3. Ensure that students are prepared to meet the challenge of dual enrollment coursework and that their progress is regularly monitored to keep them from potentially becoming overwhelmed.

 

A beneficial college experience for high school students often means learning subject matter at a depth and pace that can be both unfamiliar and challenging to students. Students need to be aware of this as early as possible prior to participation in a dual enrollment program. School districts should ensure that students who take a dual enrollment course in high school or online are primed for success by being ready, engaged, and not overwhelmed; students who take a course on a college campus should be made
aware of available academic supports and encouraged to take advantage of them.

ACT recommends that students—and their parents—be required to meet with a high school counselor or program coordinator prior to participation to discuss the challenges of and supports available in dual enrollment programs. Students’ progress in dual enrollment courses should also be continually monitored by both the high school and the college, and activities to prepare students for the higher level of rigor in the courses should be routinely evaluated to make sure that they are in fact helpful.

Example: Kentucky requires that students’ success in dual enrollment programs be monitored and annually reported to students and their parents. The state also encourages eligible students to meet with coordinators at the postsecondary institution and advisors at their own schools prior to course participation.18

Research Dual Enrollment Kentucky 360x360 Jan 2016