in these

programs (AASCU, 2002; National

Commission on the High School Senior

Year, 2001; Lords, 2000). 

Yet it is unclear the extent to which middleand low-achieving students can enroll in

CBTPs, or how well such students may fare

in the programs. The national survey found

that most high schools impose student

eligibility requirements for participation in

dual credit programs, such as minimum

grade point averages or minimum scores on

standardized tests (Waits, Setzer and Lewis,

2005). These requirements are often in

addition to any imposed by the

postsecondary institution sponsoring the

course. Thus, while the programs are now

widely available, they may be accessible to

only a small subset of students. 

Previous research suggests that certain types of

CBTPs—comprehensive and enhanced

comprehensive programs—may be more

effective in meeting the needs of middle-and

low-achieving students (Bailey and Karp,

2003). Comprehensive and enhanced

comprehensive programs provide students

with an academically intensive experience,

encompassing a significant portion of a

student's course work over several semesters or

years. Enhanced comprehensive programs, in

addition to the academic experience, also

include intensive support services intended to

address the social and personal skills needed

for college success. Having both academic and

social preparation seems particularly important

for programs seeking to include students

beyond the traditional CBTP participant. 

This report gives an in-depth look at five

different programs, all of which currently are

making efforts to, include a broad range of

students. We hear from practitioners and the

students themselves about how these

programs are attempting to make some

students college-ready who might have been

considered noncollege-bound. Promising

practices will be described, as well as barriers

to such practices. These findings are based

on qualitative research that can potentially

inform further, outcomes-based research. 

The next section of this report presents the

five case study sites and examines some of

the ways in which contextual features

influenced program implementation. The

following section presents the cross-case

findings, focusing on four key program

features—student recruitment and selection

processes, curriculum, support services, and

data collection and use. As the sites collect

limited outcomes data, we briefly discuss the

benefits that study participants felt students

gained through their CBTP experiences. The

report concludes by presenting

recommendations for policymakers,

practitioners, and researchers. 

Throughout this report, the present tense is

used when discussing the sites and study

findings. Readers should note that the data

reflect program practices at the time the

research was conducted in the spring and fall

of 2004, and we cannot be certain that these

practices are still in place. In addition, in

order to give the study participants

anonymity, the specific research sites were

given pseudonyms. When given permission,

the name of the general program is used.

8
STUDY SITES AND SITE

CONTEXTS

The five CBTPs studied2 were located in five

states—California, Iowa, Minnesota, New York,

and Texas—and included two dual enrollment

programs3 (one with a career and technical

focus), an MCHS, an IB program, and a TechPrep program.4 They were purposefully

selected as examples of CBTPs that enroll

students from a range of academic

backgrounds. In order to develop a deep

understanding of the programs’ structures and

features, two visits were made to each site.

The sites chosen represent not only a variety

of program models, but also a range of state,

district, and community contexts. In

addition to describing the context under

which each case study site functions, this

section looks across sites to explore the ways

that state and local contexts may influence

program operations. State contexts include

statutes guiding the operations of the CBTP,

as well as fiscal issues, state curriculum

standards, and testing requirements. District

and community contexts include local

resources (financial and otherwise), as well as

institutional and community relationships. 

Programs were selected for the study based on

staff’s assurances that they were accessible to a

wide range of students. Southern California

MCHS is located on the campus of its

postsecondary partner, California

Community College. California state

statutes require that dual enrollment

opportunities be provided to students, and

specific statutes define the goals of MCHSs.

As do most such schools, California MCHS

focuses on providing disadvantaged and lowachieving students with academic and social

preparation for college by providing firsthand experiences on a college campus,

opportunities to take college credit courses,

and a caring environment with small classes

and close teacher-student relationships. 

The Middle College program in California

enrolled 330 students in grades 9 through 12

during the 2003—04 school year. Students

take courses at the high school until they are

ready to enroll in college courses at the

community college. College courses—taught

by college professors and taken with regularly

matriculated college students—are dual

credit, meaning they count toward high

school graduation as well as toward college. 

9

Southern California MCHS

In the fall of 2003, 150 MCHS students

enrolled in college courses (earning, on

average, 3.6 credits); 175 students enrolled in

college courses in the spring of 2004

(earning, on average, 4.2 credits).

2 See the methods section in the Appendix for details on site selection and site visits. 

3 Dual enrollment is used throughout this report to refer to programs in which students are simultaneously enrolled in high school

and college courses. In some cases, students receive either high school credit or college credit, but not both. In other cases, students

receive high school and college credit, an arrangement referred to as “dual credit.”

4 For more information on each program type, and further detail on each site, please see the program fact sheets, one-page site briefs,

and site case reports, which are available on the Accelerating Student Success Through Credit-Based Transition Programs study Web

page at: www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/cclo/cbtrans/index.html. 
Some MCHS students receive an associate

degree at the same time that they graduate

from high school. In addition, the MCHS

helps students access support services offered

by the college.

Many of the schools in the large urban

school district in which MCHS is located are

characterized by low academic performance

and a high incidence of violence. In contrast,

students and teachers find the MCHS to be

a safe, intellectually focused school. During a

focus group with MCHS students, they were

asked why they chose to attend the MCHS.

One student described neighboring schools

as follows: “You’re sent there to learn and

they [the students at other schools] don’t

really care about their future, and then that’s

why most schools ... they have security guards

to make sure you don’t bring any weapons to

school or start more violence.” Many of the

school’s teachers made similar comments in

describing their decision to work at the high

school.

The Southern California MCHS program

has operated on the campus of California

Community College for more than 14 years.

Recent changes in leadership, among other

factors, have led to the two partners differing

on the program’s future. This is due partly to

increasing limitations on resources. The

K—12 school district is struggling to provide

space for all of the district’s students and to

allocate funding for school operations. The

community college also feels space

limitations, a problem that has worsened in

recent years due to the discovery of

earthquake faults on the campus that limit

new construction. The strains that the

college feels on both its revenue and space

resources have led to an increased tendency

to limit the high school’s use of the college’s

facilities. 

The Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual

Enrollment program, also known as the

Health Careers Academy, is a partnership

between Rural High School, Iowa

Community College, and a local health care

center, Regional Medical Center. Iowa state

statutes allow for students in the 11th and

12th grades to enroll in dual enrollment

programs, and explicitly support technically

oriented dual enrollment by providing

additional funding for these programs. 

Located in a rural area outside of a larger city,

the Health Careers Academy is one of 11

technically oriented dual enrollment

programs overseen by Iowa Community

College. It is available to high school students

in the seven-county area served by the

college. Because Rural High School is the sole

high school in its small district, and sends

only a handful of students to the program,

the Iowa Dual Enrollment program includes

students from two other high schools within

the Metropolitan Counties area. 

10

Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual

Enrollment Program

All Rural High School students who were

enrolled in the Metropolitan Counties, Iowa,

Dual Enrollment program during the 2003—04

school year completed the program, thereby

earning 10.5 college credits each. All of the

students also matriculated into nursing

degree programs at local colleges.
The Health Careers Academy is an intensive

year-long course of study focused on

preparing students for health careers.

Students can earn up to 10.5 college credits,

licensure as a certified nursing assistant, and

high school elective credit. In addition to

their college course work, students are

expected to engage in clinical practice at the

Regional Medical Center. They also are given

opportunities to observe health care

professionals and access to college support

services. Students meet daily at either the

Regional Medical Center or a satellite

campus of Iowa Community College.

In operating the Iowa Dual Enrollment

program, Iowa Community College takes the

lead in curriculum design, recruiting and

hiring instructors, and logistics. Iowa

Community College relies heavily upon its

high school partners to recruit, screen and

select students for the CBTPs. Rural High

School is given a significant amount of

autonomy in its marketing of the program

and student recruitment processes. 

The Health Careers Academy, as well as the

10 other academy programs overseen by Iowa

Community College, has experienced rapid

growth since its inception in the 1980s.

Those who work in and with the Iowa Dual

Enrollment program attribute much of this

growth to the investment of both the college

and the area high schools in the programs, as

well as to the strong leadership provided by

the college. 

The Minnesota IB program is located in a

large high school with a growing Asian and

Hispanic immigrant population in a major

metropolitan area. The program’s context is

shaped not by the state’s dual-enrollment

policies, but by the state’s IB statutes, which

allow for state funding for teacher

professional development and student

examination fees. Despite these statutes,

budget conditions have left the Minnesota IB

program struggling to cover program costs. 

The IB program gives students the

opportunity to engage in rigorous liberal arts

course work created and overseen by the

International Baccalaureate Organization

(IBO). At Minnesota IB High School, a

selection of preparatory courses is offered to

ninth- and 10th-grade students, after which

students choose one of three IB pathways.

Courses that lead to the full IB diploma

encompass most of the 11th- and 12th-grade

years and prepare students for examinations

developed and scored by the IBO. Exams

that receive a score of four or higher (out of

seven) generally lead to college credit,

although postsecondary institutions’ policies

on credit award vary. In the spring of 2004,

75 percent of the IB exams given at

Minnesota IB High School received a score

of four or higher. 

The Minnesota IB program’s school district

offers school choice to its families. The

program serves to attract students to the high

school, as it has a strong presence and

positive reputation in the community. One

Minnesota IB junior stated, “I probably

11

Minnesota IB

During the 2003—04 school year, almost half

of the school’s 1,415 students participated in

the Minnesota program.
wouldn’t have come here if it wasn’t for the

IB program. I would have probably gone to

private school, I think. Because it kind of

had a reputation. My parents knew about it,

that’s the reason they were really going to

send me. ... ” In addition to being a school

of choice, the Minnesota IB program is

open-access, so students do not need to

apply to enroll in pre-IB or IB courses. 

The Minnesota IB program does not have a

postsecondary partner. The training of

program instructors and curriculum

development is overseen and provided by the

International Baccalaureate Organization of

North America (IBNA). The school plans to

provide IB training and professional

development to all of the school’s teachers,

enabling all teachers to be qualified to teach

IB courses. This is critical in the eyes of the

principal, who hopes to expand the

Minnesota IB program so that all students

attending the high school will take at least

one IB course.

New York City Dual Enrollment program is

operated through a partnership between

New York City Community College and

New York City High School. This

partnership is one within the larger College

Now program, which is composed of all the

City University of New York (CUNY)

colleges and approximately 200 secondary

schools. The goals of College Now include

improving the academic skills and

achievement of high school students and

ensuring that graduating students are

prepared to do college-level work. The

colleges offer a tailored program of academic

and preparatory courses and workshops to

their partnering high schools. New York does

not have state legislation concerning dual

enrollment. In its stead, the CUNY system

has set forth its own guidelines in such areas

as curriculum, recruitment and selection,

and the hiring and training of instructors for

all College Now programs.

New York City High School is severely

overcrowded and during the first year of this

research operated on a double schedule to

accommodate all of its students; the

following year the school operated on a triple

schedule. This means that the school day

lasts from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. with different

students (freshmen and sophomores as a

group, and juniors and seniors as a second

group) and teachers assigned to different

portions of the day. Program courses are

taught primarily by high school teachers at

the high school. 

New York City Dual Enrollment program

offers a range of courses and services to

students at New York City High School. 

College credit courses are offered after

school to students who meet New York City

Community College’s requirements. These

courses are not dual credit in that they do

12

New York City Dual Enrollment

Seventy-nine percent of the college credit

course enrollments during summer 2003, fall

2003, and spring 2004 received grades of C

or higher, the minimum grade for receiving

college credit. 

New York City Dual Enrollment

During the 2003—04 school year, 511

students participated in New York City Dual

Enrollment.
not yield high school credit also. For those

students who do not meet the admissions

requirements (which are based on state high

school exit examinations), New York City

Dual Enrollment offers developmental

courses as well as an intensive program for

English Language Learners (ELL), the

Learner’s Academy. These opportunities

focus on preparing students for their high

school exit exams and college enrollment.

New York City Dual Enrollment also offers

students a variety of support services,

including field trips related to course work

and writing workshops.

The Dallas, Texas, Tech-Prep Program

consists of a partnership between Texas

Community College, Dallas Tech-Prep

High School, and The Global EDGE Tech

Prep Consortium. Tech-Prep, which is

federally supported,5 is designed to link two

years of high school and two years of

community college course work through a

sequenced program of study in a career or

technical field. The federal funding stream

creates a three-fold partnership between the

high school, college, and consortium. The

consortium provides funding to its more

than 30 partnering secondary schools,

coordinates programming, and is responsible

for reporting on the program to the college

and to the state. The respective departments

at the college are responsible for oversight of

the Tech-Prep curriculum for the nine

pathways supported by the consortium and

provide guidance and support to the

program’s teachers. All program instruction

takes place at the high school by teachers

approved by The Global EDGE Tech Prep

Consortium.

Texas Tech-Prep High School is the only

high school in its formerly rural, but rapidly

urbanizing, community in Texas. At the high

school, students can enroll in Tech-Prep

sequences in a variety of fields, including

criminal justice, early childhood education,

culinary arts, and information technology.

These courses are articulated with the

college, meaning that it oversees the courses

but does not automatically award college

credit to students. Instead, students

completing a Texas Tech-Prep course must

enroll in Texas Community College and

petition for their credits to be placed on

their college transcript.

Although the consortium is housed on the

campus of the community college partner, it

is not fully integrated into the structure of

the college, as it has its own governing board

and steering committee. The federal TechPrep funding that the consortium receives is

in part based upon the number of students

who participate in Tech-Prep at the high

schools and then enroll in a specified Tech13

Texas Tech-Prep

In 2002—03 there were 297 enrollments

(some students may be enrolled in more

than one course) in the Dallas, Texas, TechPrep courses. Approximately 47 percent of

those enrollments resulted in the students

becoming eligible for college credit upon

matriculation into Texas Community College.

5 Tech-Prep programs are supported at the federal level by the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998. For

more information on the legislation, please go to: www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/CTE/legis.html.
Prep major at the college. If students do not

enroll at the partnering college in their TechPrep major, and stay enrolled for the

required length of time, the consortium loses

funds. This leads to some conflict over

program goals among the three different

partners and the students participating. 

Contextual Influences on Study Sites

As the above descriptions make clear, the

state and district environments of our five

sites differed considerably. Given the

research methods used for this study, we

cannot draw strong conclusions about the

influence of program context on program

structure, nor can we be certain that

program structure influences student

outcomes. Still, it is important to understand

the settings in which these programs exist,

because such contexts do present challenges

and opportunities for programs.

Throughout the data collection and analysis

phase of the study, a number of themes

regarding the influence of context on

program implementation emerged. This

section highlights those themes in order to

provide information about the (potentially

unintended) consequences that contextual

factors may have for program operations.

Institutional collaboration 

States with policies concerning CBTPs often

leave the details of collaboration for

partnering districts or institutions to address.

This level of autonomy is oftentimes

welcomed. However, the governance of these

partnerships, combined with the institutions’

willingness and ability to engage in

collaboration, influences the ease with which

the partnerships function.

In the case of California, state policy

unintentionally hinders institutional

collaboration. According to state dual

enrollment regulations, California high

school students enrolled in college courses

are treated as adults. Therefore, parents and

high schools do not have direct access to

student records, such as transcripts, without

the students’ permission. The MCHS,

therefore, often finds it difficult to keep

track of students’ enrollment in college

courses. This is particularly problematic

when those courses are meant to be counted

toward students’ high school graduation

requirements. Thus, to ensure that students

receive appropriate high school credit for

their college courses, the students must be

relied upon to share their enrollment

information with the two institutions.

Also in California, the leasing agreement

between the high school and the community

college is the only official documentation of

any collaborative duties or responsibilities.

Interview respondents often spoke of

misunderstandings resulting from either the

MCHS or California Community College

being unclear of what is expected of them

and how they are benefiting from the

partnership.

In contrast, the roles and expectations of

each partner in the Iowa Dual Enrollment

program are clear to all involved.

Responsibilities for program activities are

formally distributed to specific individuals

throughout the partnership. Those involved

at the college, in particular, have

responsibilities for the program as part of

their job descriptions. Study participants

indicate that such clarity helps the program

14
run smoothly and makes all partners feel

they are valued and respected members of

the partnership. The high school district

leadership recognizes the significance of Iowa

Community College’s leading role in

coordinating the numerous details of the

program. As the district superintendent said,

“You have to have strong leadership on the

college end, somebody that's kind of your

coordinator or your contact person, and

that's going to work with the schools and

build a relationship with the schools, and

vice versa. The schools don't have the same

flexibility that the college staff does. ...”

Standards, testing and curriculum 

State standards and testing requirements

influence the operations, courses and

activities of the programs involved. In some

cases, they limit student access to the CBTP,

while in others they complicate efforts at

aligning program curricula.

At three of the case study sites, students’

ability to enroll in program course work

(either at the developmental or college level)

is influenced by student performance on

state tests. In Minnesota, students who have

not passed the eighth-grade basic skills test

must enroll in the basic level of English or

mathematics, which prevents them from

enrolling in IB preparatory courses. At Texas

Tech-Prep High School, students who do not

pass the state exit exams are ineligible for

elective courses, and thus cannot enroll in

Tech-Prep, as the program’s courses are

considered electives.

In the New York City Dual Enrollment

program, eligibility for placement in college

credit-bearing courses is determined by a

minimum score on state high school exit

exams or the Preliminary Scholastic

Assessment Test (PSAT) or Scholastic

Assessment Test (SAT). Yet, students who do

not meet the requirement can enroll in noncredit developmental courses that help

students improve their reading

comprehension and writing skills. Thus,

doing poorly on these exams does not

preclude eventual enrollment in college

courses, and the program is structured to offer

students help to improve their performance.

In some cases, state curriculum requirements

at the secondary school level seem to

compete with the content of the college

course curriculum. At both Texas Tech-Prep

and California MCHS, high school faculty

feel that the secondary education system’s

curriculum requirements are not aligned

with the community college’s curriculum,

which often forces them to make

instructional choices as to which

requirements they follow. For example, a

teacher in the Texas Tech-Prep program said

that the different requirements result in a

course curriculum that could not possibly be

covered in the time allotted. The state’s

required curriculum for high school courses

includes content not covered by the college

curriculum, and vice versa. Thus, this teacher

often has to choose which content to cover;

because her primary affiliation is with the

high school, she chooses to cover those

standards rather than the college’s.

In many sites, then, program staff find it

challenging to address state requirements for

high schools within the context of a CBTP.

Though these challenges are not

insurmountable, instructors and

15
administrators in these programs do find

that having to align complex state

requirements with those of the program or

college proves difficult at times.

Resources 

Funding, staff time, and space are resources

that seem to be influenced by state and

district contexts. Programs receive funding

from a variety of sources. While the Texas

Tech-Prep program is federally funded and

the New York City Dual Enrollment program

is supported by the City University of New

York (CUNY), the majority of the funding

supporting the programs at the other three

sites comes from the operating budgets of

the secondary schools, which are from either

state or district revenue sources. Funding the

programs in this latter manner makes the

programs particularly sensitive to state

budget shortfalls or changes in priorities.

California and Minnesota in particular have

experienced shrinking education budgets for

the past several years.

The question of expanding access in a context

of fiscal constraint weighs heavily on the

minds of many of the study participants. The

Minnesota IB program faces the possibility of

asking students and families to pay the IB

exam fees in the future, which could pose a

deterrent to broad student participation. In

the more than 10 years that the program has

operated, the district, using portions of its

state allocations, always has heavily subsidized

or wholly paid these fees. In contrast, the New

York program is considered part of CUNY’s

core mission and so is not perceived by

program staff as being subject to funding cuts.

High school and community college

administrators and program staff expressed

that committing staff time to the CBTP has

been extremely important to the quality and

sustainability of the program. The

Minnesota, New York, Iowa, and Texas

programs all provide resources to support

program coordination, though not

necessarily on a full-time basis. The

coordinator for the Minnesota IB program

has an additional planning period in order

to accommodate her coordination and

teaching roles both within the IB program

and the school in general. In Texas, federal

funds provide for the consortium staff, as

well as a stipend for the high school-based

coordinator. In some cases, program

instructors receive compensation as well from

the program or district. Such practices help

ensure that program staff have adequate time

and incentives to support the CBTP. Still, for

most of those involved, their CBTP

responsibilities are in addition to other

school or institutional commitments.

Classroom space also influences the

operation of the CBTP programs. In the

New York City Dual Enrollment program,

the pool of teachers available to teach in the

program is restricted by the school schedule

that was imposed to alleviate the school’s

severe congestion. During the years of the

study, the school ran for multiple sessions

each day. In order to be free to teach the

College Now courses in the afternoon, at the

end of the juniors’ and seniors’ school day,

teachers need to be assigned to an early

schedule. In California, the community

college has become more vocal in arguing

that its own space limitations means it can

16
no longer dedicate space to the MCHS. The

school district, however, is undergoing space

constraints of its own and does not want to

lose the college location. As a result, the

partnership has become strained, calling into

question the ability of the MCHS to

continue to operate on the college campus.

Thus, diminishing resources have the

potential to negatively affect these programs.

FINDINGS

The goal of the Accelerating Student Success

Through Credit-Based Transition Programs

project was to explore the program features

that might help middle- and low-achieving

students successfully make the transition

from high school to postsecondary

education. In investigating program practices

at each site, the study focused on four

programmatic features and processes: student

recruitment and selection, curriculum,

support services, and data collection. For

each feature, the researchers investigated the

current practices of the case study sites,

identified those practices that seemed most

promising in meeting the needs of middleand low-achieving students, and identified

barriers to implementing them. Given that

the programs’ outcomes data are limited, the

last part of this section describes what

practitioners and students perceive the

benefits of the programs to be. 

Student Recruitment and Selection 

Given this study’s focus on the promise of

expanding CBTPs to middle- and lowachieving students, the five programs’

student recruitment and application

procedures were a particularly significant

area of study. Programs were selected for the

study based on staff’s assurances that they

were accessible to a wide range of students. It

is important to remember, however, that for

some of the programs the initial application

process and procedures cover both general

program and college course admittance (such

as in Iowa and New York City), while in

other programs the initial application is for

entry into the program with a subsequent

process necessary for college course

enrollment (such as in California and Texas). 

Much of the student recruitment for all the

programs occurs informally. For the most

part, high school-based counselors and

teachers advertise the different programs to

students, often using materials printed by the

college partners. At the California site,

MCHS staff visit local feeder schools and

broadly disseminate written information and

applications. Similarly in Minnesota,

information is shared with potential and

incoming students and their parents. In both

New York City and in Texas, the high

school-based program teachers must recruit

enough students to fill their courses, or they

will not be offered. 

The screening and selection process varies

from site to site. In California, where there

are many more applicants than spaces, the

MCHS staff use a rubric to score and rank

students’ applications. They look carefully at

grade point averages (GPAs), test scores, any

disciplinary issues, and students’ essays. In

New York City, students who wish to enroll

in college credit-bearing courses must have

certain minimum test scores, as required by

the college. However, there are no admissions

criteria for students entering the program

through the noncollege credit-bearing

17
courses. The Texas Tech-Prep program has an

application form that asks for students’ GPAs

and interest in the course work; however,

students are rarely turned away. Finally,

students interested in the Iowa program and

Minnesota IB course work simply register for

those courses. For the two career-themed

programs, screening focuses on whether the

students show a serious interest in the topic

area. As the Texas culinary teacher said, he

does not want students who think they are

signing up for “Eating 101.” 

Who are the students participating in these

programs? In general, for all of the programs,

the students must be motivated. Students

applying to MCHS have to plan ahead

because they must submit essays and prior

school records. The curriculum of the Iowa

Health Careers Academy program is intense

and accelerated, and the clinical component

requires students to perform their work

before regular school hours. At the

Minnesota High School it is common

knowledge that the IB program requires a

great deal of hard work. New York City’s

dual enrollment program occurs after school,

so students have to be able to handle

additional course work on top of their

regular curriculum. As a New York City

school counselor says, “I think the kids who

are academically motivated and want to learn

and want to take extra stuff [course work and

activities], they hear [about] it from their

friends.” Additionally, although the Texas

Tech-Prep courses meet during the regular

school day, several of the concentrations

require independent or off-site work, and

earning the college credits requires planning

and follow-through.

