Dual Credit and COVID-19: How to Help Your Students Thrive in An Online Environment

Navigating dual credit college courses as a high school student can be full of challenges. Still, with most colleges and universities switching to online classes under the current COVID-19 pandemic, it can be seen as a nearly insurmountable challenge. Actually, online courses present a challenge for most students because it requires discipline, organization, and resourcefulness, all of which must be cultivated over time. The new reality for many dual credit students today is that there is no time to fully develop the necessary skills before diving into a semester of online courses exclusively.

You can help your dual credit student tremendously by supporting them to implement these three simple steps designed to help high school students survive and thrive in an all-online dual credit course environment.

1. Establish and stick to routines

Online students need structure, and a study calendar is a great way to create it together. Paper or digital, the type of calendar doesn’t matter as long as students track their daily and weekly schedules. To get started, help your high school schooler establish a daily routine for getting the day started. Maybe he likes to start the day with exercise, meditation, or journaling. Regardless of how he begins the day, make sure he develops a simple routine and sticks with it. Once he has added a daily routine to his calendar, have him check his syllabus for assignments and assessments to add to his schedule, committing to the due dates. Don’t forget to have him include time to study, practice, and review course material.

2. Communicate often and early

One drawback of online classes is the convenience and flexibility that the courses provide as students access course materials at any time. However, that flexibility can be dangerous because students could be tempted to only check-in when the course materials are due. In many ways, freedom can lead to bad habits of procrastination and making excuses. Don’t let flexibility become a barrier for your student; instead, have them create the structure they need by scheduling a regular check-in time with their instructor over assignments, assessments, and course performance. If he struggles or falls behind, encourage him not to stay silent. Encourage him to reach out immediately to his high school counselor and college instructor to share his specific challenges and to seek assistance. There is nothing worse than seeing a student struggle, not knowing that the instructor is willing and able to provide support and guidance to eliminate their problems.

3. Look Back and Ahead

Knowing what is due weeks from now, not just the next day, can help students maximize their time. Guide your student to make a habit of doing a daily and weekly review where he looks ahead to identify upcoming assignments and deadlines for important tasks. However, he shouldn’t forget to examine a couple of days back to make sure he doesn’t miss anything that needs urgent attention. The more he reviews his schedule, the less likely he will miss an assignment or task, and the more likely he will be able to keep up with a realistic workload.

Don’t let the autonomy and flexibility presented by online dual credit courses be an excuse for your student to crash and burn this semester. Take advantage of the opportunities offered this semester to help your high school student develop the discipline, organization, and resourcefulness needed to thrive in any dual credit course. For a bright future in an all-online dual credit environment, help your student implement the practical strategies of establishing and sticking to routines, communicating often and early, and always looking back and ahead.

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The College Readiness Programming Dilemma

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Are there right and wrong advanced academic courses to take in high school to prepare for college?  More specifically, which college readiness program is more effective for a high school student, dual credit or Advanced Placement (AP).  In my district, not unlike many others across the state of Texas, we have been actively striving to expand our college readiness initiatives and programs.  Upon reflection, one aspect of these effort poses a dilemma, as defined by Cuban (2001), that many K-12 school systems may face - the need to expand dual credit program; the potential issue of diluting our successful Advanced Placement (AP) program and a need for more effective academic advisement to properly inform students and parents about the benefits and limitations of both college readiness programs.  The positive impacts of AP programming have been well documented in the literature, while the limited research related to dual credit highlights both its benefits and limitations. Although I am aware of the evidence of both AP and dual credit programming fostering college readiness in students, I find myself facing overwhelming pressure from the district administration, parents, and other community stakeholders to place more emphasis on dual credit.  

In today’s era of accountability and data-driven decision making, I find it extremely ironic that much of the debate among the aforementioned stakeholders regarding dual credit is not based on data.  More surprisingly, I am intrigued by the diversity in goals behind the expansion of the dual credit program.  In my opinion, there should never be a conflict between the pursuit of a rigorous and expansive AP program and the expansion of a high-quality dual credit program because both have the potential to benefit students in preparation for college.

At the heart of the debate are two key factors, a limited perspective on college readiness courses and the need for proper academic advisement.  Many in the community view dual credit more from an asset "obtainment" perspective versus a “preparation" perspective. The obtainment perspective could be characterized by a desire to save money, accumulate credits, or gather an early start on a degree or credential.  On one hand this view is desirable and beneficial in today’s competitive academic and labor markets, but on the other hand, when it is the sole viewpoint, decisions to pursue dual credit could at the expense of a student's benefit.  In fact, it could lead to students taking courses that negatively impact their financial aid eligibility and admission status, and actually prolong their length of time spent in college.  The “preparation” view could be characterized by a willingness to take the most rigorous courses for the purpose of providing adequate readiness of college. When this view is the main focus a student could miss opportunities get a leg up on the academic competition.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, Texas House Bill 5 Counselor Implications, the second critical issue in this dual credit debate is the need for more comprehensive post-secondary academic advisement.  Regardless of the desired advanced academic programming, students and parents need to have the advisement necessary to determine which options best match a student’s post-secondary goals.In light of the challenges my district faces in pursuing more dual credit opportunities, I focused on 3 key attributes of dilemmas as referenced from the works of Cuban (2001), to frame our situation as a dilemma in an effort to determine the best course of action.  First, the situation is packed with potential conflicts between the parents’ knowledge of the impact of dual credit, the political pressures on the superintendent, and my personal ethics.  The second attribute leading me to view this situation as a dilemma is that it appears to be insoluble and only manageable. There does not appear to be a “right answer” as we are charged to emphasize and expand dual credit programs for reasons other than what is in the best interest of students.   Lastly, our situation should be viewed as a dilemma because it involves a competition between the values of the community to save parents money while getting students a head start on college and the values of many educators to make decisions based on evidence, data, and proper academic advisement.

Reference

Cuban, L.  (2001).  How Can I Fix It?  New York, NY: Teachers College Press