Thursday, September 6, 2012

Concurrent credit rules up for State Board vote

When the Arkansas State Board of Education meets Monday, it will vote on new concurrent credit rules that will enable high school students to earn both high school and college credits.

The program allows students in grades nine-12 to complete a three-hour college course for high school and college credit. Students may also enroll in remedial education course while still in high school. Three hours would be the equivalent of one Carnegie unit, which is generally a year-long course in high school.

The new rules were tested in a pilot over the last two year. The Arkansas Department of Education say the results showed the program to be successful.

Some of the concerns expressed during the public comment period came from public school personnel and included:
  • College freshman courses could be less rigorous than upper level high school courses.
  • College courses do not follow the same common curriculum that high school courses do.
  • Colleges do not have attendance policies.
  • Many freshman courses are led by graduate assistants.
The Department of Education's response to these and other concerns is that the program is voluntary and must be agreed to by the student, the student's parents (if under 18), the public school and the higher education institution.

Link here to see the full rule and all of the comments.  You'll need to drop down to "State Board" meetings and then link on the Sept. 10 agenda.

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