The students also have to be mature and

responsible. “Maturity” was heard repeatedly

in the interviews, when program staff were

asked about student screening. Participating

students must act maturely, particularly those

who leave their high schools to take college

courses (as in California and Iowa). As the

Iowa instructor says, “This is not a class for

somebody who is having attendance

problems and other issues at the high school,

because there’s a lot of maturity involved.” 

When directly questioned about the students

in the programs many respondents said that

they aim to have a “mix” of students, or

primarily students “of the middle range.”

However, the data show some ambiguity

regarding participating students’

backgrounds and abilities. For example,

while one New York City program teacher

says that the program targets “middle-level

students, the ones that I suppose are more

likely to enter the community college

system. ...” he goes on to say that, for the

College Now classes he teaches, “I target

probably some of the better classes in this

school. ...” Another teacher says that, “I hate

to say it, but it’s the top of the class that

winds up in these certain classes.” At the

MCHS, one respondent describes the

student population as including at-risk

students, while another individual says it

does not. Thus, some contradiction is

evident among our respondents’ views of the

kinds of students their programs were

serving.

This contradiction can possibly be explained

by the fact that four of the programs have

recently been, or are in the process of,

18
making subtle adjustments to their

recruitment and selection processes.

Programs either recognized as being elite or

with very specific entrance criteria,

Minnesota IB and New York City Dual

Enrollment, are attempting to broaden their

student targeting. California and Iowa’s open

access programs are tightening up their

screening processes. Each of these programs

has specific reasons for their actions.

Although clearly an academically challenging

program, Minnesota IB staff and students

characterize the program as “open to

anybody.” They said that entry into the

program is “self-selection”—that the decision

to enroll is up to the individual student, who

must decide whether he or she wants to be

challenged. As the school’s parent

coordinator says: 

I think the program is really

accessible. I think the challenge

is for us to communicate with

those students and families and

have them accessible. As far as I

know, we’ve never had— there

haven’t been students who want

to take IB classes that haven’t been

able to.

However, at the same time, staff and

students are recognizing that, despite the

official open-access policy, there are some

informal barriers to entry. It appears that

students who are already on an accelerated

track in middle school are those counseled to

enroll in IB. And if students do not enroll in

the pre-IB courses early on, it can be difficult

to enroll in IB courses at a later time. In

addition, the racial and ethnic composition

of the IB student population does not reflect

that of the school as a whole. As both

students and staff noted, this results in a

comfort issue; one student said, “People have

not taken [Advanced Placement] AP or IB

classes because they know they’ll be the only

one that’s of color or of a different race, so

they won’t take the class.” 

Thus, there is beginning to be an

understanding that an elite, non diverse

program, however officially open-access, may

be self-perpetuating without measures taken

to specifically broaden the student

population. To do so, program staff are

making strong efforts at communicating with

the counselors and parents of incoming

students to clarify the open-access nature of

the program. In addition, the IB coordinator

is working with the coordinator of the

school’s Multicultural Excellence Program

(MEP) to develop support systems

encouraging minority students to enroll (or

remain enrolled) in IB courses, and helping

IB students of color to develop a network of

supportive peers. 

In the case of the New York City program,

the coordinators want to ensure broad access

by a high school population increasingly

composed of immigrant and English

Language Learner (ELL) students. Yet, given

the college’s requirements for enrollment in

credit-bearing courses, only certain students

can enroll in those courses. As will be

described in the section of this report on

curriculum, the coordinators developed a

developmental sequence of courses, with

different entry points, some open to any

student. Thus, this program is making strong

efforts to bring in students of all abilities and

prepare them for college course work.

19
In contrast, California MCHS and the Iowa

Health Careers Academy have become more

selective or are considering doing so. There

is widespread agreement among the staff of

the MCHS that recent cohorts of students

are more mature and at a higher academic

level than were prior ones. Because of the

large number of applications the MCHS

receives, the school can be selective about

whom it accepts. In addition, conflict with

the sponsoring college in previous years over

disruptive and unprepared high school

students likely contributes to the high school

screening students more carefully. As a high

school administrator stated:

I think the college kind of got

tired of the kind of student they

had here because they were hard to

control in this open environment. ...

They weren’t preparing them to

get to college; they were just kind

of here and expected to go take some

college classes, and it doesn’t really

work like that.

Similarly, Iowa Community College trusts

Rural High School staff to adequately screen

and select students. However, after incidents

in the last few years where students enrolled

because they saw an opportunity to leave the

high school for part of the day, the college

coordinators and particularly the instructors

favor better screening. Thus, screening of

students, or lack thereof, has implications for

a smooth-running partnership between the

high school and college partners. In

addition, the content of the program has

become more difficult. As the college-based

coordinator said: 

Our program has changed. ...

There’s more rigor in the class

now. One of those reasons is we’ve

added a medical terminology class,

and that is hard. ... If a student is

not a little bit better student,

they may have a lot more trouble. 

In Texas, teachers speak of the application

process as determining a “good fit” so that

students will succeed in the course work.

Also in Texas, an increase in program

demand allows teachers to more carefully

select their students. In general, many

respondents spoke against open access and

in favor of screening to ensure that students

would be successful in their college course

work. 

Promising Practices

Overall, the five case study sites enroll a

range of students and do not limit

participation to higher-achieving students. It

should be noted that access to the programs

is not limited by state policies. While four of

the five states have policies addressing

CBTPs (New York State does not), the

policies comment very little on student

eligibility criteria, in contrast to the policies

of some other states. 

However, not limiting participation does not

ensure broad access. In general, if CBTPs

want to engage a broader range of students,

there are several measures that can be taken.

Programs should have more formal and

strategic recruitment strategies. In particular,

program staff should have a consistent

understanding of which students are eligible

and which students are to be targeted.

20
Program staff should thoughtfully analyze

which students would best benefit from the

program, and whether these are the students

applying. This analysis also ought to consider

how the program structure might affect

which students participate. For example, the

New York City Dual Enrollment program

informally limits which students have access,

because the program is run after school and

does not provide dual credit. Students who

have after-school commitments (such as

employment, sports, or other extracurricular

activities) are unable to participate in the

program. 

More formal recruitment activities should

involve the middle school and high school

counseling staff. Also, since it appears that

much recruitment is done by peers, peer

recruitment strategies could be formalized

and institutionalized. Better and broader

outreach to parents might also have an effect.

Several students in the Minnesota program

said they were encouraged to enroll by their

parents, and the program is trying to reach

parents with more targeted program

information. Other programs tend to involve

parents after their child is enrolled, not

before. 

It does appear that making efforts to include

middle- to low-achieving students does not

mean that programs will be entirely openaccess. Coordinators and teachers felt

strongly that some screening of students is

necessary before they are allowed to enroll in

college credit course work. Students must

have adequate academic and personal

preparation if they are to succeed in their

college level courses. In addition, evidence

from the California and Iowa sites suggests

that unprepared students do cause strains in

the secondary-to-postsecondary partnership. 

The Iowa program gives an excellent example

of how a screening process can be structured

and used to communicate to all students

how they can prepare themselves for program

participation. This process is not being used

at Rural High School, the case study high

school site, but at another high school

participating in the Health Careers

Academy.6 The program coordinator created

a rubric to use in screening student

applicants that includes mathematics courses

taken, attendance, behavior, and state test

scores. The rubric then is shared with

students who express interest in the Health

Careers Academy. In this way the rubric

helps students think about the future and

plan accordingly. Because students may apply

to participate in the Health Careers Academy

in the 11th grade, if their rubric scores are

low relative to other applicants, they can

work to improve their marks on the different

criteria and apply again for the 12th grade.

Any student can potentially meet the

requirements and participate. The high

school principal said that the rubric helps

students understand that they are making a

commitment to the academy and that “it is a

privilege to be in the program.” 

Barriers

Sites encounter difficulty recruiting and

selecting middle- and low-achieving students

into CBTPs for a number of reasons. Sites

struggle to balance access with the desire to

21

6 Due to the limited number of students participating in the program from Rural High School, a decision was made to observe

program operations at another site.
ensure student and programmatic success.

The academic and social skills demands of

the programs can restrict access to students

with certain skill sets, and in some cases the

postsecondary partners reinforce the

importance of setting a minimum level of

entry standard. 

In addition, the programs tend to lack clear

systems for recruiting students. Some rely

heavily on word-of-mouth to inform students

about the program. Though this appears to

be effective in reaching those students who

are engaged in the school, are motivated, or

have strong relationships with their teachers,

such recruitment does not maximize

knowledge about the program among the

high schools’ student body as a whole.

In some sites, the CBTP is not wellunderstood by those not involved. Some

guidance counselors know of the program,

but not enough to counsel students to enroll

in it. Additionally, some teachers and

guidance counselors who are not involved in

the program do not understand the

program’s purpose or target student, and so

actively discourage some students from

enrolling. 

Finally, programs struggle to attract

disengaged students when the students do

not see a benefit to their participation.

Particularly if a program meets after school,

students are sometimes reluctant to enroll in

it, as they do not want to take on the extra

work. Thus, a number of sites are seeking to

find ways to answer students’ question of

“What’s in it for me?” If sites have trouble

finding ways to convince students of the

CBTPs’ relevance, they cannot convince

them to enroll. 

Curriculum7

Comprehensive and enhanced

comprehensive CBTPs, by definition, have

curricula that encompass much of students’

high school experiences, and each of the five

case study sites have created a multicourse

curriculum culminating in college credit. 

The data indicate that CBTP course work

falls, loosely, into three categories—high

school, developmental, and college credit.

Though these categories may overlap in some

cases, they are distinguishable by their

curricular goals. First, CBTPs may include

high school course work. These courses count

toward students’ high school graduation

requirements. They also may prepare

students for college course work by giving

them the basic knowledge and skills

necessary for success in college-level classes,

particularly when instructors are aware of

college expectations and infuse them into

their classes. However, the primary purpose

of high school course work is to enable

students to meet high school graduation

requirements.

High school courses may be enough to

prepare students for college course work.

However, some students—particularly middleand low-achieving students—need additional

preparation for college course work. To

address their needs, and to maintain access

to college courses for a range of students,

two of the programs established an

22

7 In this report, curriculum refers to the structure of CBTP courses, their goals, and ways that they ensure that all students are

prepared for and have access to college-level course work.
intermediary series of courses. Developmental

course work is explicitly designed to prepare

students for the demands of college-level

work. Unlike high school courses—which are

aligned to high school graduation

requirements—developmental course work is

closely aligned with college course work.

Finally, CBTPs include college credit course

work. These are the capstone experiences

that define CBTPs. Depending upon the

program, students may earn college credit in

a variety of ways. 

High School Courses

High school courses, first and foremost, meet

the requirements for high school graduation.

They are also the first step in preparing

students for college course work, and the

data show that they can help students gain

the skills necessary for college. In New York

City, for example, the regular high school

mathematics and English course sequences

culminate in state examinations called the

Regents exams. The City University of New

York has aligned its entry requirements with

these exams, so that any student receiving a

score of 75 or higher is considered qualified

for college admission. Students who are

successful in their regular high school course

work, therefore, also are prepared for success

in college. 

A similar situation occurs in California,

where MCHS teachers deliberately use their

course content (intended to fulfill high

school graduation requirements) to prepare

their students for the expectations of college

courses. For example, the high school

English teacher has students make use of the

college library when writing a research paper

in order to teach them research skills. He

stated, “I give them college-level work but I

don’t treat them like college students. I work

them through it. I spend more time breaking

it down for them. ...” Students’ skills are

developed through regular high school

classes in ways that help them prepare for

college. 

The sites in the study use regular high school

courses to prepare students for college in two

ways. The first way, as illustrated above, is to

explicitly link the high school curriculum to

college course expectations. Program teachers

and staff in California, Minnesota and New

York make deliberate attempts to align the

demands of high school and college credit

courses. (It should be noted that, particularly

in California and New York, the extent to

which high school and college course work

are linked varies significantly among

teachers.) 

23

Following is an excerpt from an

observation of a diploma-level IB course.

It demonstrates the level of rigor often

found in courses offered through creditbased transition programs.

This course focused on knowledge—how

knowledge is constructed, how people gain

knowledge, and how to evaluate

knowledge. The class was beginning a unit

on the construction of knowledge in

mathematics.

In order to get the class thinking about

mathematics, the teacher put a proof on 

Continued on next page

Exhibit 2: Minnesota International

Baccalaureate Classroom Observation
A second approach is to assume that regular

high school courses prepare students for

college-level work without making special

effort to ensure that they do so. This is the

case in Iowa and for some of the Tech-Prep

concentrations in Texas.8 The regular high

school curriculum is not clearly aligned with

college credit courses, though success in high

school courses is seen by program staff as an

indication that students are ready for college

credit courses. For example, in Iowa,

completing high school biology is seen as

evidence that students have the background

knowledge to enter the Health Careers

Academy. However, the high school biology

teacher said that human biology—the basis for

health sciences courses—is not covered in her

course. Thus, when high school courses and

the CBTPs are not explicitly linked, there is

no way to ensure that high school course work

prepares students for admission to college

credit courses, or even to college generally. 

Developmental Courses

At the Minnesota and New York City sites,

CBTP staff do not rely exclusively on the

regular high school curriculum to prepare

students for college courses. Additional

classes, developmental course work, have been

created to explicitly address the skills and

knowledge students would need in college

courses. The primary goal of these classes is

to prepare students for college course work,

rather than to ensure high school graduation.

Depending on the program, these courses

24

the board. Through a number of steps, he

demonstrated that 2 can equal 1. This set

off a furor in the room. Students began

calling out that it is not possible because

the teacher did it incorrectly. “No! You

can’t use your given, it needs to be two

equations to bring it back in!”

The students started to have side

conversations amongst themselves as they

discussed the merits of the proof. 

The teacher said that he did not have the

answer, and a student got upset with him:

“Why do you do this? You bring in

random things that nobody knows the

answer to and it drives me crazy!” The

teacher addressed the dissent in the class

regarding the validity of the proof: “It

made sense to me. Obviously, there’s

something wrong. On your own, see if you

can figure it out. What is wrong with it?”

The real reason he gave the proof, the

teacher explained, is to show the students

that “truth” can be defined in different

ways. How does mathematics define truth?

The class began a discussion of this

question. The discussion touches on a

wide range of topics, including Morse

Code, science fiction, language, and Plato.

One student noted that probabilities are

logic and mathematics, and the teacher

said that logic, then, is the basis of

mathematics. The student replied, “Or is

math the basis of logic?”

8 The Texas Tech-Prep program includes a number of concentrations, with significant variation among them. In some cases, high

school elective courses are required prerequisites for enrollment in college courses, and, in these concentrations, the high school

courses do explicitly prepare students for college-level work. In other strands, such as criminal justice, high school courses are not

explicitly linked. And, for all concentrations, general high school courses (those fulfilling graduation requirements) are not linked to the

Tech-Prep curriculum. 
may provide the students with credit toward

high school graduation or with elective credit.

At both sites, developmental courses are seen

as a way of ensuring that a broad range of

students have access to the CBTP, since they

focus on skill development. As the New York

City college-based coordinator explained,

middle- and low-achieving students often

need additional academic instruction to

slowly build their skills to a college-ready

level: “ ... what we need with these kids is

time, and sequence.” 

The Minnesota IB program has a clear

preparatory course of study that builds

students’ skills during ninth and 10th grade

in order to prepare them for the IB diploma

program. These courses meet high school

graduation requirements, yet they are also

significantly enriched and modified in order

to develop students’ academic skills.

Moreover, unlike high school courses, their

primary goal goes beyond high school

graduation to preparing students for the IB

diploma. The pre-IB course content and

pedagogy are specifically targeted toward IB

demands. Pre-IB courses are closely aligned

with the requirements of diploma courses

and build students’ skills in a sequential

manner over multiple semesters. The result is

that, by their junior year, students are

familiar with and able to achieve the

expectations of diploma courses, and they

have the higher-level critical thinking,

reading, writing, and mathematics skills

necessary for success on IB exams. 

Any student in the school is permitted to

enter pre-IB courses as long as they have

passed the state’s eighth-grade reading exam.

By keeping pre-IB classes open-access, the

Minnesota program believes that it ensures

broad participation in the IB program.

Students entering ninth grade with low or

mediocre academic skills have two years to

build their skills. One shortcoming of the

pre-IB course work, however, is that it does

not allow students to enter the program at

25

Following is an excerpt from an

observation of a College Now English 99

class. For students with difficulties in

writing, English 99 is a developmental

course focusing on writing skills by

incorporating the expectations of college

course work.

The teacher passed around a handout and

said he had an exercise for the day’s class.

The page had two paragraphs for the

students to edit. The students began to

quietly redo the paragraphs, during which

time the teacher called the students up

front individually to talk about their

course work. When all the individual

conferences were completed, the teacher

told a student to, “Take us through the

first one, tell us the corrections you made

along the way.”

The students gave different ideas as to

how the paragraph could be rewritten.

The teacher complimented some of the

students for their ideas, and the exchange

of the ideas went back and forth between

the students and the teacher.

Exhibit 3: Observation of a New York

City Dual Enrollment Developmental

English Course
any point in their academic career. If

students do not enroll in developmental

courses in ninth or 10th grades, they are

likely to have difficulty entering IB diploma

courses.

The New York City Dual Enrollment

program created a developmental course of

study in order to encourage students who are

not ready for college course work to

participate in College Now. Students who do

not receive a score of at least 75 on their

state high school exit exams are provided

with a number of opportunities to enhance

their skills so that, over time, they become

prepared for college course work.

New York City Dual Enrollment offers two

developmental courses for students in need

of significant remediation. The Learner’s

Academy is a two-year sequence targeted at

preparing ELL students for high school exit

exams. High school and college instructors

jointly teach this theme-based course, which

also includes significant support services and

enrichment activities. Students earn high

school elective credit for their Learner’s

Academy courses. The program also offers

New York City Community College’s

remedial English course at the high school.

This course helps students improve their

writing skills sufficiently so that they can

progress to college credit course work, and

they earn one high school elective credit. 

New York City Dual Enrollment also offers

two intermediate developmental

opportunities to students, called Gateway

courses. These are college courses offered by

New York City Community College that do

not require a 75 Regents exam score for

enrollment. Instead, students with C

averages or better in their high school

English classes enroll in Gateway courses,

which focus on literacy skills. Rather than

garnering general education college credit,

these courses lead to elective college credit

that is less easily transferred to other

postsecondary institutions. Gateway courses

build students’ reading and writing skills

while serving as an introduction to college,

though with less of the rigor of general

education college credit courses. 

In both the Minnesota and New York

programs, successful completion of

developmental courses leads to enrollment in

college credit courses. 

College Credit Courses

As the defining feature of a CBTP, all sites in

this study offer students the opportunity to

take college courses. Of the five sites, the

California MCHS is the only one where the

students take college credit courses on the

campus with regularly matriculated college

students. New York City Dual Enrollment,

Texas Tech-Prep, and Minnesota IB all offer

courses at the high school, with high school

instructors certified as college adjuncts or

trained in IB curricula teaching the courses.

(The exception to this is the Learner’s

Academy in New York, in which students

spend half of their time at the high school

and half at the college.) In the Iowa Dual

Enrollment program, high school students

comprise their own class, which meets at a

local hospital or a college satellite center.

The instructor, however, is a college adjunct

and not a teacher at the high school. 

26
At those sites where the college courses are

being delivered by the college partner

exclusively for high school students (Iowa,

New York, and Texas), the college provides

curriculum and instructional supervision.

The control exerted by the college over the

curriculum and its delivery varies. In the

Iowa Dual Enrollment program, the college

tightly controls the curriculum by giving

program instructors PowerPoint slides

(similar to those used by professors at the

college) for each lesson and providing them

with course materials. In other programs, the

college gives the high schools more leeway in

implementing course objectives. At Texas

Tech-Prep, for example, teachers are given a

set of student outcomes by the college, but

they are given significant freedom in

achieving those objectives. In New York,

teachers submit their syllabi for approval by

the college department offering the course. 

Though it can make sense to give high

schools flexibility in curriculum delivery,

there is evidence in some instances that the

courses, or portions of them, do not

resemble work typically found in a college

course. For example, some teachers replace

long readings with shorter ones so as not to

overburden students. 

It should be noted that college credit courses

do not automatically yield college credit for

students. Credit earning varied among sites.

In California and Iowa, students earn both

high school and college credit for their

college credit courses, and the college credit is

placed automatically on a college transcript.

In New York City, students also earn their

credit via college transcript but do not earn

high school credit. For students in all these

sites, if they matriculate to a college outside

for their CBTP partnership, it is the receiving

institution’s choice as to whether or not

credit will be granted for the CBTP course.

In Minnesota and Texas, the credit earning

process is not done via transcript. IB

students take an end-of-course exam.

Successful completion of the exam earns

them credit if they submit their test scores to

the college they enroll in, and the college

chooses to grant them credit for their scores.

In Texas, students earn articulated credit

through the Tech-Prep program. After

successfully completing their Tech-Prep

course, students must enroll in Texas

Community College, declare their major to

be the same as their Tech-Prep concentration

(students in the criminal justice

concentration, for example, must declare

criminal justice as their major), and take at

least six credits at the college, in that major.

Once they have completed these

requirements, they can petition the registrar’s

office to place their articulated Tech-Prep

credits on their college transcript. 

When asked about these credit-earning

procedures, students generally indicated that

they understood the procedures and did not

find them onerous. The students had not

yet, however, tried to use the credits.

Restrictions placed on college credit in a

number of sites indicate that students may

not always receive college credit for CBTP

participation, so that, if credit earning is

their primary goal, they may be disappointed.

27
Curricular Pathways

Frequently, staff at the study sites speak of

arranging CBTP experiences in an ordered,

progressively challenging fashion that moves

students from one experience to the next.

Such course sequences can be conceptualized

as curricular pathways providing structure to

students’ academic experiences. Curricular

pathways are clear routes that students may

use to move from one level of course work to

another, linking high school courses to

developmental courses, and developmental

courses to college courses. Students need not

engage in each step of the pathway, as in

New York City, where students may move

directly from the Learner’s Academy into

general education college courses, bypassing

Gateway courses if warranted. However, the

steps should be available and logically

ordered. A number of individuals in our

sample indicate that curricular pathways can

play an important role in helping CBTPs

meet the needs of a range of students,

because they help students build their skills

in a progressive manner. The New York City

Dual Enrollment program coordinator

explained, “I think it is really important that

we do whatever we can ... to strengthen

students’ communication skills, particularly

reading and writing. But not to do it in a

quick fix way, but to do it ... with an idea

and a fix on sequential development.” 

28

Grade

Level

College

Now Course Sequence Rationale

10th grade Learner’s Academy

– Global Studies

Identified by the school as an ELL, the student is recruited by the program's

high school coordinator and enrolls in the Learner’s Academy. This full-year

course gives the student high school elective credit and prepares him or her for

the state's Regents exam in Global Studies. 

11th grade

Learner’s Academy

– English/

Language Arts 

The student continues in the Learner’s Academy. The second year focuses on

improving reading and writing skills in preparation for the state's Regents exam

in English/Language Arts. It also gives him or her high school elective credit.

12th grade - fall English 99

(Basic Writing)

Based on his or her Regent's exam scores, the student enters English 99, a

developmental writing course, in order to continue to strengthen his or her

writing skills. As part of the course the student completes the Gateway exit

exam, which assesses his or her readiness for college credit courses. The

student receives high school elective credit.

12th grade -

spring

Oral

Communications

Based on the student's performance in English 99 and on the Gateway exit

exam, the student is recommended for enrollment in Oral Communications.

This is a college course that provides the student with 3 elective college credits. 

Exhibit 4: Sample Pathway for a College Now Student Beginning in

the Learner’s Academya

a The Learner’s Academy is a two-year sequence of courses for ELL students. In addition to preparing for college-level courses, Learner’s

Academy students can participate in a variety of enrichment activities.
Although every case site in the study has

some sort of curricular pathway, not all of

them create pathways leading from one level

of work to another. The California site does

not always help students create logical

progressions through their high school and

college course work. In fact, in California

and Texas, students often enroll in high

school courses after taking a college class. As

a result, college courses are not a culminating

or capstone experience for students, nor does

the rigor of students’ course work necessarily

increase over time. In Iowa, completion of

the Health Careers Academy is certainly a

step in a pathway leading to a college degree

in the health professions, yet there is not a

clear pathway from high school course work

into the Academy. 

