Dual Credit/Dual Enrollment and Data Driven Policy Implementation

Community College Review

Dietrich

2016

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Objective: Recent studies have shown that community college transfer students are just as likely to graduate with a bachelor’s degree as students who directly enroll in a 4-year institution. However, these studies do not typically examine whether there is a penalty for community college students in terms of the length of time it takes to complete a bachelor’s degree. In this study, we seek to determine whether there are differences between community college transfer students and direct 4-year college entrants regarding the likelihood of bachelor’s degree completion as a function of time. Method: Propensity score matching with a posttreatment adjustment was used to create observationally equivalent groups of community college transfer students and rising 4-year college juniors. Propensity scores were calculated using a multilevel model with students nested within high schools to account for pretreatment contextual differences. Descriptive survival analysis was applied to ascertain whether differences existed in the cumulative rate of bachelor’s degree completion throughout a 7-year tracking period. Results: Several significant prematch differences between the two groups—community college transfers and 4-year college juniors—were established. It was then demonstrated how the matching process created adequate balance between the two groups on all observed covariates. Although community college students experienced an initial penalty with respect to degree completion until 125% of normal time, the penalty was no longer evident 6 years after initial enrollment in college. Contributions: Given this finding, we discuss the need for policies that help community college transfer students achieve timely bachelor’s degree completion.

Section: Academic Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 86%

The Community College Penalty? Examining the Bachelor’s Completion Rates of Community College Transfer Students as a Function of Time

Community College Review

Dietrich

2016

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“…Several researchers have examined the potential benefits of participation in dual credit courses, college courses that also count for high school credit. Such benefits include improving postsecondary enrollment, GPA, retention, and completion; facilitating the transition between high school and college; elevating student college aspirations; aiding student adjustment to college; enhancing college readiness (An 2013, 2015; Lichtenberger, Witt, Blankenberger, & Franklin, 2014; Taylor, 2015); and increasing academic performance for Career and Technical Education (CTE) students (Wang, Chan, Phelps, & Washbon, 2015).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…This relationship was even stronger for those students who were low income (1.076 odds ratio). Given the possible importance of this for education policy in Illinois, we conducted a follow-up study focusing on the impact of dual credit on postsecondary enrollment (Lichtenberger, Witt, Blankenberger, & Franklin, 2014). Using propensity score weighting to address selection bias and controlling for a large number of covariates, we found that dual credit participation was significantly related to substantially higher odds of enrolling at both community colleges (8.027 odds ratio) and baccalaureate institutions (6.686 odds ratio).…”

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confidence: 99%

Dual Credit, College Type, and Enhanced Degree Attainment

Blankenberger

Witt

2017

Educational Researcher

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In this study, we analyzed data for the Illinois high school class of 2003 to determine the impact of dual credit participation on postsecondary attainment. We matched 8,095 dual credit participants to an equal number of nonparticipants within the same high school at the point of postsecondary enrollment using propensity scores calculated through a two-level hierarchical generalized linear model with college type as a posttreatment adjustment. Results indicate that community college students taking dual credit were significantly more likely to obtain a baccalaureate degree (28% to 19%, respectively) than their matched peers who did not participate in dual credit. We found similar improvements in postsecondary degree attainment for students attending colleges at multiple selectivity levels, although the largest and most robust effects were found for students starting at community colleges and at non/less competitive entry institutions.

“…The completion agenda literature advocates several strategies designed to improve degree attainment, with many of these strategies focused on improving the P-20 education pipeline (College Board, 2011; Harnisch, 2011; U.S. Department of Education, 2011). Reflecting these recommendations, Illinois has enacted a number of P-20 education policies particularly aimed at improving the pipeline between secondary and postsecondary education (Blankenberger & Phillips, 2016;Lichtenberger, Witt, Blankenberger, & Franklin, 2014). Joining many other states in adopting elevated education standards, the State has implemented the Common Core State Standards into its P-12 Illinois Learning Standards to better connect high school student learning outcomes to postsecondary preparation expectations.…”

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confidence: 99%

Diverse Students, High School Factors, and Completion Agenda Goals: An Analysis of the Illinois Class of 2003

Blankenberger

Education and Urban Society

Witt

et al. 2016

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Illinois education policymakers have adopted the completion agenda that emphasizes increasing postsecondary credential attainment. Meeting completion agenda goals necessitates addressing the achievement gap. To aid in developing policy to support improved completion, this study analyzes a comprehensive statewide dataset of the 2003 Illinois high school graduating class attending 4-year institutions using Cox regression survival analysis. Study findings indicate that African American (0.768 odds ratio) and Hispanic students (0.746) were significantly less likely to complete a baccalaureate degree within 7 years of graduating from high school when compared with their White peers. Furthermore, significance held regardless of income level. Several factors significantly related to improved likelihood of baccalaureate completion were identified including high school composite American College Testing (ACT) score, dual credit and advanced placement (AP) course taking, type of curriculum, ACT English and mathematics scores, and completing the ACT core curriculum. Analysis was conducted by race and income to compare the differences in significance across these groups.