Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Tinberg, Howard
• Nadeau, Jean-Paul

Titel

Contesting the Space between High School and College in the Era of Dual-Enrollment

Ist Teil von

• College composition and communication, 2011-06, Vol.62 (4), p.704-725

Ort / Verlag

Urbana: National Council of Teachers of English

Erscheinungsjahr

2011

Quelle

ERIC

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• In the new century, calls to promote "college readiness" among high school students have accelerated to a degree that would have astonished even the privileged and powerful colleges of the past. The most conspicuous evidence for such acceleration is the increasing popularity among schools, students, and colleges alike of dual-credit programs, opportunities for high school students to enroll in college-level courses (whether at the high school or at the college). Such programs are intended to provide high school students with a jump start on their college experience and thus, it is argued, motivate students to continue with their high school experience while at the same time send them on their way toward eventual graduation from college. It is the authors' contention that while dual-enrollment programs have been shown to have a positive effect on the persistence of some students and on their decision to continue onto college, such programs have not been proven to enhance student learning. Indeed, studies on the academic performance of high school students in dual-enrollment programs have begun to raise alarm, both as to students' readiness to benefit in the college classroom and to the lack of consistent oversight given to the curriculum to which these students are exposed. In the light of such concerns, the authors argue that the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)--whose members extend from K through 16--will have an important role to play to provide a much needed bridge between the worlds that dual-enrolled students inhabit. Specifically, the authors urge NCTE and its college associations to strike partnerships with agencies that study and promote dual-enrollment programs and to assist in the formulation of policy that promotes not only student persistence in college but enhanced student literacies.