The Minnesota IB program does have a

curricular path to prepare students for the

Diploma program. However, as noted earlier,

this pathway does not include a

developmental component that could help

students enter the program after the ninth or

10th grade. In fact, according to some study

respondents, the curricular pathway serves to

discourage open access by creating unequal

educational experiences for students within

the school. Students who do not enter the

pathway early in high school are unable to

enter diploma courses because they do not

have the proper background or skill set. An IB

teacher notes this problem by saying, “ ... they

just sign up for whatever their freshman year,

and then in the sophomore year they decide

they’d like to do more IB courses and then

29

Grade

Level

College

Now Course Sequence Rationale

11th grade - fall Literacy and

Propaganda

The student is recruited by program teachers. Based on his or her previous

academic performance, the high school-based coordinator advises the student to

enroll in a Gateway course, which focuses on strengthening literacy skills. The

student earns 3 college elective credits.

11th grade -

spring Critical Thinking

Although the student increased his or her skills, the student’s scores on the

Gateway exit exam require the student to take another Gateway course to

further strengthen his or her reading and writing. He or she enrolls in Critical

Thinking, earning another three college elective credits. This semester, his or her

skills are strengthened enough that he or she scores above a 75 on the English

Regents exam. 

12th grade - fall Introduction to

Sociology

The student enrolls in Introduction to Sociology, a general education college

course. He or she receives 3 college credits that are easily transferable.

12th grade -

spring English 101 The student enrolls in English 101, another general education college course. Heor she receives 3 additional college credits that are easily transferable. 

Exhibit 5: Sample Pathway for a College Now Student Beginning

in a Gateway Course
they run into a problem because they don’t

have the proper prerequisites.” 

The New York City Dual Enrollment

program has a curricular pathway spanning

developmental and college courses. Students

can engage in a variety of developmental

activities, as described earlier. They then may

move to the Gateway courses, which prepare

them for college general education classes.

Each step in the pathway serves a distinct

purpose in preparing students for collegelevel work, and students who do not progress

out of Gateway courses, for example, are still

better prepared for college than they would

have been without any College Now activities.

Moreover, because students do not need

strong academic skills to enter the pathway,

broad access to College Now is possible.

Promising Practices

The findings from the five case study sites

can be used to create a model of a promising

CBTP curriculum that, though in need of

confirmation through future research,

provides a sense of how curricular pathways

might be structured in order to provide

access to the program and to college for a

wide range of students. The data suggest that

the primary component of an ideal

curriculum would be the presence of a clear

curricular pathway encompassing high school

and developmental course work, aligned with

the demands of college course work, and

culminating in student enrollment in a college

course. Curricular pathways should have

multiple access and exit points in order to

allow students of all academic levels to enter

the pathway at any point in their academic

career. In this way, pathways help ensure that

middle- and low-achieving students have

access to CBTPs. 

Curricular pathways also may provide

students with a clear set of expectations for

entry into college credit courses. Sequential

pathways communicate to students the steps

they must take toward being college-ready.

Even if a student does not proceed to the

final step, moving through a curricular

pathway with set standards at every level

should advance students’ academic skills and

college readiness. 

The first step in a curricular pathway should

be high school course work that is aligned

with both high school graduation

requirements and the requirements to enter

college credit course work. Alignment with

college expectations should be made explicit,

in order to deliberately help students prepare

for college, even as they complete their high

school graduation requirements. For many

students, completion of such aligned high

school course work will be enough

preparation for entry into college credit

courses. 

Not all students will be ready for college-level

study as high school juniors or seniors,

however, so developmental course work

should be present in order to provide the

additional academic support needed. Again,

this course work should be closely aligned to

the demands of college courses. A range of

developmental activities also should exist,

thereby allowing students with varying

academic needs to have appropriate

entryways into the pathway. 

30
Aligning high school and developmental

curricula with college expectations is heavily

reliant on strong collaboration and

communication among high school and

college instructors. High school faculty

understand the capabilities of their students

and what methods will most effectively help

them be ready for college-level work. College

faculty are knowledgeable of the content and

pedagogy used at the college and can

communicate this to high school faculty.

They should drive the objectives and

standards of developmental course work,

while high school faculty drive the

pedagogical approaches used to reach those

standards. 

Such collaboration is seen in the Learner’s

Academy in the New York City Dual

Enrollment program, as well as in the New

York program’s use of college curricula for

developmental activities. Both efforts aim to

ensure that developmental activities prepare

students for the actual demands of college

credit courses. 

In fact, the developmental aspect of the New

York City program seems particularly

promising, because the program has multiple

developmental activities and entry and exit

points. Students of any academic level can

enter the pathway and build their skills.

Those students with stronger skills may

immediately enter Gateway or even general

education college credit courses. The

presence of the Learner’s Academy ensures

program access even for students whose first

language is not English. 

The data make clear, however, that merely

having pathways is not enough. An ideal

program would have transparent pathways.

Without being clearly visible and easily

understood, pathways may serve only to

confuse students. The students in New York

City Dual Enrollment, for example, are not

always sure of where their current course

work can lead them. In addition to helping

students already in the program navigate the

pathways, transparency can promote broad

student access to CBTPs. Ensuring that

students—both in and outside of the

program—have clear information about

curricular pathways, and helping them to

plot a course, means that students who are

less motivated or less engaged in school will

not be inadvertently excluded. Transparency

may be accomplished by more strongly

including guidance counselors in the

program so that they can make students

aware of the program’s pathways as they help

students plan their high school course work.

Creating transparency for curricular

pathways relies heavily on strong

communication not only between program

faculty and students, but between program

faculty and nonprogram faculty as well.

Instructors not involved in the CBTP should

be made aware of the standards students

must meet in order to enter college courses.

This is so that they can help students not

already involved in the program meet the

standards for entry, to give all students the

tools they need to enter a CBTP pathway,

and to make sure that pathways do not

become de facto sorting mechanisms. 

An effort toward this end is being made in

the Minnesota IB program. The mathematics

department asks all IB and non-IB

31
instructors to cover material considered

prerequisites to IB diploma-level study. The

department also has created an alternate

route to an IB diploma mathematics course

that does not require participation in pre-IB

courses. As a result, students can enter IB

mathematics study at any point in their

career. The success of this arrangement,

however, is predicated on the willingness of

non-IB teachers to understand and cover IB

material. Effective communication between

IB teachers and their colleagues makes the

arrangement possible. 

Curricular pathways should, of course, lead

to student enrollment in a college credit

course. These courses will vary in their

content and structure according to the goals

of the program and contexts within which

they are offered. However, college credit

courses should mirror college-based courses

as closely as possible. They should be

overseen (and preferably taught) by college

faculty in order to ensure that content,

pedagogy, and outcomes align with those at

the college. 

Barriers to Implementation

Certainly the contexts within which CBTPs

exist can create barriers to the effective

collaboration and communication needed to

implement transparent, developmental

curricular pathways. 

First, these activities require a significant

investment of time, something that is often

lacking in the school day. At most sites,

instructors at the high school and college, as

well as administrators, profess a deep belief

in the value of professional collaboration.

However, they are hard pressed to find the

time to engage in such collaboration, given

the other demands placed upon them in

their jobs. 

Moreover, collaboration is predicated on

ongoing trust between the partnering

institutions. In two of the partnerships in

the sample, one or both of the partners lacks

confidence in the other’s willingness to

engage in meaningful collaboration. In one

case, the secondary partner feels the collegebased coordinators do not respect its input

and do not understand the constraints under

which it operates. In another, the college

administration feels that the presence of high

school students on its campus undermines

its status as a college, and some college

faculty object to teaching high school

students. Once trust is established between

partnering institutions there comes a greater

willingness to be flexible and to reach

compromises around program arrangements.

Two of the partnerships examined do not

trust that each has the other’s interest in

mind.

Communication is equally difficult for many

CBTPs. Faculty who are not involved may

not understand or value the CBTP, and thus

may be unable or unwilling to help their

students enter the program. Communication

to students at many of the study sites is

somewhat haphazard; as described earlier in

this report, for the most part, students have

to be already motivated to discover and

enroll in the CBTP. Particularly in large

schools with few guidance counselors, poor

communication about the program may

inhibit the participation of middle- and lowachieving students in the CBTP. 

32
Without good collaboration and

communication, the logistics of developing

and implementing a coherent developmental

curriculum can be daunting. Scheduling, in

particular, can be troublesome, as is the case

in Minnesota. The all-encompassing IB

curriculum makes scheduling difficult and

often promotes a feeling of constraint for

students who want to take non-IB electives

but also need to fulfill their IB requirements.

Additionally, the school’s block schedule

sometimes interferes with teachers’ attempts

to prepare students for IB exams. Although

not insurmountable, the scheduling needs of

the program sometimes conflict with the

scheduling needs of the school as a whole. 

Curriculum development, even when not

conducted within a partnership, is a

complicated, time-consuming and difficult

process. Creating multiple curricula, all

aligned with one another and with high

school and college curricula outside of the

program, requires significant effort on the part

of program instructors at both institutions. 

Therefore, it is not surprising that none of

the sites in our sample include all the

curricular components and collaborative

relationships encompassed by our model of

promising programs. Each site does, however,

incorporate key features of this model in an

attempt to help all students prepare for and

succeed in college course work. 

Support Services

The data analysis also focused on the types

of support services that are available to assist

students in their movement through the

curriculum and towards college courses and

once they are in those courses. Nonacademic

as well as academic support services seem to

be essential in helping students understand

and meet the demands of a postsecondary

environment. Such services are likely to be

particularly important for students who have

not been successful previously in school. 

There is a great deal of variation in both the

types and extent of services offered to

students in the different programs. In

general, services vary along two major

dimensions: their sponsor, meaning whether

they are offered by the high school, by the

college, or through a collaboration; and their

content, for example whether services

provide academic support, general personal

support, or specific college-preparatory

activities, such as assistance with college

applications or financial aid. Some services

are difficult to categorize, as they have

multiple goals. 

Who Provides Services? 

The high schools sponsoring the CBTPs

offer support services typical to most high

schools, such as college nights or college

fairs, financial aid workshops, and academic

advising, among others. Special academic

support is available for students with

learning disabilities. Aside from the size of

the school influencing students’ access to

services such as counseling, we do not detect

any significant differences across the schools

in terms of the services offered to all

students. The high schools by themselves do

not offer services especially for students in

the CBTP, except that the Minnesota high

school has implemented advisory periods

and IB students are clustered in their own

33
advisories. In California, the high school is

the CBTP, so many services, as described

below, relate to students’ dual enrollment.

All of the postsecondary partners offer a

range of services (although, as noted

previously, the Minnesota IB program has no

college partner), but students are limited in

accessing them. Students in the Texas TechPrep program are not officially considered

college students and so cannot use any

college-based services. The Iowa Health

Careers Academy students are considered

students of the college and thus can take

advantage of the services offered, but there

was no evidence that they do so, likely

because of the distance to the college and

some lack of effort on the part of the

program’s staff to orient them to the

college’s facilities. 

Only in California and New York do the

students really make use of support services

provided by the college. Students in the New

York program may use the college’s facilities

and services, and the high school-based

coordinator and instructors make efforts to

bring the high school students to the college.

At the California program, students who are

enrolled in college courses have access to all

of the college’s facilities and services, and

even high school students not taking college

courses are generally welcomed by college

services staff. Students acquire information

at three different counseling centers on the

college campus as well as at the high school

counseling office. In addition, the colocation

of the MCHS and the college means that

program students can easily take advantage

of the range of services offered. Even so,

ensuring that the students know about the

services and make use of them requires a

focused effort. As a counselor at the

California MCHS said: 

The challenge for me is to make

sure we bring those services to

our students because our students

don’t have the fortitude to go out

and seek those services. That is

one of my biggest challenges, to

make sure I set up a system where

we bring in presenters ... to discuss

services and tell the students

what it is that they can do for

them, and set up tours so the

students know where to go. 

It is significant that, in the California and

New York programs, collaboration between

secondary and postsecondary counseling

staffs brings about the creation of activities

especially for program students.

Each of the high schools in the study

provides some support services to all of their

students. Because the high schools are

limited in the services they could offer,

however, the additional supports provided by

the CBTP appear to be important in helping

students be successful in their college course

work and future transition to college. For

example, New York City High School has

only one college counselor assisting 700

seniors with their college application,

advisement, and paperwork needs. For the

specialized college-level health careers

curriculum taught in the Iowa program, the

high school seems unable to provide much in

the way of academic support. In Minnesota,

academic support services such as structured

study groups and review sessions are

provided to those in the upper levels of the

34
IB program who are preparing for IB testing.

However, there is no focused support

targeting those who might have been

struggling in the beginning stages of the

program. A counselor at that high school

spoke of the need for better academic

support: 

But he [referring to a teacher]

said, the problem that he was facing

with the IB and the AP was, the

standards were there and there

was no time for the prep. It was,

they either had to jump through

that hoop, they either make it or

they don’t. They either pass or fail ...

and so I think a lot of feeling and

thoughts that I hear, is that we

need something to prepare these

kids better to handle these heavyduty classes, and we need better

safety nets to catch them. 

The Texas program offers the most striking

example of one possible result of a lack of

structured and consistent college preparation

services; a teacher in an IT program said: 

I notice some teachers that still

tell these kids, ‘Oh, you’ve got to

go to a four-year school.’ We’re

not into that. A couple of reasons,

you know ... just the statistics that

tell us that less than five percent

of the jobs where they require a

four-year education, so why spend

the money? Plus we know that

college is not for all kids. I mean,

bottom line is a lot of kids start and

never finish their first semester,

let alone the first year. Let alone

they, you know, get a four-year

degree. It’s got to be what’s right

for them at their time, so, we try

to—not steer them, ‘cause it’s got

to be their choice. ...

Yet in contrast, teachers in other Tech-Prep

concentrations, such as criminal justice and

child development, said they do counsel

students on the importance of college to

different career paths. Still, some of the

students interviewed in focus groups said

that their teachers did not talk about college.

Thus, students in this program are receiving

different messages from their high school

about college. More contact and familiarity

with the program’s college partner might

provide students with more consistent

information about the importance of

preparing for college.

What Services Are Provided? 

In terms of the content of the services

available, students can get academic support

and advising, participate in career

exploration activities, and gather extensive

information on and assistance with college

application procedures. Again, some of these

services have overlapping goals. 

Academic support is often provided

informally by program instructors, but in

some cases there are formal academic

support services, such as those described in

Minnesota. In California, several structures

are in place to support students enrolled in

college classes, such as regular progress

reports that are required from the college

professors, and a weekly Friday class during

which high school teachers give assistance to

the students on their college course work.

Informally, college professors assist high

35
school students enrolled in their courses

after class time and also refer them to the

college’s Learning Skills Center, a tutoring

center. 

Academic advising, for planning an academic

program of study, is usually done with the

program coordinators or regular high school

counselors. In California, students are

encouraged to meet with the college

counselors; as the high school principal said:

They’re encouraged to take college

classes ... And we sit down with

them: “Okay, have you taken

poli sci?” “No.” “Take that class,

and it counts for government.

What about working on your AA

degree?” “Oh, I don’t know. I

didn’t know anything about that.”

“Okay. Well, you should think

about that, and then we’re going

to make you an appointment to

go meet with the transfer counselor,

and she’s going to tell you what

the benefits of that are, and then

she’s going to help you select some

classes.” So that’s kind of what

we do. We try to encourage as

much as possible every 11th- and

12th-grader to have at least one

class at the college; that’s why

they’re here. 

Several students in the IB program say they

wished for better academic advisement, as

they find planning their IB course of study

to be quite complicated. In Texas, the high

school counselors advise students on the

Tech-Prep options, and The Global EDGE

Tech Prep Consortium staff visit the high

school to explain to students the sequence of

courses available at the college. 

Career exploration is available in some of the

programs. Students in the Iowa program

have opportunities for structured career

exploration in the health-care field, via a

one-day event at a university hospital and

multiple job shadowing experiences. These

activities are coordinated by the college and a

nonprofit intermediary partner. In

California, all of the high school’s

homerooms receive an orientation to the

college’s career center, which offers career

self-assessments, and information on

internships and job openings. In Texas, the

Early Childhood Education concentration in

particular offers work-based learning

experiences as part of the curriculum.

Additionally, since many of the Tech-Prep

teachers have industry experience, they are

able to provide information to students

about different career paths.

College preparation activities include

exploring and visiting different colleges and

learning about college applications and

financial aid procedures. Students in

California again have a rich array of options.

For example, the college’s transfer center

organizes college visits; during one of the

project’s site visits a busload of college and

MCHS students headed to University of

California at Los Angeles (UCLA) for the

day. The high school-based counselors bring

in numerous college representatives to give

presentations. The transfer center also

provides a state-funded part-time individual

who conducts regular workshops on the

college financial aid process as well as

36
individual assistance in that area. Both Iowa

and Texas Community College staff present

information about their own programs and

application procedures. Students in the other

programs mostly have to make use of the

regular high school-based services. 

As discussed previously, one kind of college

preparation that CBTPs potentially provide

is knowledge of and a sense of comfort with

the college environment. The sites did not

engage in activities supporting this

knowledge consistently, however. In New

York City, high school students enrolled in

college courses can use the college facilities;

however, it is unclear the extent to which

they do so. The high school-based instructors

say they made efforts to take their classes to

the campus, but sometimes cannot find the

time to do so. As mentioned, students in

Texas and Iowa are unlikely to visit the

37

On a Saturday in the spring of 2004,

students from the Dual Enrollment

program met at the college to have a

discussion with a professor of English,

which was followed by a trip to see “The

Producers” on Broadway. This observation

demonstrates the ways that support

services can help familiarize students with

the expectations of a college classroom.

The professor asked the students to “think

about why we laugh.” He began to discuss

the theories behind laughter and humor.

He told that students that there are parts

of “The Producers” that some people

might find offensive, and so it is

important to think about appropriate and

inappropriate humor—what “can we laugh

at and what shouldn’t we laugh at.”

The professor asked the students for their

opinions about what is and is not OK to

laugh at. When he asked, “What

shouldn’t we laugh at?”, one student

replied, “Death,” and another said,

“Religious, ethnic, and racial groups.”

Another student said that we shouldn’t

laugh when people are being bullied, but

then a girl replied that it kind of matters

“how it’s portrayed.” 

A large number of students seemed to

agree that religion and ethnicity are off

limits, but then a boy said that this is OK,

sometimes. He asked the class, “Have you

ever seen ‘Chappelle’s Show?’” The

teacher replied that this is a good point.

“Is it OK to make fun of a racial group if

you are part of that group?” And a boy

replied, “I guess it depends on who’s

making the joke.” The professor pointed

out that Dave Chappelle makes fun of

African-American culture, but he is

African-American. The professor suggested

that intent is important—perhaps the issue

is whether jokes are meant to be funny or

harmful. Throughout this conversation,

the students were very attentive and quiet.

As the discussion progressed more and

more students were volunteering answers

and participating.

Throughout this discussion students

honed their speaking, listening, and

critical thinking skills, which are skills

necessary for success in college courses. 

Exhibit 6: Observation of New York

City Dual Enrollment Saturday

Theater Workshop
campus of the postsecondary partner. Again,

because of the colocation of the MCHS and

college campuses in California, students are

likely gaining this type of preparation. As the

assistant principal said, 

I think this is an absolutely

outstanding program for students,

and I would feel comfortable

putting my child here because the

students have an opportunity to

network and engage in various

learning environments with college

professors. And so, in terms of being

competitive, they’re competitive

not only in an academic sense, but

they also have the social exposure

from networking and taking classes

with college students. They’ve already

had the opportunity to work one

on one, or hand in hand, with the

professors to talk about their grades.

In terms of college, the exposure is

there now for the college environment. 

Personal and social supports are also not as

prevalent. We did not find any formal

mentoring, although some programs had

implemented this or similar strategies to

improve students’ self-esteem and selfconfidence in the past. Organized group

events that might build students’ support for

one another or celebrate students’

accomplishments are also lacking, except at

the New York City program. The Iowa

program has just instituted a program

completion and awards evening event. 

Services that are the most unique and hard

to categorize, meaning that they potentially

provide academic and personal support, as

well as college and career preparation, come

from collaboration between the secondary

and postsecondary institutions. In New York,

the high school- and college-based program

coordinators collaborate in a meaningful and

regular way to create social, college-based

activities that also support the students’

academic learning. Many of the activities are

targeted towards the students in the entry

levels of the program, to try to improve their

skills and to encourage their continued

participation. These activities include

cultural events at the college as well as field

trips to other institutions in New York City.

For example, to complement a social studies

curricular unit on capital punishment,

students attended an all-day symposium at

the college. A representative from Amnesty

International spoke, and the students

participated in a discussion afterwards.

In California, collaboration is more

haphazard and based on individually

developed relationships, but it does occur.

Collaboration between high school and

college counseling staffs resulted in the

creation of an industry-themed, college

credit seminar that takes place weekly in the

Career Center. A variety of speakers presents

a curriculum that covers mortgage banking,

real estate appraisal, accounting, and

information technology. Speakers and

students dress in business attire. The

program is closely aligned with a real estate

certification program; if students continue

on to the certification program, the

sponsoring company will cover the cost of

the state real estate examination. Certainly

some of these activities are aimed at

increasing students’ professional skills, which

could contribute to personal self-esteem or

self-confidence. 

38
Promising Practices

From this brief description and analysis of

the support services offered by the various

programs, one can see the added value that

collaboration contributes. As with

curriculum, when high school and collegebased instructors and coordinators come

together to determine students’ needs, and

how to support students’ transition to

college, the programs appear to be more

cohesive and comprehensive. Thus, ideally

students in CBTPs would have access to both

high school- and college-sponsored services.

In addition to the services that are already

provided to all students of those institutions,

customized services should be developed

collaboratively. As pointed out above, New

York City and California provide examples of

this collaboration.

Customization of services seems particularly

important. The range of possible support

services is vast, and programs cannot be

expected to offer a full range. Instead,

CBTPs should assess their goals and the

needs of their students, and tailor the

services they provide to best help students

attain the goals of the program. They should

provide an array of services to their students,

but should work to keep their services

focused on students’ needs and goals. 

Many of the sites do just this. In Iowa,

support activities are focused on career

exploration, in keeping with the

occupational focus of the Health Careers

Academy. In New York City, ELLs are given

the opportunity to practice their language

skills during discussions and lectures, while

other students are given the opportunity to

learn about college through visits to New

York City Community College’s campus.

Sites also should work with individual

students to ensure that, when a range of

services is available, students make use of the

services most appropriate for them. 

In addition, the data demonstrate the

importance of giving students information

about support services and setting aside time

for students to learn about and to access the

services. If students do not know about

support services, they cannot take advantage

of them. Allotting time within the regular

school day, such as is being done in the

MCHS homeroom periods, or in the

Minnesota IB students’ advisory periods,

helps to ensure that all students are given

consistent information on available support

services. 

Barriers to Implementation

A significant barrier to providing students

with an array of services is that the status of

the program students is different from that

of regularly matriculated college students.

When program students do not have official

status as college students, and where the

program does not bring students to the

college campus, students’ access to services is

generally limited to those available at their

high schools. This barrier may be magnified

for students enrolled in high school or

developmental courses, who may need the

most support but are the least likely to be

considered part of the college community. 

When CBTP students do have the right to

make use of the college’s services, there are

still often barriers to them doing so, as was

described in Iowa. Time may be lacking

within a program’s curriculum to provide

39
orientation to services, and geographic

distance may make access difficult for

students. 

Data Collection and Perceived

Benefits

Drawing conclusions about the effectiveness

of CBTPs in helping students enter and

succeed in college is reliant on the presence

of outcomes data. Ultimately, we are

interested in knowing whether students who

have participated in CBTPs are more likely

to enroll in or persist in college than their

peers who have not participated, or if former

CBTP participants complete college in

higher numbers or at a faster rate than

nonparticipants. The present study was not

designed to measure the effectiveness of the

programs, but it did explore data collection

at each site and the barriers that sites face in

collecting these data. 

Although many respondents to the study

indicated that they believe in the value of

outcomes data and profess the desire to

collect and use them, most sites do not have

systematic data collection procedures. Most

of the data available at the sites are for shortterm outcomes, such as program completion

rates. In California, for example, the high

school collects data on student progress

toward high school graduation, including the

number of college credits earned by students

that also meet high school graduation

requirements, as well as students’

postgraduation plans. California Community

College does not collect any data specifically

pertaining to students in the MCHS. 

