Building Bridges or Barriers? Public Policies That Facilitate or Impede Linkages Between Community Colleges and Local School Districts

Uniting Secondary and Postsecondary Education: An Event History Analysis of State Adoption of Dual Enrollment Policies

“…Secondary and postsecondary education systems in the United States historically have operated under highly disconnected policy and reform mechanisms (Boswell 2000;Kirst 2005;Krueger 2006). 1 In the past decade, however, concerns over decreasing college completion rates, rising criticism of the lack of academic rigor in the senior year of high school, and growing demand for remedial postsecondary courses have led states to consider new ways to facilitate the transition between K-12 and the higher education systems (Karp et al 2004;Pennington 2003).…”

A comparison of the enrollment and academic success of dual credit and non-dual credit students at Des Moines Area Community College

“…Public secondary education in the United States has struggled with its purpose to provide a meaningful experience for students which allows for them to successfully transition to the next educational level (Boswell, 2000). It does not effectively serve the majority of American students in long range decision making, choosing careers pathways, developing good citizenship, and preparing for higher education (Adelman, 1999).…”

“…Reforming high schools and providing a meaningful rigorous and relevant experience to all students during this crucial time has long been the emphasis of both secondary and postsecondary educational institutions (Learner & Brand, 2006). America's K-12 and higher education systems are regarded as among the least-linked systems found in the world because they operate on a system of local control at every level (Boswell, 2000). Significant disconnects exist between K-12 and college faculty, curricula, programming, and expectations (Boswell, 2000 • Graduation requirements should be strengthened so that all students establish a foundation of five new basics: English, mathematics, science, social studies, and computer science.…”

“…America's K-12 and higher education systems are regarded as among the least-linked systems found in the world because they operate on a system of local control at every level (Boswell, 2000). Significant disconnects exist between K-12 and college faculty, curricula, programming, and expectations (Boswell, 2000 • Graduation requirements should be strengthened so that all students establish a foundation of five new basics: English, mathematics, science, social studies, and computer science. • Schools and colleges should adopt higher and measurable standards for academic performance.…”

“…Transcript analyses was utilized to examine within term retention, success to 24 credits, curriculum, and 1 st semester college GPA (Adelman, 2006;Hagedorn, 2005). Additional high school reform research focusing on "seamless transitioning" was also examined to frame the dual credit research (ACT, 2008;Andrews, 2004;Boswell, 2000;Boyer, 1983. A Nation at Risk, (1983 was one of the earlier reports which recommended drastic reform measures for America's educational institutions.…”