Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW

Literature Review Assignment Part 2 Anissa Bigler Kansas State University

LITERATURE REVIEW The push for high school seniors to graduate with early college credits has become stronger in the past few years. While Advanced Placement (AP) classes have been around for a couple of decades, most high school curriculums also offer other opportunities for dual credit now. But is this push for earning college credits while sitting in a high school classroom really helping with college student development? Are high schools students better prepared because of the opportunity to earn college credits? The reviewed articles below examine these exact questions and challenge the idea of whether high school students are more successful in college if they enter their freshman year of college with college credits already under their belt. Partners for Student Success, an article from the Principal Leadership Journal, focuses on a small school in a rural community east of the Mississippi River. Joni Swanson (2007) explains that while the school could boast of a football team with consecutive winning seasons and a strong band program, academics was not a bragging point for the school (p. 27). Students were not pushing themselves to take rigorous courses nor attempting to prepare themselves for college. Swanson (2007) explains that, once the school community recognized the need to substantially increase student access to college-level courses and vocational and technical opportunities, the district established the goal that all students will have the opportunity to earn college credits before graduation from high school (p. 27). The change to the courses offerings would be significant if Genesco High School students were going to be successful when they went to college. According to C. Adelman from the U.S. Department of Education, the most powerful predictor of college completion is the academic intensity of students high school curricula (Swanson, 2007, p. 29-30). At the time the article was written, the increased offerings of rigorous, college-level classes had been in place for three years, but Swanson (2007) shares that the results look promising. Student enrollment in these upper-level classes has soared, and

LITERATURE REVIEW students better understand the rigor they will face in college (p. 30). They will be prepared for it. Genesco High School now shines not just for the extracurricular activities, but for their academic prowess as well. The article College-Bound Black Students Are Making Inroads in Advanced Placement Tests in The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education stands on the same researched belief that for college students to be successful, the rigor and intensity of the high school curriculum is key. The Journal of Black in Higher Education (JBHE) (2004) stresses that the academic edge of potentially earning college credits while still in high school is not the only benefit of taking an AP class: The AP test opportunity is important for African-American college students who, because of the usual huge wealth and income inequalities, are likely to be at a distinct disadvantage compared to whites in their ability to pay for college (p. 99). With the two-fold advantage of both academic, as well as, financial gain, minority enrollment in these college-level classes needs to be encouraged by high school teachers and counselors. While an AP class does not guarantee college credit (Advanced Placement classes offers students the opportunity to earn college credits if the AP test can be passes with a high score of 3 or higher (5 is the highest possible score), it does guarantee a rigor syllabus and quality instruction for those enrolled. JBHE (2004) insists black students continue to be encouraged to participate: Even for the more than 50,000 black students who took [the test] but did not receive qualifying grades on the AP exams, the college-level curriculum of the AP program will better prepare these students for the academic rigors of a strong college (p. 103). This turns enrollment in an AP class a win-win situation no matter how it is looked at. Elementary and Secondary Education: Transition to Higher Education is full of facts and figures which support helping high school students gain every possible leg up before they

LITERATURE REVIEW graduate from high school. Smith (2002) shows that students who initially enroll part time in college are less likely to persist toward a bachelors degree than those who enroll full time (n.p.). Many students who enroll part time do so because they are concerned about the rigor of college and/or the financial aspect. Dual-credit opportunities help students address both issues, thus setting students up to feel like they can attempt full-time enrollment. An increase in college retention rate has also increased over the past few years with college transition rates for white and black high school graduates have increased over the past 30 years, while rates for Hispanic graduates have been stable (Smith, 2002, n.p.). While the article shows that percentages are still below where most educators would like them to be, dual-credit classes are helping high school students move in the right direction. Dual Enrollment of High School Students at Postsecondary Institutions is a report which shares the researched results of a survey conducted by National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for the U.S. Department of Education. The authors, Brian Kleiner and Laurie Lewis (2005), continue the theme that offering dual credit opportunity in high school provide(s) high school students benefits such as greater access to a wider range of rigorous academic and technical courses, savings in time and money on a college degree, promoting efficiency of learning, and enhancing admission to and retention in college (p. 2). In 2005 38 states have enacted dual enrollment policies that support the development of programs that promote a smoother transition between high school and postsecondary education (Kleiner & Lewis, 2005, p. 2). The number seems relatively high, but when broken down into actual students enrolled in these college credit classes the optimism of its impact begins to drop. Kleiner and Lewis (2005) share that though there are over 15 million students enrolled in public and private high school in the United States during 2003, only 813,000 high school students were taking advantage of the

LITERATURE REVIEW college-level courses. This represents about 5% of all high school students (p. 8). As mentioned previously, a strong push from high school teachers and counselors will be needed to help students see the positive impact these college-level classes can have on their college career. The Postsecondary Achievement of Participants in Dual Education: An Analysis of Student Outcomes in Two States focuses on evaluating dual credit programs for students wanting to pursue a career and technical education (CTE) and attend a vocational school rather than taking the more traditional four year university path. Students from the state of Florida and New York were research in this study. Melinda Karp, Juan Carlos Calcagno, Katherine L. Hughes, Dong Wook Jeong, and Thomas R. Bailey (2007) stress that dual-credit classes while once limited to high-achieving students, such programs are increasingly seen as a means to support the postsecondary preparation of average-achieving students (p. 1), the exact student who might be more inclined to look at a CTE program. The results of the study confirm that taking collegelevel classes for most students can have lasting effects. Karp et al. (2007) found that students who took these classes were more likely to enroll in postsecondary education of some kind, and dual enrollment participation was positively associated with their likelihood of remaining enrolled two years after graduating from high school. Dual enrollment students grade point averages after two years of college were also statistically significantly higher than their nonparticipating peers (p. 5). Possibly even more encouraging is that this finding rings true, not only for students attending a traditional four year institution, but also for those who chose a CTE (Karp et al, 2007, p. 5). A change in perspective, regarding which students should enroll in college-level classes, is perhaps in order for high schools around the nation. Dual-credit, college-level classes are not just for the academically advanced students, but could also prove beneficial for the more average-academic students.

LITERATURE REVIEW College-level classes are without a doubt an asset to high school students across the nations. Students are academically prepared for future college classes, financially ahead of the game, and better set up to graduate from college than those who do not take advantage of the opportunity. As is obvious from these reviewed articles, the push needs to continue for collegelevel classes to be offered at high schools across the nation, and high school teachers and counselors need to take seriously the task of encouraging high school students to enroll.

LITERATURE REVIEW References JBHE Foundation. (2004). College-bound black students are making inroads in advance placement tests. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 44, 99-103. Karp, M., Calcagno, J., Hughes, K., Jeong, D., & Bailey, T. (2007). The postsecondary Achievement of participants in dual enrollment: an analysis of student outcomes in two states. National Research Center for Career and Technical Education, 1-75. Kleiner, B., & Lewis, L. (2005). Dual enrollment of high school students at postsecondary institutions: 2002-03. National Center for Educational Statistics, 1-83. Smith, T. (2002). Chapter 1: Elementary and secondary education: transition to higher education. National Science Foundation (NSF). http://nsf.gov/statistics/seind02/c1/c1s9.htm Swanson, J. (2007). Partners for student success. Principal Leadership, 7(7), 26-30.