Similarly, Minnesota IB High School

maintains data on student participation in

IB courses and their success on IB

examinations, but not on college

matriculation or persistence, or on students’

ability to translate their IB exam scores into

college credit. In Texas, the high school

keeps data on how many students take a

Tech-Prep course; the consortium collects

data on students’ eligibility for articulated

credit; and the college keeps track of student

use of Tech-Prep credit at Texas Community

College. These three sites do not follow

students beyond their first year in college. 

Both Iowa Community College and New

York City Community College have longerterm outcomes data in addition to shortterm program completion data. Iowa

Community College has data on former

program students currently enrolled at the

college and, thus, the college is able to track

students’ progress toward graduation as well

as their major. In New York City, the

university system of which the college is a

part has similar information for students

who matriculated anywhere in the CUNY

system. At both of these colleges, however,

the data are for students who participated in

any CBTP in high school, and are not

disaggregated by the specific high schools in

the study—Rural High School or New York

City High School. 

Overall, then, it appears that sites’ data

collection efforts are focused on

demographics, enrollment data, or shortterm outcomes data, and rarely on long-term

outcomes. And, there are no data for

students who do not matriculate within the

CBTP partnership. Moreover, data pertinent

to the study and requested by the research

40
team were difficult for the sites to generate.

Though the information is available, the sites

found it challenging to gather and report the

data in a way that is of interest to the

research team. Much of the data took

months for the sites to compile, and much

was generated specifically for this study, at

the request of the researchers, rather than on

a regular basis. 

Promising Practices

Given the lack of data available at the case

study sites, it is difficult to determine

promising data collection practices for

CBTPs. It does appear that data collection is

facilitated when the postsecondary partner is

involved in the process, as colleges often

have dedicated institutional research staff

skilled in data collection and analysis

techniques. In Iowa and New York, the

postsecondary partners at both sites collect

and use long-term outcomes data. 

In Iowa, data collection also is facilitated by

the college’s decision to register dual

enrollment students (including those in the

Health Careers Academy) in the same way as

regularly matriculated students. Students are

given a code indicating their enrollment in

the program, and their transcript

information can be accessed and used for

outcomes analysis as is any other college

student’s. In this way, the students can be

easily identified and followed upon their

matriculation into the college. 

Barriers to Data Collection

Why do the case study sites have such

difficulty collecting and generating data,

particularly on the long-term outcomes of

their students? Two primary themes

highlighting the challenges facing sites

emerge from the data. First, even in strong

partnerships, there is little data sharing or

collaboration on data gathering between

partners. Second, sites have serious capacity

problems, lacking staff time and knowledge

to collect and use data effectively. 

Lack of Data Sharing

At all five sites, data collection efforts are

conducted by partners in isolation from one

another. Partners are uncertain what, exactly,

the other institution collects. High schools

assume that colleges have long-term

outcomes data when the college actually does

not, for example. Partners often do not share

their data with each other. This sometimes

results in a duplication of effort, as seen in

Iowa, where both the high school and the

college collect data on student completion of

the program. 

Moreover, a lack of communication

regarding outcomes data collection—and

particularly the definitions of those

outcomes collected—means that, in some

cases, the same piece of data might mean

different things to different partners. Such is

the case in Texas, where the college,

consortium, and high school use different

definitions for the same variable. For

example, the high school considers a “TechPrep student” to be any student enrolled in a

Tech-Prep course, while the consortium

counts only those who register to receive

articulated credit. The college uses an even

more stringent definition, considering only

students who apply for and receive

articulated credit to be “Tech-Prep students.”

41
In this site, even determining program

enrollment is complicated. 

The fragmentation of data collection efforts

makes longitudinal analysis of student

outcomes difficult, even in sites where

outcomes data exist. Fragmentation also

means that student achievement cannot be

followed over time, because the information

gathered at the high school is not given to

the college for follow-up. Without access to

students’ high school records, colleges

cannot control for prior academic

experiences in determining the influence of

program participation on student success in

college. In Iowa, for example, the college has

preliminary data indicating that Health

Careers Academy students matriculating into

the college have stronger academic skills than

other first-time college freshmen. However,

without access to high school achievement

data, the college cannot demonstrate that

this outcome is due to program

participation, rather than other factors. 

To some extent, the lack of data sharing

stems from programs’ concerns over student

confidentiality. Program staff frequently said

that they were concerned that sharing data

with other institutions would violate their

students’ privacy. They were particularly

concerned about data that were linked to

individual students. Thus, programs are

reluctant to share data in ways that include

student identifiers.

When programs do not collect data with

individual student identifiers, however, longterm follow-up on student outcomes is not

possible. This is true whether the reason for

the lack of identifiers is because of privacy

concerns, or some other reason. In

California, for example, the college does not

identify MCHS students enrolled in college

credit courses. It is therefore unable to

determine if any MCHS students matriculate

into the college, because they have no way of

differentiating former MCHS students from

others in their data system.

Overall, the lack of coordination means that

pieces of data are collected in isolation from

one another. Data can be used to generate a

snapshot of programs at a given moment in

time, but not to tell a story of student

achievement or matriculation and persistence

in college. There are not enough coherent

data to explore long-term outcomes,

particularly in a rigorous manner.

Lack of Capacity

Sites also lack the capacity to collect and use

data. In many sites, data collection is

peripheral to staff’s stated duties. Particularly

at the high schools, collecting data on the

CBTP is not a focus of their efforts. High

school staff primarily concentrate on day-today operations and collecting data required

for state and federal reports. In Minnesota,

for example, the school did not focus on the

IB participation rates of students from

various racial and ethnic backgrounds until

it included broadening participation in IB in

its state accountability goals. With this goal

made explicit, the school is now attuned to

the data regarding participation rates on the

part of students from various backgrounds. 

There are similar constraints at the

postsecondary level. Both the Iowa and New

York sites have college-based institutional

42
research offices and are committed to using

data effectively. But these offices have a

myriad of other reports and data analysis

that they are required to complete, and they

have little time to analyze CBTP outcomes

data. In Iowa the director of institutional

research said, “I can’t think of anything I

couldn’t tell you, if I had the time to do it.”

He makes clear, however, that such time is

difficult to come by, as other priorities come

ahead of exploring the outcomes of the

CBTP.

In addition to time, partnerships faced other

capacity issues. The New York City collegebased coordinator indicated that she does

not have the physical space to hold onto

students’ paper records for more than two

years. And, in a number of sites, staff are

uncertain how to collect the data they most

desired—alumni outcomes. Iowa has

attempted to survey alumni of both its

Health Careers Academy programs and the

college generally, and found that their

response rates were very low. Iowa is

uncertain how to guarantee that any efforts

at following up with alumni would be

fruitful.

Similarly, programs are uncertain how to

gather data on alumni who do not

matriculate into the partnering

postsecondary institution. In Texas, for

example, the consortium coordinator said

that she has to use a “hunt and peck”

strategy to find alumni, because they often

transfer out of Texas Community College

prior to earning an associate degree. 

Data collection, particularly for long-term

outcomes, does not seem to be a priority for

most of the sites in our study. Though they

understand the importance of collecting and

using data, constraints on their capacity and

competing priorities inhibit their ability to

engage in data-gathering efforts. If long-term

program outcomes are going to be explored,

funding and staff time need to be dedicated

to these efforts. Without increased capacity,

as well as increased willingness to engage in

the process, it is unlikely that sites will

improve the outcomes data available. 

Perceived Benefits to Students

Although this study did not systematically

explore student outcomes, it did investigate

what program practitioners and students

believe to be the benefits of participation.

Across the case study sites, respondents

indicate that there are three primary benefits

to students: the opportunity to earn free

college credit, gaining “a taste” of college,

and students’ increased confidence in their

academic abilities. In addition, many

teachers mention that they benefit from their

involvement in the program, which we will

briefly discuss. 

College Credit

Study participants believe that the opportunity

to earn free college credit benefits students,

particularly those from disadvantaged

economic backgrounds, by making a

postsecondary degree less expensive and

potentially shortening the time it would take

to earn a degree. A New York City instructor

explains, “Six hundred kids in the course of a

year are going to get college credit and it’s not

going to cost them a penny.” In Iowa, students

earn nearly a full semester’s worth of credit at

no cost, in addition to having the opportunity

to earn a credential that enables them to gain

43
skilled employment. In Texas, where students

often do not receive credit for their Tech-Prep

courses, the chance to earn the credit is still

seen as an important benefit by both teachers

and students. This benefit presumably

encourages students to matriculate in college

by making it seem more affordable. 

At California MCHS, students can earn

enough college credit to earn an associate

degree at no cost. This credit also positions

the students well within the state’s university

system, potentially helping them transfer to a

four-year college or university. According to

the high school counselor, 

That’s the goal ... to transfer to

a four-year and, you know, it’s a

tremendous advantage, not only

financially, because they don’t have

to pay for the first two years, and

it’s free, but then it’s much easier

to get into a UCLA-type of school

as a transfer student if you did well

on your associate degree.

In Minnesota, earning college credit is

dependent on passing an exam and having a

university recognize the exam scores.

Moreover, some of the staff feel that the

credit is less important than the curricular

experiences offered by the IB program. Yet,

for the students, the opportunity to earn free

credit is a very real benefit. One student said

that she decided to pursue a full IB diploma

mainly because she thinks it might help her

graduate from college more quickly. 

In fact, students across the sites seem to view

free college credit as a key reason for

participating in CBTPs, even if they are not

assured of being able to apply their credit

toward a college degree. As the college-based

New York City College Now coordinator

noted, credit seems to serve as a “carrot” for

students, encouraging them to participate in

the program. It is much harder to entice

students to enroll in CBTP activities that do

not bear college credit than in those that do.

A Taste of College

Study participants additionally believe

CBTPs give students the opportunity to get a

taste of college. Students in CBTPs are, in

essence, able to practice the academic and

social aspects of being in college, thereby

potentially becoming prepared for actual

college matriculation. This benefit is most

clear in California, where students are on a

college campus and attend class with other

college students. California MCHS students

also experience college by learning to

network with college instructors and students

and to balance freedom with responsibility. 

Though the MCHS gives the most easily

recognizable example of students

experiencing what it is like to be a college

student, participants at other sites note that

their students receive this benefit from their

CBTP participation, as well. In Iowa,

students take a semester’s worth of college

classes over the course of a year on top of

their regular high school courses. One of

their college courses is a self-paced medical

terminology course that requires them to

study independently. The Iowa nursing

instructor explained that the heavy workload

prepares them for the academic demands of

college and “ ... that gives them a taste of,

[that] you are responsible in college. You

know, you read a chapter a day and then you

44
test. ...” The information technology strand

at Texas Tech-Prep makes similar demands

on those students. 

In New York City, students in the Learner’s

Academy attend class on a college campus.

Students indicated that they feel like they are

“a real college student” and that they learn

about college from spending time there.

“You know how the teachers will deal with

you. You know, they’re different than the

high school.” New York City students who

are not in the Learner’s Academy, but are in

other College Now courses, also are given a

taste of college through trips to the campus

and the opportunity to obtain a college

identification (ID) card. A high school-based

instructor said that the visits are helpful to

the students because “They can see the

college in action ... they get to see a whole

different atmosphere to high school.”

Another added, “And they get to act like

little adults. And they do. You know, you see

them and they really do act like little college

kids. They’re so proud when they get their

college ID and say, look at me, I’m a college

student.” 

The support services offered by some of the

sites also make the CBTPs safe places for

students to try their hand at a college course,

since they may be more likely to be successful

than if they enrolled in college on their own.

Particularly for middle- and low-achieving

students, knowing that there are support

services to help them be successful may

encourage them to enroll in CBTPs when,

without those services, they may have chosen

not to do so.

Additionally, in Iowa and Texas, students are

able to explore a career path without being

penalized if they changed their mind. Iowa

program staff note that students sometimes

discover that they do not want to pursue a

career in health care, and that it is better the

students realize this in high school, while

taking free college courses, than after they

have paid for a number of semesters of

college course work. Texas Tech-Prep faculty,

particularly those in the Child Development

and Criminal Justice strands, agree. And the

students themselves feel that the opportunity

for career exploration is invaluable; as one

said:

... if you want to become a teacher,

and you do an application, you

don’t get to get into a class until

about your third or fourth year.

You’ve already paid for so much,

well, say you get into a classroom

and you really don’t like kids, you

can’t—most of us can’t just go back

and say, ‘Oh, I’m just going to

start over.’

Increased Confidence

According to students, a third benefit is the

increased confidence gained through their

participation in CBTPs. Although the sites

encourage such confidence in a variety of

ways, participants believe that students leave

their CBTP with increased belief in their

ability to be successful in the future. Some of

the increased student confidence, according

to study participants, is a direct result of

their experiences learning about college, as

described above. Because college is familiar

to them, students realize that they can be

successful in that environment. 

45
Students’ confidence also is increased by

student success in college course work. Study

participants believe that, once students

discover that they can achieve in one college

course, they are more likely to believe that

they can succeed in college generally.

Explained a college dean in Texas, “[The

students] realize that ... if the college is

willing to give me credit for it, I’m probably

doing college level, and that again helps

them to understand that yes, I do have that

ability; I can do it.” In discussing a student

who had difficulty in her class, a New York

City instructor agreed. “But he did all his

work. And it was a challenge for him. And

he wrote a letter at the end to me that said—

it was just really simple. It said, ‘I never really

thought I could go to college, but now I see I

can!’” Thus, success in college courses is

believed to breed the confidence that

students can use to motivate themselves in

future academic pursuits. 

The programs help students gain confidence

in other ways, too. The clinical experiences

in Iowa are an important way to help

students feel more secure in their abilities.

The director of secondary programs said, 

... when I’m thinking about the

Health Academy, I see these students

come in for the orientation in the

spring, and they’re shy and timid

and they don’t know what they’re

doing. And then they’re watching

the kids who are in the program,

who look like they’ve been doing

this for years. Well, they’ve only been

doing it for about eight months.

And yet, they grow so much in

their self-confidence and come to

sense who they are and what they

can do.

Likewise, the sense of community students

find in the California MCHS, New York’s

Learner’s Academy, Minnesota IB, and the

Iowa Health Careers Academy helps students

feel comfortable with their academic abilities

and goals. Explained a Learner’s Academy

instructor, “The kids protect each other, look

out for each other ... And they’re helping

each other. They’re motivating each other,

which is nice ...” And the MCHS principal

says, “I think kids feel like they can be

academic here, and that’s okay; whereas, in a

lot of schools ... you can’t carry books. You

can’t act like you’re smart. We don’t have

that problem here. ...” 

Perceived Benefits to Teachers

Many of the CBTP teachers, in particular

high school-based teachers who are teaching

college-level courses, speak of benefits to

themselves from their involvement in the

program. Teachers say that teaching higherlevel course material to motivated students is

stimulating and enriching to themselves. In

New York, teachers said that teaching in the

program is “fun” and that the smaller class

sizes allow them to really get to know their

students. Teachers in that program also are

paid for their involvement, because it is an

after-school program, and so there are many

teachers vying to participate. 

Teachers also spoke of benefiting

professionally from the training and

interaction with postsecondary faculty. One

Minnesota IB teacher said: 

46
The training that I’ve attended

has been excellent kind of training.

They give you curriculum. They

give you lessons. They give you

suggestions. So I’ve benefited

immensely from the training

sessions. And they treat you well,

too, which is nice. I mean, they

treat you like professionals, which

is very nice. And, so, I hope every

teacher has the opportunity at

some point to get some type of

that training, because it’s really

been beneficial.

In the New York City and Texas programs,

where the high school-based instructors meet

regularly with their college counterparts,

high school teachers speak of this interaction

as being important and useful to them in

their teaching. 

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR

POLICYMAKERS,

PRACTITIONERS, AND

RESEARCHERS

This report has presented data from five

diverse sites and highlighted promising

program features that the data suggest should

be included in CBTPs if they are to meet the

needs of middle- and low-achieving students.

Additionally, various challenges and barriers

faced by programs as they attempt to

implement these features were described.

This final section presents recommendations

based on the data to policymakers,

practitioners, and researchers. 

For Policymakers and Practitioners

Lessons learned from the fieldwork can assist

policymakers and practitioners in their

continuing efforts to encourage the

development of CBTPs. Three overarching

themes arose from the data: access,

collaboration, and the need for data

collection.

Encourage Broad Access 

We have described several ways in which

access to CBTPs may be formally, or

informally, limited, even though staff

members in all the case study sites make

significant attempts to provide students with

information about the program. In order to

encourage broad access, programs should:

n Develop multiple ways to ensure that

all students—regardless of academic

background and level of motivation—

learn about the CBTP.

This entails giving all students information

about the program early enough in their

academic careers to allow them to plan for

program participation. It also means that this

information should be shared with students

frequently, so that those with less access to

information sources are still likely to learn

about and enroll in the CBTP. Just providing

the information is not sufficient; students

must also be made aware of the benefits to

their participation, such as college

preparation and credit. Involving parents, all

teachers in the school, guidance counselors,

and other school support staff in recruitment

efforts may help broaden the spread of

program information to all students. 

n Develop a program culture that is

supportive of and encourages

students from different backgrounds

and academic levels to participate. 

47
Ensuring access is not simply a matter of

disseminating information. In a number of

sites, study participants indicated that

students also need to feel comfortable in the

program. They need to see other students

like themselves participating in CBTP

activities and to feel that their academic

needs and concerns are being met. Programs

in the study are beginning to address this

explicitly, by seeking to change the

reputation of their program, targeting

activities at underrepresented students, and

using support services to create a CBTP

culture that feels comfortable to students not

previously or frequently involved. 

n Structure the program and the

curriculum with an eye towards broad

access. 

A developmental sequence of courses can

help to maintain program access for all

students, particularly middle- and lowachieving students who need opportunities

to build their skills before attempting college

credit courses. Curricular pathways with

multiple access points ensure that students at

different levels can enter the program. A

program in which course work is part of the

regular school schedule likely helps more

students participate, as opposed to an afterschool program. Programs also should be

attentive to encouraging access for special

education and ELL students, who may have

additional needs beyond the opportunities

available through the program’s

developmental pathway. 

Policymakers can support practitioners in

these practices. States can provide incentives

for programs that enroll middle- and lowachieving students. The programs studied

were located in states that did not strongly

restrict student access, and these programs

were attuned to broad access. Despite these

factors, it did not seem that the programs

were reaching their target population—

disengaged, underachieving students, who

might not view college as a realistic option. 

Create Strong Collaborative Relationships 

Throughout the report, we have discussed

the importance of collaboration. Many of the

promising practices identified rely on

collaboration among high school and college

staff, as well as deeper institutional

collaboration. However, as has also been

noted throughout this report, collaboration

is a difficult process and one with which

some programs struggle. Programs and

policymakers should:

n Facilitate collaboration by clearly

establishing the roles and benefits for

each institution in the partnership. 

Collaboration appears to be most successful

when all partners perceive that they are

receiving benefits from the partnership, or

when particular goals drive strong

commitment at the top levels of leadership.

In some cases, one or both partners

participate half-heartedly, doubtful as to

what added value the other partner is

contributing. It does not seem to matter

whether goals are self-interested or altruistic,

as long as they lend themselves to a

commitment to sustaining the program. 

Collaboration occurs in different ways and

among different levels of individuals.

Collaboration can be formal or informal and

48
can occur between the leaders of institutions,

or between the staff or instructors. Thus, in

one site, the formal institutional-level

collaboration seems to be falling apart, while,

at the same time, counselors of the

partnering institutions are working closely

together to share and integrate their services.

At another site, collaboration is strong

between the partnering program

administrators, uneven between the

instructors, and nonexistent between the top

levels of leadership. In no program is

collaboration consistently strong and fruitful

across all levels of the partnership. 

n Support broader integration between

the secondary and postsecondary

sectors. 

The word “collaboration” does not seem to

fully describe the type of institutional

relationship that CBTPs require. CBTPs

promote deeper institutional changes, such

as high schools and colleges overcoming their

structural differences to integrate their goals,

practices, and services. Such widespread

collaboration, and its potential impact,

mirrors the goals of the larger K—16

movement, in which high schools and

colleges are encouraged to work together to

create a seamless education system. 

Policymakers have a strong role to play here.

They can compel the two institutional

sectors to rethink and align their standards,

curriculum, and assessment practices.

Aligning high school graduation

requirements with college entrance

requirements is an important first step.

Articulation of high school with college

course work also would help students

transitioning to college know that they are

prepared. Policymakers can do a great deal in

supporting the difficult task of integrating

and streamlining secondary and

postsecondary education. 

n Simplify the credit earning and credit

transfer process.

Finally, CBTPs are a type of collaboration

that is intended to yield college credit for

students. Yet credit earning in some of the

study sites is quite complicated, and it is

unclear the extent to which students retain

their credits as they matriculate to different

postsecondary institutions. Policymakers

should take steps to ensure that earning

credits through CBTP participation is not an

onerous process and that the credits are

more easily transferable. It is clear that

transcripted credit, such as that earned in the

California and Iowa programs, is preferable

to credit-in-escrow, such as that in the Texas

Tech-Prep program. Common course

numbering across state college systems also

would help students transfer and keep their

credits.

Policymakers also should support dual credit

programs, in which students receive high

school and college credit for their program

course work, as opposed to receiving one

type of credit or the other. In addition to

simplifying participation for students, dual

credit also encourages institutions to work

together to align curricula. 

Work With Researchers to Collect Outcomes

Data

It would be useful to collect additional

descriptive information on CBTPs, such as

the number of college credits high school

students are earning. Some states and

49
programs have begun to report such

descriptive data (see Barnett, Gardner, and

Bragg, 2004). Ultimately it is important to

know whether CBTP participants are more

likely to enter and complete college than

nonparticipants. 

Researchers’ ability to evaluate CBTPs,

however, is hampered by the limited

collection of outcomes data, particularly

long-term data. In order to provide

information on program effectiveness to

policymakers and practitioners, it is

imperative to:

n Support the gathering of studentlevel data that can be used for

outcomes analysis.

Policymakers should support outcomes

analyses that begin with students’

performance prior to program participation,

include comparison groups, and follow

students through college matriculation and

graduation. To do this, high schools should

compile data on CBTP students’ grade point

averages, standardized test scores, extent of

program participation, on-time graduation

from high school, and postgraduation

planning. Colleges should compile data on

students’ timely matriculation into

postsecondary education, use of credit

earned through the CBTP, persistence in

college, and on-time completion of a

postsecondary credential.

These data should be linked in order to

follow students from high school to college.

This will require secondary and

postsecondary sectors to share data and use

common student identifiers. High schools

and colleges may need financial support as

well as governmental urging to carry this out.

Researchers should help program

administrators collect these data in forms

that lend themselves to rigorous analysis and

50

Exhibit 7: Conceptual Model of the Credit-Based Transitions Program Influence

on Student Outcomes
use the data for internal evaluations and

improvement efforts. Such efforts are, in

essence, an additional form of CBTP

collaboration—that between practitioner and

researcher. And, like the collaborations

discussed earlier in this report, these efforts

are likely to be difficult to engage in, at least

at first. However, they seem the most likely

way to ensure that data are available with

which to conduct long-term explorations of

the influence CBTPs have on student

matriculation and persistence in college. 

For Researchers

A primary goal of this project was to provide

knowledge of CBTPs on which future

research may be based. Describing program

features in detail, as done in the previous

sections, was the first step in achieving this

goal. The second step was to create a

conceptual model that suggests the ways that

these program features may work together in

order to promote the success of middle- and

low-achieving students as they make the

transition from secondary-to-postsecondary

education. This model is intended to help

future researchers develop studies evaluating

the effectiveness of CBTPs and their various

program components. 

Prior to conducting the fieldwork, the

researchers developed a hypothesized model.

The model relied on previous research on

CBTPs and secondary-to-postsecondary

transitions indicating that rigorous

academics in high school, as well as social

preparation for college, may both help

students succeed in college (see Adelman,

1999; Sax, Keup, Gilmartin, Stolzenberg, and

Harper, 2002; Tinto 1987, 1997). The case

study data were used to confirm the model.

The data also helped the researchers develop

a better understanding of the components

included in the model and the ways in which

these components interact. Ultimately, the

case-study research led to the creation of an

evidence-based conceptual model. See

exhibit 7 for a visual representation of this

revised model.

The model indicates that CBTPs give

students an academic base for college

success, confidence in their ability to be

successful in college, and the opportunity to

learn about the social and procedural skills

required of college students. 

The multiple components found in CBTPs

play important but distinct roles in preparing

students for college access and success.

Program components include high school

courses, developmental courses, college

credit courses, and support services. The

relationship among these components, as

illustrated in the model, is complex. Program

components meet the needs of students at

various—and multiple—points in their

academic careers, an aspect of CBTPs that is

particularly important for meeting the needs

of middle- and low-achieving students.

Laying the foundation for college-level study

takes multiple forms. As outlined in the

section of this report on curriculum,

students seem to develop an academic

foundation in high school courses that are

aligned with college curriculum, or through

specially designed developmental courses.

These various preparatory activities are

illustrated separately in the model. 

51
The model also illustrates that most of the

presumed impacts from CBTPs occur prior

to students’ enrollment in college credit

courses. Although college courses are the

capstone experiences of CBTPs, program

benefits accrue over time. Students gain

academic skills; feelings of success,

confidence, and motivation; and social and

procedural skills at multiple points in their

CBTP experiences. These gains seem to

influence their future program experiences as

well as ultimate program outcomes. 

In exhibit 7, the program elements included

in CBTPs are shaded in grey and the desired

program outcomes are to the far right. Heavy

arrows indicate student movement through

the program elements. They illustrate that

students can move from high school course

work through developmental course work to

college classes, college matriculation, and

college persistence. The multiple arrows

leading to and from program elements

indicate that students may traverse these

program components in a variety of ways

given their academic needs. 

The clear boxes indicate the intermediate

outcomes of CBTP participation, which are

also the mechanisms by which student

success in college might be promoted.

Program features lead to these intermediate

outcomes but these outcomes facilitate

student participation in future program

features, as well. In other words, students

develop academic skills and motivation

through developmental courses. Increased

skill and motivation help students transition

into and be successful in college course

work, which, in turn, promotes more

academic and motivational growth. 

The elongated box along the bottom of the

model illustrates the support services

element of a CBTP. Supporting students

prior to their enrollment in college courses

may help motivate and prepare them for

college credit courses. Supporting students

while they are in college courses may help

them be successful in those courses and, in

turn, may further motivate them to

matriculate to postsecondary education. The

double-headed arrows linking support

services to developmental and college course

work indicate the symbiotic relationship

between these program elements. Support

services help students succeed in their

courses, but their courses also help make

support services—such as workplace

experiences or special trips and workshops—

more meaningful to students. 

In addition, support services lead to

intermediate outcomes of their own. They

increase students’ understanding of the

social and procedural expectations of college

by giving students a taste of college. 

Ultimately, the model hypothesizes that

student participation in college course work

and support services, with the attendant

growth in academic skills, knowledge of the

social aspects of college, and motivation will

lead students to matriculate into

postsecondary education. Students will be

likely to persist in college once there because

of their strong skills. Of course, concise

measurement of program outcomes and

impacts is needed. This model, and the

support for it that we find from our

qualitative data, should assist others in

designing future studies of CBTPs. 

52
Suggestions for Future Research

Research is needed to test the conceptual

model posed here and to explore the impact

of CBTP participation on student

matriculation and persistence in

postsecondary education. In this final

section, future direction for this research is

offered. 

n Confirm the relationship between

program features and intermediate

outcomes.

The conceptual model (exhibit 7)

hypothesized that participation in the various

elements of CBTPs have outcomes of their

own. For example, participation in

developmental course work is presumed to

increase students’ academic skills,

participation in support services should

increase students’ knowledge of college, and

participation in either or both of these

components should increase student

motivation to enroll in college credit classes.

These hypotheses, and the others set forth in

the model, need to be rigorously tested.

It also would be interesting to know if some

program components have a greater

influence on intermediate outcomes than do

other components. Do developmental

courses have a different impact on student

motivation than do support services? Are

CBTPs truly dependent on the interaction of

multiple program components, or might

some components be more necessary than

others? 

Answering such questions may include a

variety of research methodologies. Programs

may compare the academic achievement of

CBTP participants with nonparticipants, or

survey students regarding their college

aspirations in order to detect differences in

students before, during, and after their

participation in various CBTP components.

In order to understand student use of

curricular pathways, programs may track

students over the course of their high school

careers to examine their trajectory through

the CBTP. 

Regardless, researchers should pay close

attention to preexisting differences among

CBTP students and their peers not

participating in the program, as well as to

any other factors that may be responsible for

positive outcomes. The study’s qualitative

data indicate that there may be some

preexisting differences among these two

groups of students, particularly in terms of

motivation and college aspirations. Postprogram outcomes may reflect these

differences, rather than any program-related

change. Similarly, at a number of the case

study sites, the small size of the program or

the fact that students said they felt special

because they were in the program—rather

than the ability to earn college credit—was

the most salient feature to students. 

n Confirm the long-term outcomes of

CBTPs.

It is still unknown whether CBTPs actually

achieve their goal of helping students enter

and succeed in college. This question should

be a key element of any future research

agenda on CBTPs. Is it appropriate to

assume that participation in a CBTP will

promote student attainment of a

postsecondary degree? Long-term outcomes

53
analysis is clearly needed to confirm this

fundamental hypothesis. 

Researchers should undertake outcomes

research exploring student educational

attainment after their participation in

CBTPs. Do students earn college credit and

if so, are they able to apply it toward a

college degree? What is the average length of

time to graduation for students who were in

CBTPs, and is it shorter than for their peers? 

As with the intermediate outcomes discussed

above, studies of long-term outcomes should

be rigorous and include comparisons

between students who were in CBTPs and

their peers who were not and controls for

prior academic achievement. Ideally, these

studies might follow a cohort of students

from the beginning of high school through

college graduation, exploring differences

between CBTP and non-CBTP students at

various points in their educational careers.

They also should include the outcomes of all

CBTP students, whether those students

attend the programs’ postsecondary partner

or a different college. 

The findings from the Accelerating Student

Success Through Credit-Based Transition

Programs study lend credence to the

excitement many policymakers and educators

hold for CBTPs. CBTPs are ambitious—both

in their expectation of high levels of student

achievement as well as in their structural

characteristics. The programs have the

potential to help a wide range of students,

not only the most academically advanced,

but also the middle- to low-achieving

students, become prepared for postsecondary

education. Though long-term outcomes

research is needed to confirm the collegegoing behaviors of students in CBTPs, the

findings presented here indicate that it is

plausible that CBTP participation has a

positive influence on students.

54
55

METHODS APPENDIX

The Accelerating Student Success Through

Credit-Based Transition Programs project

included three inter-related research activities

in order to better understand the program

elements that may help middle- and lowachieving students enter and succeed in

postsecondary education. The first was to

gather data through focus groups with

practitioners to identify program features

important to ensuring that CBTPs are of

high quality and able to serve a broad range

of students. Second, a review of the dual

enrollment policies of all 50 states was

conducted in order to: better understand the

contexts under which CBTPs function,

highlight policy variation, and explore the

implications of this variation for programs.9

Then, the findings from the focus groups

were used to develop site selection criteria

for the case studies. Before being selected for

participation in the study, programs were

required to demonstrate that they

encouraged participation by a wide range of

students. They also had to have graduated at

least one cohort of students and engage in a

variety of quality control measures, such as

using college syllabi or college textbooks.

Programs were required to have a designated

staff person in charge of the CBTP, and to

provide professional development for

instructors.

Using these criteria ensured that the five

programs chosen for the study were longstanding, actively sought to enroll and

support middle- and low-achieving students,

and included the program features that focus

group participants deemed important for

successfully meeting the needs of these

students. In addition, sites were purposefully

selected to represent a range of state policy

contexts; the various types of comprehensive

and enhanced comprehensive programs; and

diversity in geographic location and

demographic composition.

Research was conducted in two phases.

During the spring of 2004, teams of two to

three researchers visited each site for three to

four days. They conducted interviews with

program faculty and staff and observed

classes and program activities. These

activities focused on developing a deep

understanding of program structures and

features. In general, the researchers

examined institutional and classroom

processes, with less attention paid to

questions of regulation and financing,

outside of the direct impact these have on

program implementation.10 Interviews were

taped and transcribed for analysis, and notes

taken during observations were written into

narrative form. During the visits, researchers

also sought to collect student and program

9 The reports from these two activities are available on the Accelerating Student Success Through Credit-Based Transition Programs

project's Web site at: www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/cclo/cbtrans/index.html.

10 State Dual Enrollment Policies: Addressing Access and Quality, available on the study’s Web page, provides detailed information on

state policies at: www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/cclo/cbtrans/index.html.
56

outcomes. After analyzing these initial data

during the summer of 2004, the researchers

returned to each site during the fall of 2004.

The second visits were used to conduct

follow-up interviews and observations in

order to confirm the initial findings and

gather additional information. 

Upon completion of the site visits, all data

were uploaded into a qualitative data analysis

software program. In total, 117 interviews

were completed with faculty, staff, and

students, as well as 63 observations of

classes, support service activities, and

professional development activities. The

analysis focused on state, district, and school

contexts; program structure; management

and leadership; curriculum; pedagogy and

instruction; collaboration between the

secondary and postsecondary partners (where

applicable); student recruitment and

selection; support services; outcomes data;

and sustainability, among others.

Interactions among these features, within

and between partnering institutions, were

explored in so far as they contributed to

student college preparation. Barriers to

successful program operation also were

explored.
57

Adelman, Clifford. 1999. Answers in the tool

box: Academic intensity, attendance patterns,

and bachelor’s degree attainment. Washington,

D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, Office

of Educational Research and Improvement.

American Association of State Colleges and

Universities (AASCU). 2002. “The open

Door...Assessing the promise and problems

of dual enrollment.” Washington, D.C.:

AASCU State Policy Briefing 1 (1).

Bailey, Thomas and Karp, Melinda Mechur.

2003. Promoting college access and success: A

review of dual credit and other high

school/college transition programs. Report

prepared for the Office of Vocational and

Adult Education, U.S. Department of

Education. Community College Research

Center, Teachers College. Columbia

University. New York, N.Y.

Barnett, Elisabeth, Gardner, Douglas, and

Bragg, Debra. 2004. Dual credit in Illinois:

Making it work. Champaign, IL: Office of

Community College Research and Leadership,

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Lords, Elizabeth. 2000. “New efforts at

community colleges focus on underachieving

teens.” The Chronicle of Higher Education.

June 30, 2000, p. A45.

National Commission on the High School

Senior Year. 2001. Raising our sights: No high

school senior left behind. Princeton, N.J.: The

Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship

Foundation.

Sax, Linda J., Keup, Jennifer R., Gilmartin,

Shannon K., Stolzenberg, Ellen B., and

Harper, Cassandra. 2002. Findings from the

2002 administration of your first college year

(YFCY): National aggregates. Los Angeles,

Calif.: Higher Education Research Institute,

University of California, Los Angeles. 

Tinto, Vincent. 1997. “Classrooms as

communities: Exploring the educational

character of student persistence.” The Journal

of Higher Education, 68 (6): 599-623.

Tinto, Vincent. 1987. Leaving college:

Rethinking the causes and cures of student

attrition. Chicago, Ill.: The University of

Chicago Press.

Venezia, Andrea, Kirst, Michael W., and

Antonio, Anthony L. 2003. Betraying the

college dream: How disconnected K–12 and

postsecondary education systems undermine

student aspirations. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford

University’s Bridge Project.

Waits, Tiffany, Setzer, J.Carl, and Lewis,

Laurie. 2005. Dual credit and exam-based

courses in U.S. public high schools: 2002-

2003 (NCES 2005-009). U. S. Department

of Education. Washington, DC: National

Center for Education Statistics.

WORKS CITED

59

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MCHS

PROGRAM PROFILE

As previously described in the Accelerating

Student Success Through Credit-Based

Transition Programs September 2004 site

profiles,2 the CBTP in California is

composed of a partnership between

Southern California MCHS and California

Community College. In general, MCHSs

focus on providing at-risk students with

academic and social preparation for college

and tend to be characterized by small class

sizes, support services, and close teacherstudent interaction.3 Southern California

MCHS is located on the campus of its

postsecondary partner, California

Community College, which is situated off a

major street in a residential and commercial

area of Los Angeles.

The California Community College campus

consists of four modern buildings.4 In the fall

of 2003, the college had an enrollment of

7,000 students. Of these, 68 percent were

African-American and 28 percent were

Hispanic. The college is currently suffering

from a lack of space. As of our fall 2004 visit,

it was unclear as to whether or not there

would continue to be room on campus for the

MCHS after the 2004—05 school year. 

The MCHS has been in existence since 1989.

In the 2003—04 school year, enrollment

totaled approximately 330 students, with 45

percent African-American and 55 percent

Hispanic students. The MCHS is housed on a

separate section of the campus and the

facilities consist of 12 small modular

buildings. There is no indoor area where the

student body and staff can meet; instead a

courtyard nearby serves as the central meeting

location. One building is designated as the

main office and also houses the principal’s

office. 

Classes run from 8 a.m. until 3:10 p.m. and

the school operates on a modified block

schedule. There are six alternating 70-minute

periods taught Monday through Thursday,

with all classes meeting on Fridays for shorter

periods that range from 50 to 60 minutes. On

Monday and Wednesday the schedule consists

of periods 1, 3, and 5, with 2, 4, and 6

APPENDIX: ENHANCED PROFILES OF

RESEARCH SITES1

1 In order to give the study participants anonymity, the specific research sites were given pseudonyms. However, the

name of the general program is used in some cases.

2 Please see the Accelerating Student Success Through Credit-Based Transition Programs study’s Web page on the

U.S. Department of Education’s Web site to download and view two-page profiles of each of the study’s five case sites

at: www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/cclo/cbtrans/index.html. 

3 Please also see on the study Web page, listed above, the program description for more information on the MCHS

program model.

4 This descriptive information is provided so the reader has a better understanding of the program environment.
60

scheduled on Tuesday and Thursday. There

are 13 teachers, a program coordinator who is

a teacher on special assignment, a counselor,

and a principal on staff. During the 2003—04

school year, there was also an assistant

principal for counseling; however, this

individual resigned and as of our fall 2004 site

visit the position was unfilled. The

administrative team consists of the principal,

the program coordinator, and (when the

position is occupied) the assistant principal

for counseling. 

Student Outreach

The outreach process employed by the MCHS

is multifaceted. The first step is mailing the

application to all the public middle schools in

the district. Applications also are sent to the

private and parochial schools in the

surrounding community, along with a letter

providing information on the school. In

addition, during the 2003—04 school year the

principal presented the program at the

district’s principals’ meeting and shared the

application with those in attendance. The

MCHS also has a good reputation with

parents of its alumni, and many people within

the community inquire about attending the

school based on word of mouth

recommendations. 

In the past, the MCHS counseling staff have

visited local feeder schools and met with the

counselors at those sites to identify students

that would benefit from the MCHS

experience. 

MCHS Application Process

Student applicants to the MCHS are screened

and then selected based upon a process that

examines four components: letters of

recommendation, writing samples, gradepoint-average (GPA), and scores on the

California Achievement Test, Sixth Edition

(CAT/6). The students complete the first two

components and the school requests student

records to examine CAT scores and past

academic performance.

A weighted rubric is used to score each

component of the application, and scores for

all components are totaled and grouped into

ranges (e.g., applications with scores in the

600s are put together, and those in the 500s

are put together); a perfect score is 700. Each

student’s application package is carefully

screened to ensure that students selected can

develop the social and academic skills needed

to attend college by 11th grade. Due to the

open campus environment and the scholastic

freedom that students experience by being

able to take courses at the community college,

only students that can exhibit the maturity to

manage their actions are accepted into the

school. 

The principal selects the final 100 students to

enter the ninth grade from the applications

received.

School Orientation Process

In August, ninth graders and other new

students participate in an orientation held at

the community college’s theater and

coordinated by the high school staff and

administration. Parents are invited, and often

attend the orientation. The purpose of the

orientation is to provide students and parents

with information about the MCHS and

highlight information contained within the
61

student handbook, including expectations,

dress code, and conduct. General

information regarding dual enrollment and

college matriculation opportunities and

procedures at MCHS also are discussed

during the half-day orientation. 

Precollege Curriculum and Program

The ninth and 10th grades provide an

opportunity for students to prepare

academically to start college courses in 11th

grade. To prepare students, teachers at the

MCHS use standards-based instruction to

establish an academically rigorous

environment. While incorporating both

content and performance standards into the

curriculum, teachers also differentiate

instruction, so that weaknesses are being

addressed and strengthened.

Exhibit A-1 below outlines the district’s

requirements for graduation. Students in the

ninth and 10th grades take academic courses

that meet these requirements and prepare

them for college-level work. In addition to

mathematics, English, world history, science,

a Each high school course is worth 10 credits, 5 per semester.

Subject Credits Requirements

Englisha 40 credits

n English 9

n English 10

n American Literature or Contemporary Compositions

n 12th-grade composition

Social Science 30 credits

n World history

n U.S. history 

n Principles of American Democracy and Economics

Mathematics 20 credits n College preparatory mathematics

Lab Science 20 credits

n 10 credits, biological science

n 10 credits, physical science

Visual and Performance Arts 10 credits n Two semesters of arts classes

Applied Technology 10 credits n Two semesters of technology classes

Health 5 credits

Life Skills 5 credits

Physical Education (PE) 20 credits n Four semesters of PE, team sports, or dance

Electives 70 credits

Total 230 credits

Exhibit A-1: Southern California Middle College High School District

Graduation Requirements
62

technology and the arts, ninth grade students

take a life skills course that provides them

with academic and career guidance. Also, in

order to facilitate the many steps to college

enrollment, all ninth graders take the college

placement exams at the college’s Assessment

Center. 

MCHS freshmen and sophomores begin to

experience a college environment by attending

career fairs and college fairs, among other

activities, at the community college. The

MCHS curriculum also provides students

with opportunities to familiarize themselves

with college facilities. For example, the 10thgrade English teacher takes students to the

college’s library and, while exposing them to

the college setting, also works with them on

research and writing skills. The research and

writing components are an essential piece of

the 10th-grade English curriculum, because if

students are going to be successful at the

college they need to be able to complete the

many writing assignments encountered in

college courses. 

College Course Selection and

Enrollment Process

Through an agreement between the school

district and the college district, students at the

MCHS can take courses at the community

college to satisfy either high school electives or

requirements. The school district has

identified college courses that may be used

towards high school graduation. For example,

the College’s American history course fulfills

the high school graduation requirement in

U.S. history. 

To choose and prepare for enrollment in

college courses, students meet one-on-one

with the counselor at the MCHS and

frequently with college counselors as well.

Usually starting in the 11th grade, the

counselors help to map out a schedule that

allows students to take college courses to meet

some of their requirements. While most

students at MCHS begin taking college-level

courses in the 11th grade, exceptions are

made for ninth and 10th- grade students that

exhibit the maturity and academic ability to

enter the college environment. 

The California Community College district

has established procedures for all public

school students who wish to enroll in college

courses. In addition to completing the regular

college application, students submit an

additional application form that is signed by

their parents and their principal, for each

course they wish to take. California

Community College reviews this form along

with any previous course work completed at

the college. While non-MCHS students must

be interviewed by college officials in order to

be approved for admission, the college omits

this step for MCHS students, trusting that the

high school has sufficiently screened them. In

addition to completing the application forms,

students must pass the college placement

exams in mathematics and language arts prior

to enrolling in credit-bearing courses. These

procedures have been established to ensure

that students are successful in their college

course work.

College Course Curriculum and

Credit-Earning Process

All dual credit courses are regular college

courses taught at the community college by

college professors. The MCHS students
63

usually comprise a small number of the

students in these courses; therefore no

adjustments are made to the curriculum or

the textbooks. Exhibit A-2 illustrates how the

courses offered at the high school and at the

college are integrated to develop

individualized student schedules. 

Award of Credit for Courses

Units earned at the community college are

doubled when applied towards meeting high

school requirements. Therefore, a onesemester three-unit community college course

is valued at six high school credits. 

At the college. Students are awarded credit

upon completion of a course, and credits are

reflected on their college transcript. 

At the high school. After completing college

courses, the students take their college

transcripts to their high school counselor, who

Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

8:00 – 

9:25 a.m.

History 11a– Political

and Social History

of the United States 

Algebra

History 11— Political and

Social History of the

United States 

Algebra

8:00 – 8:50 a.m.

Period 1

Power Reading

8:55 – 9:45 a.m. 

Period 2

Algebra

9:55 – 

10:15 a.m. Homeroom 9:50 – 10:15 a.m.

10:40 a.m. – 

12:30 p.m.

Contemporary 

Composition Chemistry

Contemporary 

Composition Chemistry

10:35 – 11:25 a.m.

Period 3

Composition

11:30 – 12:30 p.m.

Period 4

Chemistry

12:30 – 

1:10 p.m. Lunch

1:15 –

3:10 p.m. Spanish 2

Theater 100b –

Introduction to

Theater

Spanish 2

Theater 100 –

Introduction

to Theater

1:15 – 2:10 p.m.

Period 5

Spanish 2

2:15 – 3:10 p.m.

Period 6

Power Reading

a History 11 is a college course taught at the community college.

b Theater 100 is a college course taught at the community college.

Exhibit A-2: Southern California Middle College High

School–Sample Schedule for 11th-Grade Students
64

enters the courses on the high school

transcript. Only college classes that count

towards high school requirements are factored

as part of the student’s GPA. 

Support Services

Numerous supports are provided to students

either through the MCHS staff or through

the three main counseling centers at the

California Community College. These three

centers, each of which has its own facilities

and staff, focus on the areas of assessment,

careers, and transfer. MCHS students enrolled

in college courses have access to the college

services because of their official status as

college students; however, even MCHS

students not enrolled in college courses are

welcomed by the centers’ staffs.

Academic Counseling. The MCHS

counselor meets with all students to ensure

that they have the classes they need to

graduate from high school. The counselor

usually does six graduation checks, meeting

one-on-one with students to review courses

taken and courses needed for graduation. A

critical check occurs in the junior year, when

letters are sent at the end of the semester

listing the classes students still need to take to

meet their high school graduation

requirements. 

To ensure that students enrolled in college

courses are provided the academic supports

they need to succeed, the high school

conducts a 10-week or midsemester review.

Students enrolled in college courses must

provide a progress report from the college to

the high school. The counselor reviews this

report to determine if there is a problem and

what supports are needed in order for the

student to successfully complete the course. 

Academic Tutoring. Since most college

courses do not meet on Friday, the school

provides extra support during that time

period to those students taking college

courses. While the title of the course, Power

Reading, does not always reflect the activities

taking place, it provides students an

opportunity to complete their college

assignments in an environment supervised by

a MCHS teacher. The teacher monitors

students’ progress and determines if any

interventions are necessary. High school

students enrolled in college courses also have

access to college tutoring services.

Career Awareness. Students are exposed to

different career options through both the high

school and college counselors. The MCHS

counseling office is in the process of

implementing a computer-based career

assessment tool. At the college’s career center,

MCHS students can speak to counselors and

attend workshops on resumé writing, or

participate in special industry-themed

seminars, such as a semester-long seminar

presented in the spring of 2004 by real estate

professionals. 

To ensure that MCHS students are aware of

the career center and its services, all ninthgraders are provided with a tour of the center. 

College Awareness. Because MCHS students

enroll in California Community College

courses and have full access to the college

campus and college services, college awareness

is a daily activity. To further promote a
65

college-going culture, the high school

sponsors or collaborates with the community

college on field trips to other college campuses

and college fairs. The high school counselor

also coordinates in-class presentations by

college speakers. In addition, counselors from

the different college counseling centers make

presentations to MCHS classes to encourage

students in their college aspirations. 

The required ninth grade life skills class

focuses on steps that students must take to

prepare for and enter college. Themes

explored include the high school courses

needed to enter college, the range of college

options available to students, the college

application process, and the federal, state, and

private financial aid application processes. 

College Transition. Since the MCHS is a

small school, with 64 seniors in the 2003—04

school year, the counselor works with each

one to ensure that all students continue in

college after high school graduation. 

The college’s transfer center holds

presentations, open to MCHS students, for

students at California Community College

who wish to transfer to a baccalaureategranting institution. The transfer center also

works with students individually to help them

transfer any credits earned at California

Community College to other colleges. 

The MCHS provides individual counseling

for financial aid, as well as workshops on

applying for state and federal aid. The

counselor uses homeroom time to speak with

the students about upcoming application

deadlines and to encourage them to apply for

both college and financial aid. College

counseling staff also assist in these efforts. 

Professional Development

While regular professional development is

provided through the school district, most

teachers also participate in targeted

professional development that is encouraged

by the principal. For example, the school

started implementing the Advancement via

Individual Determination (AVID) program in

the fall of 2004. In preparation, several staff

members attended an AVID summer training

institute. AVID promotes the college-going

theme across the curriculum by incorporating

specific techniques such as writing, critical

reading, and inquiry through group or

research projects. As another example, a new

science teacher attended a conference on

watershed education and subsequently

participated in a collaborative program

between the school district and city

environmental officials. 

Funding

Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) and Average

Daily Attendance (ADA). California state

policy stipulates that public school students

enrolled in college courses are counted in the

same way as matriculated college students for

funding purposes. As such, the community

college receives FTE funding for all MCHS

students enrolled in college credit courses.

However, the state limits students to taking no

more than 11 units per semester. The school

district also receives funding provided the

students are enrolled in high school for a

minimum of four hours per day.
66

Fees and Textbooks. The California

Community College district waives tuition for

public school students enrolled in college

courses, provided they enroll for no more

than 11 units per semester. The school

district, on the other hand, pays the cost of

college textbooks. In order to decrease

program costs, an agreement among the

MCHS, the community college and the

school district allows the district to receive

credits for returned books. During the buyback period, students return books to the

MCHS, it returns the books to the

community college, and the college issues a

credit to the district.

Student Outcomesa

n The total enrollment at the middle college was 304 students, with 72 percent eligible for

the National School Lunch Program’s free or reduced price lunches.

n The senior class included 64 students. Sixty-three (98 percent) graduated from the school.

n During the fall of 2003, 150 students were enrolled in college courses at the community

college. Of those, 142 completed their courses with a grade of C or better.

n During the spring of 2004, 175 students were enrolled in college courses at the

community college. Of those, 162 completed their courses with a grade of C or better.

n The total number of credits earned by California MCHS students was 545 in the fall of

2003 and 735 in the spring of 2004.

n Students enrolled in college courses in the fall of 2003 earned, on average, 3.6 credits.

Those enrolled in the spring of 2004 earned, on average, 4.2 credits. 

n Fifty-six of the 63 seniors that graduated during the 2003—04 school year plan to attend

college. Twelve of the graduates plan to attend California Community College, the

postsecondary partner of Southern California MCHS.

Exhibit A-3: Southern California Middle College High School Outcomes, 2003–04

a All data come from school staff and were not externally validated.
METROPOLITAN COUNTIES,

IOWA, DUAL ENROLLMENT

PROGRAM PROFILE

As previously described in the Accelerating

Student Success Through Credit-Based

Transition Programs October 2004 site

profiles,1 the CBTP in Iowa is composed of a

partnership between Rural High School,

Iowa Community College, and a local health

care center, Regional Medical Center.

Because Rural High School is small, the

program includes students from multiple

high schools in the area. The dual

enrollment 2 program in Metropolitan

Counties, Iowa, is focused on health careers

and allows students to earn both college and

high school credits simultaneously and

prepare for a career in the health field. 

Iowa Community College serves seven

counties surrounding a metropolitan area.3

In addition to the main campus, located in a

major city in the center of its service area,

Iowa Community College has five satellite

campuses. These are part of the college’s

efforts to be accessible to all students in the

area; without them, students in the far

reaches of the seven counties would be an

hour’s drive from the college. The main

campus is large, with manicured lawns and

26 academic buildings. It also has a number

of agricultural fields, new sports facilities, an

equestrian center, and student apartments.

In the fall of 2002, Iowa Community College

enrolled 14,000 students. The student

population was approximately 80 percent

white. 

Rural High School is located 45 minutes

from the main campus of Iowa Community

College. The high school enrolls

approximately 400 students in grades nine

through 12 and it is the only secondary

school in its town. It is a single story

building with two wings leading out from a

central gathering area. Three percent of its

students are African-American or Hispanic,

and the rest are white. Eighteen percent of

students are eligible for free or reduced

lunch. 

The dual enrollment program runs from

1:30 to 3:00 p.m. each afternoon. Students

leave high school in order to attend the

program. During the second semester of the

program, students complete clinical rotations

in addition to their classroom studies, in

order to practice their nursing skills. 

In past years, the dual enrollment program

has met at the Regional Medical Center,

which is a small health care center only a few

minutes drive from Rural High School. The

Regional Medical Center has 25 beds, an

emergency room, and outpatient services for

the surrounding community. Classes were

held at the medical center’s cafeteria, which

67

1 Please see the Accelerating Student Success Through Credit-Based Transition Programs study's Web page on the

U.S. Department of Education’s Web site to download and view two-page profiles of each of the study’s five case sites

at: www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/cclo/cbtrans/index.html. 

2 Please also see on the study Web page, listed above, the program description for more information on dual

enrollment.

3 This descriptive information is provided so the reader has a better understanding of the program environment.
68

is a large, bright room on the first floor

suitable for such activity. For the 2004—05

school year, a space shortage at the medical

center resulted in the program changing its

location. Classes now meet at a satellite

campus of Iowa Community College, a 20-

minute drive from Rural High School. 

The Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual

Enrollment program is one of nearly 200

dual enrollment programs overseen by Iowa

Community College. Therefore, the college

has an extensive administrative organization

devoted to overseeing and coordinating dual

enrollment opportunities in its service area.

This includes four college-based

administrators who serve as liaisons among

the high schools, college academic

departments, and employer partners. There

is also an advisory board, through which

industry professionals provide guidance to

program administrators and staff. 

There are two dual enrollment instructors

teaching in the Metropolitan Counties, Iowa,

Dual Enrollment program. The course

instructor, who is also a registered nurse on

staff at a local hospital, is responsible for

day-to-day instruction and student

evaluation. The clinical instructor is also a

registered nurse, and is responsible for

overseeing small groups of students as they

practice their skills in workplace settings.

Both instructors are considered employees of

the college. At Rural High School, one of

the two guidance counselors oversees the

coordination of the dual enrollment

program. 

Student Outreach

Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual

Enrollment staff use multiple methods to

inform potential students about the program.

Typically, Iowa Community College provides

information to Rural High School, and

Rural High School staff members use this

information to encourage students to enroll. 

Iowa Community College has created and

produced a number of outreach materials,

including glossy brochures and posters in

order to attract students to the program.

These materials highlight the benefits of

program participation, explain the program,

and provide information about enrollment.

They are provided to the high school for

display in the guidance office, classrooms

and hallways. This information is also

available to students through a Web site

maintained by Iowa Community College. In

addition, Iowa Community College provides

high schools with information about the

dual enrollment program that may be

included in the high school’s course of study

guide. 

Finally, Iowa Community College holds an

annual recruitment day on the college

campus to provide interested students with

more information about the program.

Prospective students can learn about the

curriculum, watch a demonstration in which

current students demonstrate their nursing

skills, and have the opportunity to ask

program administrators and instructors

questions. 

Although potential students receive

information about the program from a

variety of formal information sources, most

recruitment efforts are informal. The

program relies heavily on guidance

counselors seeking out students who may

benefit from the program and encouraging
69

them to enroll. Similarly, high school

teachers (such as science teachers or the

school nurse) often direct students with an

interest in health careers to the program.

Finally, Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual

Enrollment has a strong reputation in the

Rural High School community. Many

students are recruited into the program by

the positive word of mouth that the program

receives. Iowa Community College and Rural

High School staff rely heavily on these

informal recruitment mechanisms. 

Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual

Enrollment Program Application

Process

Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual

Enrollment is an open-access program that

seeks to include all juniors and seniors

interested in health careers. The collegebased administrators of the program have

made a deliberate choice not to require a

minimum grade point average or

standardized test score. 

However, because the program is

academically demanding and requires a high

level of maturity from the students

(particularly when interacting with patients),

Iowa Community College asks that the staff

members at Rural High School undertake an

informal screening process. They expect that

the guidance counselors will discourage

students with poor attendance records or

past disciplinary actions on record from

participating in the program. 

Additionally, in order to ensure that dual

enrollment students are able to succeed in

their college courses, Iowa Community

College and Rural High School require that

all dual enrollment students successfully

complete a biology course and a wellness

course prior to enrolling in the program.

These courses provide students with the

content knowledge necessary to succeed in

college-level health courses. They are not,

however, explicitly linked to the college

curriculum used in the dual enrollment

program. 

Students who wish to participate in the

Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual

Enrollment program must complete an

application form. This form is essentially a

registration form, on which students are

asked to indicate their name, contact

information, and the semester during which

they would like to begin participation. This

information is submitted to Iowa

Community College. At the same time,

students must register through Rural High

School for the program, as they would for

any other high school course. 

Program Orientation Process

Each fall, the course instructor of the

Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual

Enrollment program conducts an orientation

for the students enrolled in the program

during the first week of classes. The

instructor gives the students explicit

instructions regarding program expectations,

including the strict attendance policy,

grading policies, and immunization

requirements. During this time, the

instructor also describes the curriculum and

gives an overview of program activities. 

College Course Registration Process 

Once students elect to enroll in the program,

they commit to taking seven college courses.
70

These courses fulfill the prerequisites for

most health careers programs at Iowa

Community College. 

As noted earlier, high school registration for

the program is the same as registration for

any other high school course. With regard to

college registration, over the summer, Iowa

Community College sends students enrolled

in the program through the high school an

information packet and registration forms.

The students must return the registration

forms to the program instructor during the

first week of the classes. The instructor, in

turn, submits the completed forms to Iowa

Community College. 

College Credit Curriculum and

Program

Students in the Metropolitan Counties,

Iowa, Dual Enrollment program earn 10.5

college credits by taking seven college

courses: Professionals in Health, Health

Skills 1, Health Skills 2, Basic Medical

Terminology, First Aid Concepts,

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) for

the Health Care Provider, and Nurse Aid.

Students who successfully complete the

Nurse Aid course are eligible to sit for the

national licensing examination to become

Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs). Upon

passing the exam (which they must sign up

for independently of the dual enrollment

program), students may become employed as

CNAs.

As a group, these courses provide students

with a basic background for a variety of

health professions, including nursing, dental

hygiene, and physical therapy. The

curriculum exposes them to the types of

health professions they may enter, as well as

the knowledge they need to succeed in these

fields. Students learn basic anatomy and

medical terminology, as well as many skills

required of health professionals, including

basic patient care. Students also learn

immediately practical skills, including CPR

and first aid. 

The courses taught through the

Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual

Enrollment program, particularly the Nurse

Aid course, require students to participate in

clinical practice. This includes working,

under supervision, at Regional Medical

Center and at a local nursing home. During

their clinical practice, students practice

waking patients, bathing them and bringing

them breakfast, as well as taking their vital

signs. For this clinical experience,

Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual

Enrollment students are expected to arrive at

the hospital at 6:30 a.m. in order to

complete their duties prior to school. The

students also spend three eight-hour shifts at

the nursing home as part of their clinical

training, which allows them to experience

the hours and demands placed on CNAs

working in long-term care. On days that they

conduct their clinical rotations, students are

excused from their afternoon class session.

During both clinical experiences, students

are expected to perform specific

competencies, or skills, under the eye of an

instructor. They are graded on their

performance of these competencies, and

must perform them successfully in order to

be eligible to take the CNA examination. 

Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual

Enrollment program instructors use the same
71

textbooks and cover the same topics that

instructors do at Iowa Community College.

Students also are held to the same standards

as their college-aged counterparts. 

However, the structure of the Metropolitan

Counties, Iowa, Dual Enrollment program

results in a different organization of

instruction than typically occurs at the

college. Rather than offering the students

seven discrete courses, Iowa Community

College nursing faculty have worked carefully

to combine them into a seamless curriculum

covering multiple courses simultaneously.

Students in the program attend class every

day (in contrast to a college student who

might only have class three days a week).

Therefore, on any given day, students in the

Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual

Enrollment program may spend 15 minutes

studying medical terminology, 45 minutes

learning about professionals in health, and

another 30 minutes practicing first aid skills.

The following day, students may spend 60

minutes on medical terminology and 30

minutes covering the Health Skills I

curriculum. This structure allows the

Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual

Enrollment instructor and students to make

connections across the subjects, to spend

more time on subjects that are difficult, and

to eliminate redundancies among the

courses. 

It is important to note that, while the seven

courses in the Metropolitan Counties, Iowa,

Dual Enrollment program are not taught

according to the same structure or schedule

as they would be at Iowa Community

College, the content and course expectations

are identical to those at the college. Iowa

Community College has created in-depth

course syllabi and instructors’ guides for each

course. These guides include PowerPoint

presentations that instructors may use during

class and provide detailed information

regarding the knowledge and skills that

students should have at the end of each

course. Each instructor is provided with, and

expected to closely follow, these curriculum

guides. Additionally, Iowa Community

College has created companion student

guides, which provide outlines of each lesson

and highlight the expected learning

outcomes. 

Semester Courses 

1

Professionals in Health (2 college credits)

Health Skills I (1 college credit)

First Aid Concepts (.5 college credit)

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) for the Health Care Provider (.5 college credit)

Basic Medical Terminology, part I (credit earned after completion of part II)

2

Health Skills II (1 college credit)

Certified Nurse Aid (3 college credits)–includes 40 hours of clinical practice

Basic Medical Terminology, part II (2.5 college credits for both semesters)

Exhibit A-4: Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual Enrollment Program–Health Careers

Academy Sample Course Sequence
Award of Credit for Courses 

Although the courses at the Metropolitan

Counties, Iowa, Dual Enrollment program

are taught together, dually enrolled students

receive discrete grades on their college

transcripts for each of the seven courses.

Students may fail one course (Basic Medical

Terminology, for example) but pass the

others; this is reflected on their college

transcript. At the high school level, however,

students receive only one grade—an aggregate

of their college course grades—each semester. 

At the high school. The dual enrollment

instructor submits an end-of-semester grade

to the high school counselor. The counselor

enters this grade onto students’ transcripts.

Students receive only one high school grade

per semester, an indicator of their overall

performance in the Metropolitan Counties,

Iowa, Dual Enrollment program, which is

counted as elective credit. Students receive

one high school credit per quarter (four

credits total). 

At the college. Students are awarded credit

for each course they successfully complete.

The instructor enters students’ grades into

Iowa Community Colleges’ grading system,

which is accessible online. Once the grades

have been entered by the instructor, they

appear on students’ college transcripts. 

Support Services

Students in the Metropolitan Counties,

Iowa, Dual Enrollment program have access

to a variety of support services. These

activities are facilitated by the program’s

location at the Regional Medical Center and

the satellite campus, as well as by the

employment of a practicing nurse as its

instructor. 

Academic Support 

Students who encounter academic

difficulties with their college-level course

work have a number of ways to get

assistance. First, the high school is

responsible for providing tutoring and

supplementary academic assistance.

Students, particularly those with learning

disabilities and Individualized Education

Plans (IEPs), receive assistance from the high

school resource center. These students also

receive the same academic accommodations

(for example, additional test time) for their

dual enrollment course as they do for their

high school courses. At the high school, the

guidance counselor and the school nurse

also provide academic assistance to those

students who need it.

Because the college-level classes offered

through the Metropolitan Counties, Iowa,

Dual Enrollment program are small in size

(usually around 20 students) and meet daily,

the students develop a strong rapport with

their instructor. Frequently, the instructor

offers academic assistance to students who

need additional help; this is typically

provided on an as-needed basis.

Finally, students in the Metropolitan

Counties, Iowa, Dual Enrollment program

have access to all academic support services

available at Iowa Community College. These

resources include tutors and academic

advisors. Because the college is approximately

45 minutes away from Rural High School,

however, it is not always convenient for

72
73

students to access these services. Instead, they

rely heavily on high school-based academic

support. 

Career Awareness 

Because the focus of the Metropolitan

Counties, Iowa, Dual Enrollment program is

on preparing students for a wide range of

health careers, the program explicitly

addresses career awareness, exposure, and

preparation. 

The curriculum covered by the program’s

college courses helps students explore a

variety of health-related occupations. In

particular, the Professionals in Health course

provides an overview of the professional

opportunities in health “from physicians to

occupational therapy.” Additionally, students

learn about career opportunities during their

clinical rotations at the Regional Medical

Center and the local nursing home. 

All students in the Metropolitan Counties,

iowa, Dual Enrollment program participate

in at least one job shadow and have the

opportunity to participate in up to four

additional job shadows. These day-long

events give students an opportunity to

explore one or two health occupations indepth. They are coordinated through Iowa

Community College’s Workforce Learning

Center (WLC), a nonprofit organization

housed at and supported by the college. The

WLC coordinates work-based learning

opportunities for all high school students

throughout the seven-county region.

Occasionally, the course instructor uses her

professional connections to provide

interested students with additional job

shadowing opportunities at the Regional

Medical Center. 

Career Preparation

Career preparation is explicitly addressed in

a variety of ways. As with career exploration,

the program’s curriculum provides

instruction in career skills. The Professionals

in Health course includes lessons on the job

skills and professional habits for success in

the health careers. These include

emphasizing the importance of personal

responsibility, conscientious performance of

job tasks, and ensuring patient

confidentiality. Students also learn how to

fill out a job application for health-related

occupations and have the opportunity to

engage in mock job interviews. 

Students also develop career skills through

their clinical rotations. During these

experiences, they are expected to behave as a

practicing nurse’s aide would, including

treating patients with a high level of respect,

watching for patients’ safety, and performing

their duties in a responsible, caring manner.

Throughout both the class curriculum and

the clinical experiences, the instructor

provides instruction regarding job skills and

expectations, job hunting strategies, and

professional behaviors.

Students in the Metropolitan Counties,

Iowa, Dual Enrollment program also have

access to a variety of career preparation

services. The guidance counselors at Rural

High School work with the students to

develop a career plan, which includes

identifying career goals and the educational

experiences needed to achieve those goals.
Students in the program also may use all of

the career-related services at Iowa

Community College, including job

placement centers. 

College Transition 

Students in the Metropolitan Counties,

Iowa, Dual Enrollment program are given

multiple resources to prepare them for the

transition to college. First, Iowa Community

College offers a number of on-campus events

that expose students to the college campus.

These events include the program

orientation, as well as Transition Night

during which students may visit the college

and attend a “program fair” in order to learn

about the academic opportunities available at

the college and interact with college faculty

and staff. Finally, students attend an end-ofyear celebration at Iowa Community College. 

Iowa Community College considers all

students in the Metropolitan Counties, Iowa,

Dual Enrollment program to be regularly

matriculated Iowa Community College

students. As such, students in the program

may receive a college ID, which gives them

access to the college’s library, sports facilities,

and special events. However, students must

visit the main college campus in order to get

this ID; as noted earlier, the distance

between the college and Rural High School

makes it difficult for many students to take

advantage of this program feature.

As Iowa Community College students, dual

enrollment students also have access to all of

the college services related to admissions and

matriculation. They may meet with college

enrollment counselors in order to receive

assistance in registering for additional college

classes. Students in the program also are

considered returning students, rather than

new students, the fall after program

completion. This enables them to register

early for their classes. Because many

prerequisites for majors in the health careers

have long waiting lists, early registration is

helpful in ensuring that those who wish to

continue in the health care field are able to

take the courses that they need. 

Finally, students in the Metropolitan

Counties, Iowa, Dual Enrollment program

are given information about and encouraged

to apply for scholarships for students in

health-related programs by their program

instructor. 

Professional Development

State policy requires that all community

college adjunct instructors engage in collegesponsored professional development. Health

academy instructors participate in these

activities, which include workshops on

curriculum writing and lesson planning. 

In addition, the Metropolitan Counties,

Iowa, Dual Enrollment program asks

instructors to engage in course-specific

professional development activities. All new

instructors attend a program orientation,

during which program coordinators and

curricular specialists provide information

about the curriculum and instructional

expectations. All instructors also attend three

meetings a year. These meetings focus on

curriculum, instruction, and any other

related issues, such as discipline strategies or

diversity in the classroom. These meetings

74
75

are run by staff members in Iowa

Community College’s Health Careers

Department and may also include guest

speakers. 

Finally, program staff based at the college

visit each dual enrollment class at least once

during the year. These visits are used to

provide feedback to the instructors and to

help them improve their teaching. They serve

as informal professional development

opportunities. 

Funding

Full Time Equivalent (FTE) and Average

Daily Attendance (ADA) 

By law, all high schools in Iowa must pay for

students to take dual enrollment courses if

an equivalent course is not available at the

high school. However, in order to support

interinstitutional collaboration and

encourage technical education, Iowa has

developed a special funding formula for

technically-oriented dual enrollment

programs. The state reimburses Rural High

School at 1.48 times the average daily

attendance rate for each student enrolled in

the Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual

Enrollment program.4 The high school uses

this additional funding to pay Iowa

Community College for the costs it incurs in

running the program, including the

instructor’s salary, books, supplies, and staff

time for program administration. The 1.48

funding Rural High School receives from the

state does not cover the entire cost of the

program, and so it must find additional

money for the program elsewhere in its

budget. 

The college does not receive FTE funding for

students in the Metropolitan Counties, Iowa,

Dual Enrollment Program. 

Fees and Textbooks 

The Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual

Enrollment program is extremely low cost for

students. Tuition, books, and fees are paid

for by Rural High School, as per its

agreement with Iowa Community College.

Students are expected to return their

textbooks; if they would like to keep them,

they must pay for the books themselves.

Students also must buy their own hospital

scrubs to wear during their clinical rotations.

The college provides the scrubs to students at

a reduced price.

State policy stipulates that, if students fail

their dual enrollment courses, they must

reimburse Rural High School the cost of

their participation in the program.

4 Iowa Code 2003: Section 257.11
76

Student Outcomesa

n The total enrollment at Rural High School was 392 students, with 75 (19 percent) eligible

for the National School Lunch Program’s free or reduced price lunches. 

n The senior class included 82 students, and the junior class included 97 students. 

n All 82 seniors graduated from Rural High School in the 2003—04 school year. The fouryear graduation rate for this class was 95.7 percent.

n During the 2003—04 school year, three students (all 12th-graders) from Rural High

School, were enrolled in the Health Careers Academy. One student was eligible for the

free and reduced price lunch program.

n All 3 Rural High School students enrolled in the 2003—04 Health Careers Academy

completed their fall 2003 and spring 2004 courses with either an A or a P (pass).

n Each student enrolled in the Health Careers Academy earned 10.5 credits during the

2003—04 school year. The total number of credits earned by Rural High School students

for the 2003—04 school year was 31.5 credits. 

n One hundred percent of the students from Rural High School enrolled in the Health

Careers Academy in 2003—04 planned to attend college after graduation in order to

pursue a nursing degree.

n Two of the three students enrolled in the Health Careers Academy enrolled at Iowa

Community College’s associate degree in nursing program in fall 2004. The third

enrolled in a local four-year college. 

Exhibit A-5: Metropolitan Counties, Iowa, Dual Enrollment Outcomes, 2003–04

a All data come from school staff and were not externally validated.
77

MINNESOTA IB PROGRAM

Program Profile

As previously described in the Accelerating

Student Success Through Credit-Based

Transition Programs September 2004 site

profiles,1 the Minnesota site is an IB program.

In general, the IB program offers college-level

classes to 11th- and 12th-graders, with the

possibility of earning college credit upon

successful completion of examinations.2

Courses taken before the 11th- and 12thgrade years are classified as Pre-IB classes. 

The Minnesota IB program, located in a high

school, has been in existence since the early

1990s. During the 2003—04 school year, the

high school’s total enrollment was 1,415

students, with 692 students enrolled in the IB

program. The school’s student body is diverse;

approximately 30 percent of the students are

African-American or Hispanic, 20 percent are

Asian, and 50 percent are white. Approximately

45 percent of the school’s students are eligible

for free or reduced lunch, and 10 percent are

classified as ELL. Of those in the IB program,

10 percent are African-American or Hispanic,

15 percent are Asian, and 75 percent are white.

The district in which Minnesota IB High

School is located has a school choice program

that allows students to select their high school

based on interest rather than neighborhood.

Students rank high schools in order of

preference, and the district uses a lottery

system to place students in the schools. This

system ensures that each high school has

students with a range of academic abilities

and that high schools in the district draw

their students from the entire city, rather than

only the surrounding neighborhood. 

Minnesota IB High School is located in a

middle-class, affluent neighborhood with the

typical wide, quiet streets and large lawns, and

consists of one main building with several

floors.3 The school has been undergoing

significant organizational changes during the

last four years, due to its implementation of a

smaller learning communities4 grant from the

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The four

smaller learning communities are organized

around the broad themes called: Technology

and Science, Global Vision, Health and

Human Services, and Liberal Arts. All

students in the IB program also belong to a

smaller learning community. 

As part of the smaller learning communities

reorganization, the school implemented

advisory periods, during which groups of

approximately 20 students meet with a teacher

1 Please see the Accelerating Student Success Through Credit-Based Transition Programs study's Web page on the

U.S. Department of Education’s Web site to download and view two-page profiles of each of the study’s five case sites

at: www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/cclo/cbtrans/index.html.

2 Please also see on the study Web page, listed above, the program description for more information on the IB

program model. 

3 This descriptive information is provided so the reader has a better understanding of the program environment.

4 Smaller learning communities are defined by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as small high schools or

schools-within-schools (ideally 400 students or fewer) that provide a personalized learning environment where every

student has an adult advocate, students feel less alienated, and students are actively engaged in school activities. For

more information on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Smaller Learning Communities program, please visit:

www.gatesfoundation.org/education/transformingHighschools/default.htm. Last accessed on Sept. 2, 2005.
78

so that they develop a close relationship with

at least one adult. Students remain with the

same advisory teacher for their entire high

school experience. (The exception to this is

that students in the most intense IB pathways

are placed in their own advisories for their

junior and senior years). During advisories,

which meet three times per week, students

engage in informal activities to get to know

one another and spend time developing a sixyear plan encompassing high school course

work and post-high school education and

employment goals. 

Although the IB program is the largest CBTP

in the school, there are other opportunities

for students to earn college credit. The school

offers a number of Tech-Prep courses as well

as Advanced Placement (AP) English.

Students also may take a limited number of

courses through College in the High Schools

or the Postsecondary Enrollment Options

program, which are state dual enrollment

programs offering students the opportunity to

take college classes, either in high school or

on a college campus. 

Classes run from 7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The

school is on a block schedule, with classes

meeting 90 minutes a day for one semester.

The school administration is composed of a

principal, three assistant principals, and three

counselors. IB administrative staff includes an

IB program coordinator and the IB calculus

teacher who coordinates IB classes and testing

schedules. Additional service providers

include a parent coordinator, a career and

college center staff person, and the

coordinator of the school’s Multicultural

Excellence Program (MEP), a program

encouraging minority students to plan for and

attend college. 

All students in the high school have the

opportunity to participate in the IB program.

In the ninth and 10th grades, students can

begin taking pre-IB classes. During their 10th

grade year, students meet with IB staff to

discuss the three alternate pathways for

continuing in the program. One pathway is to

pursue a full IB diploma, which comprises the

majority of a student’s class schedule.

Students who pursue the full IB diploma

must take exams in all six IB subject areas, as

well as additional requirements detailed

below. The second pathway is the IB honors

program, which includes most of the

components of the IB diploma pathway.

Finally, there is the certificate option, which

allows students to choose to take an IB course

or exam in their junior or senior year in at

least one subject area. Students select from

these options based on their interests and

academic goals. 

Student Outreach

Outreach and recruitment for the Minnesota

IB program has historically focused on two

moments in students’ educational careers:

when they select their high school as eighthgraders, and when they choose their IB

pathway in 11th grade. 

The Minnesota IB program serves to attract

students to the high school itself, as the

program gives parents a reason to select the

high school over others in the district. Each

November, prospective parents are invited to
79

attend an open house at the high school. An

additional event is held each January, when

the school participates in a citywide

recruitment fair as part of the district’s school

choice initiative. Finally, prospective parents

can visit the school during the month of

February, to observe IB and non-IB classes.

The IB coordinator attends all of these events,

and an IB parent volunteer, IB teachers, and

current IB students often attend, as well.

Parents are encouraged to select the high

school for their children and enroll them in

pre-IB courses beginning in the ninth grade.

At these recruiting sessions, the IB

coordinator communicates to prospective

students and parents that the IB program will

give all students the opportunity to enjoy

learning, work hard, and be challenged by the

program’s project-based work and

assessments. The coordinator also answers

parents’ questions and concerns. Brochures

and information packets are available to

provide program details. 

The IB program coordinator and IB

instructors encourage students to stay enrolled

during the ninth and 10th grades. Usually,

this includes identifying those students at risk

of leaving the IB program and speaking with

them one-on-one about the benefits of

participating. In addition, IB instructors work

to recruit additional ninth and 10th graders

into the program. Because all IB instructors

teach non-IB classes as well, they are able to

identify potential candidates and encourage

them to consider one of the three IB

pathways.

At the beginning of 11th grade, students must

decide whether to pursue the diploma, honors

or certificate pathway. This process is more

informal than the recruitment into the pre-IB

program. Students meet with the IB

coordinator (and, frequently, their IB

teachers) to discuss the each pathway. The

coordinator works with students to ensure

that they enroll in a pathway that is both

rigorous and aligned with their goals. 

Despite the program’s open-access status, and

the goal of including a range of students in IB

courses, IB students are not as diverse as the

school as a whole. Therefore, in 2004—05, the

staff instituted new recruiting mechanisms

targeted at underrepresented groups. In the

fall of 2004, the IB coordinator held an IB

recruitment session for parents of current

high school students as part of a larger schoolwide parent event. This session, which was

held in the evening to accommodate parents’

schedules, included a presentation

demonstrating that the program is appropriate

for all students in the school. 

The principal and the IB coordinator are also

working with middle school counselors, who

are responsible for registering students for

their ninth grade classes, to ensure that they

understand that IB is not a program only for

elite students. The high school administration

hopes that this will increase the number of

students enrolled in pre-IB courses and that

this will eventually broaden diploma, honors

and certificate participation.

In addition, the IB coordinator is working

with the coordinator of the school’s MEP to

develop support systems for students of color

in IB courses. The MEP coordinator is

encouraging minority students to enroll (or

remain enrolled) in IB courses as part of their
80

MEP participation. The MEP and IB

coordinators also are working together to help

students of color in the IB program connect

with one another in order to develop a

network of supportive peers. Finally, the IB

coordinator also has established relationships

with community groups, such as the United

States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and

the Hmong American Alliance (a local

Minnesota organization that provides support

services to the growing Hmong refugee

population from Laos in Minnesota), in an

effort to provide mentors for IB students of

color. 

IB Application Process

The Minnesota IB program is committed to

enrolling students with a range of academic

backgrounds. Therefore, it has no official

application process or prerequisites. Students

need only to register for pre-IB courses during

the regular high school registration period. 

There are two exceptions to this open-access

policy. Students who have not passed the

eighth grade reading exam are discouraged

(though not forbidden) from enrolling in preIB courses. The reasons for this are two-fold:

first, passing the exam is required for high

school graduation, and students who have not

passed it are enrolled in a special language arts

class. The curriculum of this class focuses on

preparation for the exam and does not align

with the IB language arts curriculum.

Secondly, students who cannot pass the

eighth-grade exam are unlikely to have the

reading and analytic skills needed for IB

course work.

Students in their junior and senior years may

encounter difficulties enrolling in IB Diploma

courses, even with the open enrollment

policy, if they did not take the pre-IB course

of study. Although in theory students may

switch from non-IB into the IB program at

any point in their academic careers, those

students who did not take pre-IB courses

frequently find that they do not have the

academic background and knowledge to

pursue diploma-level study in their junior and

senior years. For this reason, the school tries

to encourage all students to take pre-IB

courses, even if they do not think they will

eventually pursue the diploma program. 

Pre-IB Curriculum and Program

The ninth and 10th grade pre-IB program is

designed to provide broad preparation for the

11th- and 12th-grade IB classes. Pre-IB classes

help to develop and refine higher level

thinking skills, writing techniques, and oral

communications so that students are prepared

for the IB classes they will take in their junior

and senior years. All pre-IB classes are taught

by IB-trained teachers and are closely aligned

with the IB diploma curriculum. The pre-IB

program offers classes in all six standard IB

subject areas, as described below.

IB Curriculum and Program

The IB program has six core academic subject

areas: English, second languages, experimental

sciences, arts, mathematics, and individuals

and societies. The curriculum of each subject

area is developed by the IBO and updated

every seven years. Teachers work to ensure

that the IB curriculum is closely aligned with

Minnesota state standards in each academic

area. 

The IBO offers its curriculum at two levels,

the Standard Level and the Higher Level.
81

Although both levels are academically

rigorous, the Standard Level course work and

examinations require less content knowledge

and mastery than those in the Higher Level.

Schools may choose which courses to offer at

each level based on the expertise and interest

of their faculty. The Minnesota IB High

School offers nine subjects at the Higher Level

and ten at the Standard Level. In order to be

eligible for an IB Diploma, students must take

at least three Higher Level courses. Students

select which courses they want to take at each

level based on those offered by their school. 

IB students take examinations developed by

the IBO in May of their junior and senior

years. IB examinations are graded by

examiners from around the world, and they

measure students’ progress against consistent,

well-defined, international standards of

achievement. Examinations are scored on a

scale of one to seven, and those that receive a

score of four or higher generally lead to

college credit, although each postsecondary

institution’s policies on credit acceptance and

credit award vary.

IB Diploma

Students in the IB diploma pathway take

classes and exams in all six IB academic

subject areas, and therefore this pathway is the

most academically challenging IB option. In

addition to course work and examinations in

all six subject areas, the IB diploma pathway

also requires students to fulfill additional

components. First, students must complete

what is known as the Creativity, Action,

Service (CAS) project, through which they

become involved in their community by

completing and reflecting upon at least 150

hours of some or all of the following:

community service activities, sports, and

theater or musical productions. 

Students enrolled in the IB diploma pathway

also are expected to take a semester-long

interdisciplinary course, Theory of Knowledge

(TOK), during their senior year. In this class,

students look at moral, political and aesthetic

judgments that individuals make in their daily

lives. The TOK course was designed to

stimulate students’ critical reflection on the

concept of knowledge. It challenges them to

question how knowledge is formed, to be

aware of biases (subjective and ideological),

and to encourage them to appreciate other

cultural and social perspectives. 

IB Diploma students must also write a 4,000-

word essay about a topic of special interest to

them. This essay is based on independent

research and is expected to convey the higherlevel writing skills expected at the

postsecondary level. Finally, Diploma students

are enrolled in a special IB advisory section in

order to provide them with additional

program information and a network of peer

support. 

IB Honors 

The second IB pathway, IB honors, includes

most of the components of the IB Diploma

pathway. This pathway was designed to

recognize that many students want to pursue a

rigorous IB course of study but may not wish

to commit to pursuing the full Diploma. IB

Honors requires students to take IB exams in

four subject areas, instead of six. Students are

still expected to complete the CAS project,

take the TOK course, and participate in an IB
82

advisory. Students in the IB Honors pathway,

however, are not expected to write the 4,000-

word essay. 

Certificate Option

The third pathway that students in the

Minnesota IB program can select is the

certificate option. In this pathway, students

can choose to complete the course work and

exams in one or more IB courses during their

junior or senior years, yet they do not have to

complete either the 4,000-word essay or the

CAS project, take the TOK class, or leave

their smaller learning community advisory.

The Certificate option enables students who

may be wary of the rigorous Diploma or

Honors pathways to still participate in the

program. 

Although it is not considered a pathway, the

Minnesota IB program does allow students

who are not enrolled in the IB program to

take one or more classes without taking an IB

examination. This option gives all students

the opportunity to take the rigorous classes.

The components of the three pathways at

Minnesota IB program are further detailed in

the chart below. 

Requirements Full IB

Diploma

IB Honors

Program

IB Exam

Certificate

Enrollment

In IB classesa

IB Exams Must take exams in

all six subject areas

Must take exams in

four subject areas

Must take exam in one

or more subject areas Not required

Extended Essay Required Not required Not required Not required

Community Action

Service (CAS) (at

least 150 hours)

Required Required Not required Not required

Theory of

Knowledge Course Required Required Not required Not required

IB Advisory Required Required Not required Not required

Exhibit A-6: Minnesota IB Program Pathways, Options and Requirements

a Although enrollment in an IB class is not considered a pathway, it is an option available to students.
83

IB Course Selection Process

Students must individually decide to which

pathway they can devote their time and

energy, and inform the IB coordinator before

registering for classes. The IB coordinator is

available to discuss the academic and

nonacademic expectations for all three

pathways. Students also may discuss their

options with IB teachers and their guidance

counselor and can consult the school’s course

catalogue for additional information. After

conferring with adults (including their

parents), students select their courses and

register for them as they would for any high

school courses. 

Because successful completion of the IB

Diploma requires much advance planning,

Diploma students work closely with the IB

coordinator as soon as they declare their

intention to pursue the pathway. The

structure of the school’s schedule presents

some challenges. The four-period block

schedule (in which classes last for only one

semester) sometimes means that students are

unable to take the courses they need in the

proper sequence. The IB calculus teacher

works with the IB coordinator to schedule

pre-IB and IB classes so that such conflicts are

minimized. However, if there are scheduling

issues or there are not enough students to

schedule a specific class, the Minnesota IB

program allows students to engage in

independent study so that they can complete

their requirements for the Diploma pathway.

Award of Credit for Courses

Students receive college credit for IB classes

depending upon their IB examination scores,

and the postsecondary institution’s policies on

the award and acceptance of college credit.

Typically, students earn credit if they receive a

four or better on their IB exams. Students

receive credit for each course individually, and

so they do not need to earn an IB Diploma in

order to be eligible for IB credit at the

postsecondary level.

Support Services

The purpose of the IB program is to prepare

students for a postsecondary liberal arts

education. Therefore, support services focus

on academics and college preparation. Career

awareness is not part of the IB program’s

focus.

Academic Counseling

All students receive academic counseling and

support (though not specific to the IB

program) in their advisories and are assigned

a guidance counselor who helps them with

course selection. In addition, ninth and 10th

graders in the pre-IB program receive group

counseling, in which the IB coordinator

makes sure that they have all the information

they need about the IB program for their

junior and senior years. Juniors and seniors

meet with the IB coordinator individually, to

talk about their questions, concerns, support

needs, and which exams and IB pathway they

are going to pursue. Most IB students also

receive informal academic counseling from

IB teachers. 

The IB program coordinator sends out four

mailings a year to the family of each student

enrolled in one of the pre-IB or IB classes.

The mailings focus on specific topics, such as

registration or preparing for the IB

examinations. In addition, throughout the
84

year, the IB program coordinator holds

evening information sessions to talk to IB

parents about the program. Finally, the

coordinator and IB teachers meet to discuss

the needs of individual students, if necessary. 

Academic Tutoring

Most IB teachers offer tutoring after school,

but there is no formal tutoring program.

Because the high school’s schedule consists of

semester-long classes, many IB teachers offer

review sessions after school for students who

are preparing for May examinations, yet took

the course during their fall semester. Students

also act as teaching assistants for IB classes

that they took the previous semester and can

review the materials and content during

school hours.

The IB program encourages students who are

ELLs to sign up for a writing and reading class

during the summer at a local community

college. The program specifically focuses on

students who need extra help and instruction

and ensures that they build critical analysis

skills. 

College Awareness 

College awareness is infused throughout the

Minnesota IB program because the program

focuses heavily on liberal arts preparation.

Students are encouraged to apply to and

enroll in four-year postsecondary institutions.

The IB program often brings in alumni to talk

to current students about their college

experiences.

At the high school, a number of college

awareness activities exist, and IB students are

able to take advantage of these opportunities.

The school works with Admission Possible, a

Minnesota organization that helps students

apply to college. The group works with

students after school, encouraging them to

take the Preliminary Scholastic Assessment

Test (PSAT), ACT and Scholastic Assessment

Test (SAT), and assisting them with their

applications and resumes. Similarly, the

Multicultural Excellence Program (MEP) is a

statewide program that helps first-generation

college-goers prepare for and apply to college.

The high school’s MEP coordinator arranges

tours of college campuses and discusses with

students the need to pursue advanced classes. 

The high school’s career and college center

provides scholarship information, organizes

visits and interviews, and manages college

admission fairs and recruiting events. The

center’s staff person also works with the

counseling department to provide additional

college awareness information to students.

The career and college center brings in college

admissions people to help interested students

apply for financial aid. Finally, all students are

encouraged to consider postsecondary options

as they develop their six-year plan. 

College Transition 

The rigorous curriculum of the IB program

helps prepare students for the academic

demands of college by developing their critical

thinking skills and helping them to become

independent learners. Ninety-five percent of

students in the Minnesota IB program go on

to a four-year postsecondary institution.

Approximately 55 percent of students at the

high school go on to pursue further education

and training at postsecondary institutions.
85

The high school makes many efforts towards a

“culture of high expectations.” The district

and the high school are in the process of

aligning their courses with new state standards

and course requirements currently being

established by the state legislature. The

school’s course registration book, given to all

students, contains a section that focuses on

planning for postsecondary education,

including the requirements for admission to

the University of Minnesota and other fouryear institutions. The high school also holds

financial planning seminars for parents.

Parent breakfasts are held by the counseling

department to provide 10th- and 11th-grade

parents with information and resources about

college preparation and success. The high

school also offers preparatory classes for the

PSAT. 

Funding

Full Time Equivalent (FTE) and Average

Daily Attendance (ADA)

The Minnesota IB program receives state-,

district-, and school-level funding. The school

district, through its regular operating budget,

provides the school with funds for IB

equipment, instructor salaries, and textbooks.

The state provides some additional funding

for IB-related operating costs and professional

development. In recent years, however, state

funding has been drastically reduced. 

Fees and Textbooks

Each IB exam costs $180, in addition to a $50

registration fee per student. In the past, state

funds allocated by the school district covered

these costs, making the exams free to students.

Recent budgetary problems have reduced the

funds available for these purposes, so that

students in the Minnesota IB program now

must pay the $50 registration fee themselves

and possibly in the future some or all of the

exam costs as well. School-level fundraising,

conducted primarily by IB parents, provides

additional resources that are used for field

trips, materials, and textbooks not covered by

the school budget.
86

Student Outcomesa

n The total enrollment at the high school where Minnesota IB is located was 1,415

students; 130 students are classified as ELLs, and 216 students are classified as special

education students. 

n During the 2003—04 school year, a total of 692 students (49 percent) were enrolled in

either pre-IB or IB classes; 19 IB students are classified as special education students.

n During the 2003—04 school year, 420 of the 629 Pre-IB and IB students were enrolled in

the pre-IB program (ninth or 10th grade), and 272 students were enrolled in the IB

program (11th or 12th grade).

n A total of 129 Minnesota IB took 276 IB exams in the spring of 2004.

n Eight of the nine IB Diploma candidates at Minnesota IB program during the 2003—04

school year successfully earned the IB Diploma. 

n The average number of exam points obtained by Minnesota IB candidates who passed the

diploma was 31. (The maximum is 45 points—seven points for each of six exams, plus one

point each for completing the Theory of Knowledge course, Creativity, Action, Service

project, and the extended essay.) The average IB examination grade received by Minnesota

IB students was 4.91.

n Of the 276 IB exams taken in spring 2004 at Minnesota IB High School, 75 percent were

given a score of 4 or better, which is generally the score needed for students to receive

college credit. 

n The highest diploma points awarded to an IB candidate at Minnesota IB was 36 credits. 

n According to student survey data, 148 of the 158 IB graduates (94 percent) planned to

attend college. 

a All data come from school staff and were not externally validated.

Exhibit A-7: Minnesota International Baccalaureate Outcomes, 2003–04
NEW YORK CITY’S COLLEGE

NOW PROGRAM PROFILE

As previously described in the Accelerating

Student Success Through Credit-Based

Transition Programs October 2004 site

profiles,1 the CBTP in New York City is

operated through a partnership between New

York City Community College and New

York City High School. This partnership is

one within the larger College Now program,

which in its entirety is composed of all the

City University of New York (CUNY)

colleges and approximately 200 secondary

schools. The goals of College Now include

improving the academic skills and

achievement of high school students and

ensuring that graduating students are

prepared to do college-level work.2 The

colleges offer a tailored program of academic

and preparatory courses and workshops to

their partnering high schools. 

New York City Community College offers 43

programs that can lead to one of three

degrees: the Associate in Arts (AA), Associate

in Science (AS), and the Associate in

Applied Science (AAS). The college also

offers two certificate programs. Other

offerings include continuing education;

cooperative and distance education; and a

variety of student services, student life

activities; and campus programs. 

New York City Community College enrolls

students originally from over 120 countries.

In 2003, the college enrolled 12,768

students, 7,366 of whom were full-time. Fulltime faculty members comprise

approximately 37 percent of the college’s

employee roster. Among the current faculty

and executive staff, about half have been at

the college for more than 15 years. 

New York City High School first opened its

doors in the 1930s and many members of the

faculty and staff have taught at the school for

20 years or more.3 The school’s four-story

Gregorian architecture style building is set

within a residential neighborhood containing

both apartment buildings and older singleand multifamily homes.

The high school’s enrollment has steadily

increased in recent years, so that the school

has become severely overcrowded. During the

2003—04 school year, enrollment was 3,255,

with an average class size of 33 students. In

order to accommodate these numbers, the

school operated on a double session schedule

for the 2003—04 school year, with 11th- and

12th-graders attending classes from

approximately 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and ninth

and 10th-graders attending classes from 10

a.m. to 4 p.m. In the fall of 2004, the school

day was extended to a three-session day, with

classes meeting from 7:20 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

New York City High School’s student

population displays great language, ethnic,

and socioeconomic diversity. Twenty-three

percent of the students were eligible for free

87

1 Please see the Accelerating Student Success Through Credit-Based Transition Programs study's Web page on the U.S.

Department of Education’s Web site to download and view two-page profiles of each of the study’s five case sites at:

www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/cclo/cbtrans/index.html.

2 Please also see on the study Web page, listed above, the program description for more information on dual enrollment.

3 This descriptive information is provided so the reader has a better understanding of the program environment.
88

lunch in 2003. Approximately 45 percent of

the students are white, which includes many

immigrants from former Soviet states, 11

percent are African-American, 21 percent are

Hispanic, and 22 percent are Asian. About

13 percent immigrated to the United States

within the last three years, and 14 percent

are ELLs. 

A large proportion of New York City High

School graduates attend CUNY and State

University of New York (SUNY) institutions,

for a variety of academic, cultural, and

economic reasons. 

Curriculum and Program

In general, College Now strives to create an

educational experience for middle-range

students that complements and extends what

they are already receiving. College Now offers

a sequence of courses that upgrades students’

critical thinking and writing skills, helping

them be successful on their high school exit

exams (Regents exams) and earn college

credit. Among the many College Now

partnerships between individual high schools

and New York City Community College, the

particular courses and enrichment activities

offered to students are determined at the

school level. The college-based coordinator

shares the college course catalogue with the

high school principal and College Now

liaison, and makes recommendations on

which courses to offer, based on the needs of

the students at that particular high school,

and also on which courses tend to transfer

easily. The interests and qualifications of the

high school faculty also are considered.

Courses cannot be offered at high schools

that do not have the faculty to teach them.

High school faculty must meet the

requirements for adjunct faculty, which

generally means having a master’s degree in

the subject area. 

New York City High School’s College Now

program offers the full range of remediation,

college preparatory, college credit, and

enrichment activities, and while students

may choose from among these offerings, they

are encouraged to take a developmental

sequence of courses. While the

recommended sequence typically yields a

combination of high school and college

credits, the New York City High School

College Now program does not offer dual

credit. Students receive high school or

college credit for any particular course, but

not both. 

A possible sequence of courses could be as

follows: a course for Regents exam prep, a

course that counts towards fulfilling the

college developmental English requirement

(college prep), a course that yields college

credit at the participating college, and

courses that likely yield transferable college

credit (such as Introduction to Sociology). 

The courses tend to meet two or three times

weekly, for an hour and a half at a time.

Most of the course work occurs at the high

school, but some courses alternate between

the high school and college locations. Those

students whose courses are at the high school

may visit the college campus at least once, to

tour the facilities. College Now teachers

encourage the use of the college’s library for

research and term assignments. College Now

students have access to these facilities and
others on the New York City Community

College campus through a student ID, which

they are able to receive once they begin

participation in the College Now program.

Precollege Curriculum and Program

As noted above, each College Now

partnership works collaboratively to develop

a program to meet the needs of the

particular high school student. To help

address the needs of the ELL population at

New York City High School, College Now

faculty at the high school and the college

created the Learner’s Academy. The

Learner’s Academy offers a yearlong 10thgrade English and a yearlong 11th-grade

social studies courses especially for ELL

students. Both courses are for high school

credit only. The classes meet twice a week

during school hours, once at the high school

and once at the college, and are team-taught

by high school and college instructors. The

goal of the courses is to increase the Regents

exam pass rate of the school’s ELL students,

as well as prepare participants for college

classes. Course content and pedagogy focus

on the analysis of literature as well as the

development of writing skills. Current events

and world issues such as human rights are

used as curriculum organizing themes. 

Another entry point into the program is

English 99 (also called Basic Writing). This

course meets after school at the high school

and is open to any student at the high

school. It offers one high school credit and

its purpose is to strengthen students’ writing

skills so that they not only pass their Regents

exam, but can place out of any college

remediation courses. 

Exhibit A-8 summarizes the prerequisites for

the programs’ precollege credit offerings. 

College Credit Curriculum and Program

Five courses are offered after the school day

that students can take for college credit.

These are: Literacy and Propaganda, Critical

Thinking, Sociology, English, and Oral

Communication (a public speaking class).

These courses have the same content as their

counterparts at the college. The first two

courses yield credit at New York City

Community College but may not transfer to

other colleges while Sociology, English and

Public Speaking tend to be generally

transferable. 

All of the courses emphasize thoughtful

discussion and writing. Instruction time

often includes a lecture portion as well as

89

Exhibit A-8: Prerequisites for College Now

Noncollege Credit Courses

Prerequisites Placement Precollege

Offerings

n Student is identified

as an English

Language Learner

n Teacher

Recommendation

Learner’s Academy College Now

Enrichment

Program

n Scoring range of

55–74 on the

English Regents

exam

OR

Basic Writing

(English 99)

Courses that do

not qualify for

college credit

n GPA of 65–75 in

English and social

studies courses

n Good attendance

n Teacher

recommendation
90

small group discussions. In particular,

courses include a portion of time dedicated

to the development, critique, and revision of

written work. In the College Now sociology

course, this portion is organized around

open-ended discussion questions pertaining

to the lesson presented. In other courses,

classroom discussion centers around

discussion questions and course writing

assignments that are or will be submitted as

part of the students’ course grade. 

College Course Selection Process 

Students are eligible to apply for enrollment

in a College Now course if they meet the

prerequisites shown in the above table. For

College Now credit-bearing courses, students

who do not possess the required scores or

who have not had the opportunity to take

the specified examinations may be granted

permission to enroll in the courses through

alternative pathways. For example, a student

who has successfully completed Basic

Writing, yet does not possess the required

prerequisite scores, may still enroll in

Literacy and Propaganda or Critical

Thinking if they receive a recommendation

from their Basic Writing teacher. In order to

enroll in Composition I, Oral

Communication, or Introduction to

Sociology, students who do not possess the

required prerequisite scores but have gone

through a developmental sequence of non

credit and credit-bearing courses must

receive a recommendation from one of their

teachers.

Recruitment and Target Population

The program coordinator and program

instructors take responsibility for student

recruitment, which is primarily accomplished

through classroom visits and word of mouth.

For the noncollege credit courses, the high

school’s academic counseling staff assists the

coordinator in identifying students who

would benefit from participating. In general,

students in the middle range of academic

achievement are primarily targeted, although,

because most of the courses take place after

the school day, students must be particularly

motivated to enroll. 

Exhibit A-9: Prerequisites for College Now

Credit-Bearing Classes

Prerequisites College

Offering

Transferability

n Scoring range of

65–74 on English

Regents exam

OR

Literacy and

Propaganda

3 credits

Critical Thinking

3 credits

Courses that may

transfer as elective

credit

n 70+ English and

Social Studies Grade

Point Average

n Good attendance

OR

n 480 Scholastic

Assessment Test

Verbal or

48 Preliminary

Scholastic

Assessment Test

Verbal

n 75+ English

Language Arts

Regents

n 480 Scholastic

Assessment Test

Verbal or

48 Preliminary

Scholastic

Assessment Test

Verbal

n Good attendance

Composition I

3 credits

Oral

Communication

3 credits

Introduction to

Sociology

3 credits

Courses that

transfer as general

education credit
Approximately 300 students out of the

school population take College Now classes

each semester. Some courses have more

interested students than for whom they have

space, which is one of the reasons that

students in the program are limited by New

York City Community College to one class

per semester.

Once students apply and are enrolled, a

letter is sent to their parents inviting them to

an information evening at the high school.

Parents of the Learner’s Academy students

are invited to an additional evening for a

dinner during which they are able to meet

Learner’s Academy staff and have their

questions about the program answered. 

Supporting Student Transition

Counseling 

While there are no counseling services

specific to the College Now program,

participating students do take advantage of

the school’s general counseling services.

Academic counseling and college counseling

are available. Students begin to receive

advising from the New York City High

School’s college counselor in the spring of

their 11th-grade year and continue

throughout their 12th-grade year. The college

counselor assists students in obtaining

materials from state and city colleges and

universities and making decisions about

which institutions are most appropriate for

them. The counselor writes letters of

recommendation for every student who

requests one, coordinates college fairs and

financial aid nights each year, and arranges

appointments with parents to talk about the

college choice and admissions process. 

College Awareness and Preparation

Students have a number of opportunities to

visit the college. Activities that take place at

the college often include tours of key college

facilities such as the library and computer

labs. College Now students are issued a New

York City Community College ID and are

able to use facilities such as libraries and

computer labs just as regularly matriculating

New York City Community College students.

In addition to becoming comfortable on a

college campus, students begin to

understand the nature of college courses.

The pedagogy of many of the College Now

teachers differs from the classroom

management and teaching style they employ

in their regular high school classes. The more

relaxed classroom environment and

workshop-style discussion and lessons allow

students and teachers to develop

relationships. The teaching styles as

described by the teachers also help students

engage in the kinds of student-teacher

interactions (e.g., office hours, studentinitiated academic conversation, and

student-initiated conversation surrounding

career and college advancement) that have

been shown to be imperative to

postsecondary success. 

Many College Now courses also are designed

to provide scaffolding to students as they

encounter the increased expectations of selfmanagement associated with postsecondary

education. College Now teachers give their

students course syllabi at the beginning of

the semester, and they expect students to use

online technologies to manage class

assignments and course-related

91
92

communication. Additionally, the decisions

that students must make related to course

selection and continuing with after-school

classes for which they are receiving only

college credit—as opposed to dual high

school and college credit—in the face of other

academic and social commitments is a selfmanagement skill that College Now

instructors feel is invaluable.

Other Enrichment Activities

Students have a number of opportunities to

experience curriculum extending and

enrichment activities on the New York City

Community College campus and through

field trips. The college-based and high

school-based College Now program

coordinators work collaboratively with New

York Community College professors and

New York City High School College Now

teachers to plan, organize, and supervise

regular events that occur outside of the high

school setting both during the week and on

some weekends. 

The English department at New York City

Community College and the New York City

High School College Now teachers work

closely together to provide experiences such

as writer’s workshops that bring the students

to the New York City Community College

campus. For the workshops, authors and

researchers are invited to speak about their

written work (which the students have

usually read in their classes) and the writing

process and to participate in a cooperative

activity that includes sharing student work

and ideas. 

Other academic departments of the college

also provide opportunities for College Now

students to extend their learning outside of

New York City High School. Weekend

programming may include trips to plays or

community or government agencies to bring

students closer to the issues or literature they

are studying in their College Now courses.

Many of the courses offer special events at

the college and off-site, such as human rights

discussion forums hosted by the United

Nations and Amnesty International.

Professional Development and

Collaboration

The high school teachers are selected for the

program by the high school-based program

coordinator. The coordinator has more

teachers interested than can be involved, and

it is generally seen as an honor to be

selected. Once chosen and approved by the

college, the teachers become adjunct faculty

of the college. There is a great deal of

collaboration among the high school

teachers participating in the program;

between the high school teachers and the

college faculty; and among all the high

school teachers, college faculty, and College

Now central faculty and staff. The high

school-based coordinator meets with the

college coordinator at least once a month,

and the entire team meets at least once a

semester.

While the high-school based College Now

teachers do follow a college-approved

curriculum, and are observed once a

semester by someone from the college, they

also speak of the tremendous amount of

academic freedom and creativity they can use

in planning and teaching their College Now

courses. Many of the College Now teachers

described their teaching style in program
93

courses as more relaxed and emphasizing the

development of skills that students show a

need for, such as critical thinking and

writing. 

Funding

A portion of CUNY’s operating budget is

devoted to the College Now program, which

is free to students. CUNY pays for students’

tuition and provides them with free

textbooks that must be returned at the end

of the semester.

Because College Now is an after-school

program, the high school does not lose any

of its Average Daily Attendance (ADA)

funding.

Student Outcomesa

n The total enrollment at New York City High School was 3,255 students. 23.1 percent of

the students were eligible for the National School Lunch Program’s free or reduced price

lunches.

n Fourteen percent of New York City High School entering ninth- and 10th-graders were

English Language Learners (450 students).

n New York City High School graduated 715 students in 2003–04. The four-year

graduation rate for this cohort was 75 percent.

n During the 2003–04 school year, 511 students from New York City High School were

enrolled in the College Now program. One hundred and sixty-nine were enrolled in

college credit courses.

n Seventy-nine percent of the students enrolled in credit-bearing College Now courses from

New York City Community College during summer 2003, fall 2003, and spring 2004

completed courses with either an A, B, or C. Each of these students received three credits

per course. 

n During the summer 2003, fall 2003, and spring 2004 academic year students from New

York City High School who participated in College Now earned 423 credits.

a All data come from school staff and were not validated externally.

Exhibit A-10: New York City Community College, College Now Outcomes, 2003–04
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95

DALLAS TECH-PREP PROGRAM

PROFILE

As previously described in the Accelerating

Student Success Through Credit-Based

Transition Programs September 2004 site

profiles,1 the Dallas Tech-Prep CBTP consists

of a partnership between Texas Community

College, Dallas Tech-Prep High School, and

The Global EDGE Tech Prep Consortium.

Tech-Prep, which is federally supported,2 is

designed to link two years of high school and

two years of community college course work

through a sequenced program of study in a

career or technical field. Tech-Prep students

may earn college credit for their secondary

course work. 

The Global EDGE Tech Prep Consortium,

with an office on the campus of the

community college, facilitates the Tech-Prep

program. The consortium is one of 26 TechPrep consortia in the state of Texas and is a

partnership among the local community

college district, 30 local high schools, and

local businesses. The partnership has existed

for more than 10 years.3

The Texas Community College District has

four main campus locations throughout the

metropolitan area.4 Each campus has one

large building with several wings organized

by academic and administrative departments.

The facilities at the four campuses are

spacious, have multiple entrances, sizeable

parking areas, and large open areas for

students to meet. Texas Community College

also has two satellite locations on high

school campuses in surrounding counties

that provide classes and training services to

far-reaching exurbs and rural areas

surrounding the Dallas metropolitan area.

Accounting for all of its locations, Texas

Community College enrolls more than

20,000 students in AA and AAS degree

programs in over 60 areas of study. 

Dallas Tech-Prep High School is the only

high school in its school district. There are

119 teachers, five counselors, four vice

principals and a principal on staff at Dallas

Tech-Prep High School. Until the late 1990s,

the town in which the school is located was a

rural farming town; the extension of a major

highway linking the area to downtown Dallas

has resulted in rapid growth and

suburbanization. During the 2002—03 school

year the school enrolled 1,340 students,

which increased to 1,640 students the

following year; the growth in the student

population is expected to continue. Eightytwo percent of the students are white, 12

percent are Hispanic and 5 percent are

African-American. 

1 Please see the Accelerating Student Success Through Credit-Based Transition Programs study's Web page on the

U.S. Department of Education’s Web site to download and view two-page profiles of each of the study’s five case sites

at: www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/cclo/cbtrans/index.html.

2 Tech-Prep programs are supported at the federal level by the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education

Act of 1998. For more information on the legislation, please go to: www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/CTE/legis.html.

Additional information about Tech-Prep can be found at: www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/cte/tpreptopic2.html.

3 Please also see on the study Web page, listed above, the program description for more information on Tech-Prep.

4 This descriptive information is provided so the reader has a better understanding of the program environment.
The school building is eight years old and is

currently being expanded. The entire school

is networked and each classroom contains a

monitor through which school and district

announcements and information are

broadcast. In addition to the main building,

there is a separate structure that houses

workshop areas for a wide variety of career

and technical programs, including autobody

repair, welding, and computer aided design.

All of these are furnished with up-to-date

equipment. The consistent integration of

technology and current industrial machinery

throughout the curriculum and instruction

at Dallas Tech-Prep High School is an

indicator of the school’s commitment to

career and technical education (CTE). In

addition, students attending the high school

can participate in any of 13 competitive

sports teams and more than 24 clubs and

organizations. 

Classes at Dallas Tech-Prep High School

begin at 8:45 a.m. and conclude at 3:41 p.m.

The school operates on a 90-minute

alternating A and B block schedule. The

schedule also includes a “zero hour” that

starts at 7:30 a.m.; this hour allows school

staff to provide tutoring or instruction for

students with schedule conflicts. For

example, a student taking courses in the

information technology strand of the TechPrep program also may want to participate in

one of the school’s band programs. If the

band period conflicts with the period that

the largely self-directed information

technology course is offered, the student can

elect to complete his or her course work

during the zero hour period each day. 

Dallas Tech-Prep High School currently

offers five of the nine Tech-Prep

concentrations that The Global EDGE Tech

Prep Consortium sponsors; these are:

Hotel/Restaurant Management, Early

Childhood Education, CISCO Networking

Systems, Office Systems Technology, and

Criminal Justice. These articulated career

and technology sequences vary in length.

Dallas Tech-Prep High School students

enrolled in a particular concentration may

complete the sequence of courses within an

academic year, or over the course of two or

three years including prerequisite courses.

Though they are encouraged to select a

concentration and take the entire curricular

sequence, students may choose to take just

one course in a given concentration. 

Student Outreach

Dallas Tech-Prep High School is a

neighborhood comprehensive high school.

Once at the school, students can learn about

the Tech-Prep programs in several ways.

Teachers do much of their own publicity and

recruitment, reaching out to students

themselves. The Tech-Prep courses and

concentrations also are described and listed

in the school’s course catalogue, which

informs students about their options and

aids in course selection and scheduling. The

catalogue describes in detail which courses fit

into the various career and technology

concentrations offered by the high school. 

The Global EDGE Tech Prep Consortium

develops and disseminates brochures, flyers,

and other promotional materials. These

materials are mailed out to students who

reside in the local community college

96
97

district. Promotional materials also are

provided to all of the high schools that

partner with The Global EDGE Tech Prep

Consortium to hang in classrooms, offices,

and hallways, as well as to distribute to

students during school orientations and in

counseling offices.

Tech-Prep Admissions Process

Student Selection Process

Students interested in the Tech-Prep courses

and concentrations complete an application

in order to demonstrate motivation and

inform the instructors of their interests and

any special accommodations they may need.

This application varies by concentration and

asks for basic information such as grade

point average and grade level, along with

information regarding previously taken

prerequisites or similar courses and any

special scheduling situations (e.g., band or

sports team participation). 

The high school’s counselors and Tech-Prep

teachers screen students to determine if they

have completed recommended prerequisites

as well as for past disciplinary problems.

Courses within several of the concentrations

require maturity and responsibility, according

to Dallas Tech-Prep High School teachers

and administrators. For example, the Early

Childhood Education concentration

includes a laboratory component that

requires students to observe and assist in

kindergarten classes at local elementary

schools. Students must provide their own

transportation, which means carpooling or

driving their own vehicles to the

participating schools. The information

technology concentration includes a great

deal of independent and self-directed work,

in addition to highly sensitive technical

security issues (i.e., working with a number

of the school and district’s servers). The

Hotel/Restaurant Management

concentration requires students to work with

outside organizations to cater and plan

events. 

Tech-Prep Course Enrollment

Students can enroll in a Tech-Prep course

and choose to receive only high school

credit. Those who plan to petition Texas

Community College for the dual credit must

register with The Global EDGE Tech Prep

Consortium. The online registration process

must be completed within a designated time

period each semester. 

Tech-Prep Curriculum and Program 

Curriculum and Instruction

The Tech-Prep courses are taught at the high

school by high school teachers who are

certified to teach secondary education as well

as approved by Texas Community College as

being at the same level as an adjunct

professor at the college. Tech-Prep teachers at

Dallas Tech-Prep High School base their

Tech-Prep course curriculum and content

upon that used in the analogous courses at

Texas Community College. The textbooks

used are either the same textbooks used in

the analogous course at Texas Community

College or ones that are approved by the

college. Students in the five Tech-Prep

concentrations at Dallas Tech-Prep High

School have both traditional classroom and

work-based learning experiences.
Pre-Tech-Prep Curriculum

There is no official pre-Tech-Prep

curriculum. However, enrollment in some

concentrations hinges on students taking

appropriate prerequisites. For example,

students are encouraged to have taken

Algebra I and an introductory personal

computer (PC) maintenance class before

entering the information technology

concentration. The Hotel/Restaurant

Management and Early Childhood

Education programs both require year-long

98

Program Area

Concentration

Secondary Course

Name

Credits

(awarded in

escrow)a

Postsecondary Course

Name

CISCO Networking Systems 

Internetworking Technology I

3

and

3

Local Area Networking Design: CISCO 1

and

Basic Router Configuration: CISCO 2

Internetworking Technology II

3

and

3

Local Area Management: CISCO 3

and

Wide Area Management: CISCO 4

Computer Maintenance 4 Introduction to Computer Maintenance

Criminal Justice 

Introduction to Criminal

Justice 3 Introduction to Criminal Justice

Crime in America 3 Crime in America

Early Childhood Education Preparations for Parenting

and Child Development 3 Child Growth and Development

Hotel/Restaurant

Management

Food Sanitation and Safety 2 Sanitation and Safety 

Introduction to Hospitality

Industry 3 Introduction to Hospitality Industry

Office Systems Technology

Business Computer

Information Systems I 3 Computer Applications I

Business Computer

Information Systems II 3 Integrated Software Applications

Accounting I 3 Introduction to Accounting

Exhibit A-11: Dallas, Tech-Prep Curriculum and Program

a Credit-in-escrow refers to an arrangement whereby students receive college credit for high school work only if they subsequently

enroll in and complete additional courses of the postsecondary level.
99

prerequisite courses. Taking into account the

various prerequisites, many of the students at

Dallas Tech-Prep High School begin taking

courses within the Tech-Prep concentrations

during either their sophomore or junior year. 

Tech-Prep Curriculum

Among the five Tech-Prep concentrations

offered, course duration varies so that a

course may take place either over an entire

academic year or over a semester. Exhibit A11 lists the courses of the five concentrations

that potentially yield credit at Texas

Community College. It is important to note,

however, that the career and technology

department at Dallas Tech-Prep High School

offers course work in the Tech-Prep

concentrations in addition to the articulated

courses. Students thus may continue in

sequenced course work and related workbased learning opportunities through their

senior year. 

Awarding of Credit for Courses 

Upon completion of Tech-Prep courses,

students are awarded elective credit toward

high school graduation. The courses are not

weighted for the purpose of computing a

student’s grade point average. Tech-Prep

teachers indicate to The Global EDGE Tech

Prep Consortium and to Texas Community

College, via the consortium Web site,

whether a student is eligible to receive

college credit. Depending upon the

concentration, students may have to earn a

grade of 80 or 85 in the course or pass an

end-of-course examination for college credit

eligibility. College credits are not awarded

immediately but are considered “in escrow,”

meaning that students must complete

courses at the college in order to receive the

credit. 

In their senior year, students who have

successfully completed Tech-Prep courses are

sent an ID and information about how to

receive the college credits. After graduation

from Dallas Tech-Prep High School, students

must enroll at Texas Community College in

the Tech-Prep major that matches their high

school Tech-Prep concentration. Students

can then submit a petition for their credit to

the registrar’s office. Upon completion of six

credit hours in the selected major at Texas

Community College, which must occur

within 24 months of high school graduation,

college credits for the Tech-Prep courses

completed in high school will appear on

their Texas Community College transcript.

Transcripted credit is generally accepted by

institutions nationwide, at the discretion of

the receiving institution.

Support Services 

Careers

Information on skills and jobs that are in

demand within the field are provided by the

Dallas Tech-Prep High School career and

technology department instructors, many of

whom come from those industries. The

instructors’ industry connections contribute

significantly to their ability to provide

accurate and valuable information about

career options to their students, both in the

classroom and by providing students with

formal and informal mentoring and

counseling relationships. The Career and

Technology department at Dallas Tech-Prep
100

High School, which includes the five TechPrep concentrations, benefits from a local

trust that not only provides funds to program

instructors for curriculum materials and

equipment, but also allows the program to

bring in outside guests throughout the year

to speak on various topics in career and

technology education and training.

Several of the Tech-Prep concentrations have

work-based learning opportunities. Students

in these concentrations benefit from

opportunities to apply learned skills and to

explore the demands of particular career

fields in a supportive environment. For

example, students enrolled in the Early

Childhood Education concentration

complete a field placement in an early

childhood classroom, where they not only

assist a teacher in a classroom but are also

asked to reflect through journal writing.

Throughout the duration of the placement,

usually a semester, the writing assignments

are used to help the students process their

experiences and explore issues of child

advocacy and development. 

College Transition

Dallas Tech-Prep offers all of its students

general information on colleges and the

admissions and financial aid processes;

therefore these types of services are not

targeted directly to students in the Tech-Prep

program. The high school’s local trust

provides scholarships to graduating seniors

who have participated and thrived in various

areas of CTE during their high school career.

Additionally, The Global EDGE Tech Prep

Consortium has scholarships that are open

to Tech-Prep students at all of the high

schools with which it partners.

Professional Development

The Global EDGE Tech Prep Consortium

sponsors a variety of professional

development activities. High school-based

Tech-Prep teachers and their college

counterparts in the different concentrations

are encouraged to attend annual meetings to

discuss curriculum and textbooks. The

consortium also organizes an annual

Technology in Education conference. In

addition, the consortium director is

developing externship opportunities for

Tech-Prep teachers. Finally, teachers and

coordinators may attend the annual statewide Tech-Prep conference. 

Funding

As noted, the Dallas Tech-Prep program is

supported entirely by a federal grant. This

grant covers the consortium staff, stipends

for college and high school Tech-Prep

coordinators, and professional development

activities. Texas Community College receives

3 percent of the grant for administrative

expenses. The college does not receive fulltime-equivalent funding for high school

students enrolled in Tech-Prep courses, nor

does it receive tuition. 
101

Student Outcomesa

n The total enrollment at Dallas Tech-Prep High School was 1,671 students. Approximately

15 percent of the student population was eligible for the National School Lunch Program

free and reduced price lunch program.

n Twenty-nine students were classified as English Language Learners, and 200 students were

classified as special education students.

n Three hundred forty-two seniors graduated from Dallas Tech-Prep High School in the

2003—04 school year. The four-year graduation rate for this class was 97.8 percent.

n The daily attendance rate for the entire school is 96 percent.

n Five hundred sixty-seven students were enrolled in a Tech-Prep course. This included 83

ninth graders, 151 10th-graders, 184 11th-graders, and 149 12th-graders.

n Two hundred fifty-five Tech-Prep students (45 percent) were eligible for the the National

School Lunch Program free and reduced price lunch program.

n Fifteen Tech-Prep students (3 percent) are classified as English Language Learners.

n Eighty-three percent of Tech-Prep students are white, 14 percent Hispanic, 3 percent

Asian, 1 percent as Native American, and 0.06 percent African-American.

a All data come from school staff and were not externally validated.

Exhibit A-12: Dallas, Tech-Prep Outcomes, 2003–04